MILLERSVILLE — The Chambersburg softball team did not look like themselves Thursday afternoon in the District 3 Class 6A championship game.
Most of that is due to the opponent it played, Central Dauphin, which belted two home runs and got a 3-hitter from pitcher Autumn Andreoli in a 9-2 victory over the Trojans, raising their record to 23-1.
Hensley Brookens
But the Trojans were playing their third game in three days thanks to some rainouts, and it may have taken its toll.
"The girls gave everything they had, and I'm so proud of them," Chambersburg coach Chris Skultety said. "We don't have any excuses, but we did play three quality opponents in three days and I think it caught up to us."
Andreoli was also a problem. She gave up just 3 hits and 2 walks and her defense made some plays behind her. Once the left-hander got zeroed in on the outside corner of the plate, she set down 9 consecutive batters, including 6 consecutive strikeouts, 4 of which were looking.
Skultety said, "We probably hit her as hard as anybody, but we didn't get the breaks. They made that one catch in the outfield and then had those two double plays. What can you do?"
Leading off the second inning, Marley Onomastico cracked a shot to the gap in right-center, but Rams centerfielder Isabel Rodriguez made a spectacular diving catch. Twice, the Trojans had a runner on first and the batter — Erissa Varner in the third and Kendall Flory in the seventh — hit a screaming line drive right to first baseman Brynn Barkley, who easily completed the double play before the runners could get back.
CD's superstar, Kayla Fletcher, led off the bottom of the first with a double to right and later scored on a wild pitch by Issie Slimmer. In the second, with two outs, No. 9 batter Isabelle Gregory hit a single to bring Fletcher back to the plate and she smoked a line drive over the fence in right-center for a 3-run bomb.
The Rams made it 5-0 in the third when a bases-loaded pop fly fell between three players.
"That was just a mental mistake," Skultety said.
Chambersburg finally got something going in the top of the fourth when Addy Gsell walked, Kylee Perry doubled off the fence in right-center and Onomastico drew a walk to fill the bases.
After a strikeout, the CD catcher tried to pick Onomastico off first, but her throw was wide and that scored Gsell. After another strikeout, the Trojas scored on a steal of home by Perry when Onomastico took off for second and drew a throw from the catcher.
But Andreoli ended the inning with another strikeout, leaving it 5-2.
Then whatever momentum Chambersburg had gained was taken away quickly. Andreoli singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth and one out later, Barkley sent a Slimmer pitch high over the fence in leftfield to regain the 5-run lead.
After that, Chambersburg made four errors over the last two innings, with the second one allowing 2 more runs to score for a 9-2 lead.
"We had no errors in the last seven games," Skultety said. "I think that shows that we weren't quite mentally and physically at 100%. We made some mental mistakes, too."
The Rams notched 10 hits off Slimmer, who walked 3 and struck out 4.
Skultety said, "I wasn't even going to start her today, but she said she really wanted it — she's such a warrior. But I think throwing over 300 pitches over three days made a difference. On those two home runs, she just hung a curveball."
NOTES: Chambersburg (18-4) will play a first-round game of the PIAA Tournament on Monday at Norlo Park against the 5th-place team from District 1 … CD will play the District 1 6th-place team … Pairings will be released over the weekend … Hensley Brookens had 2 of the Trojans' 3 hits … Gsell, the shortstop, made a great over-the-shoulder catch in the first inning … Sanay Jones pitched the final inning for Chambersburg and did not allow a run despite 2 errors made behind her … Piper Jones did not play because of an illness.
