HS Softball: Williams Valley edges Tri-Valley in Division II battle

Tri-Valley and Williams Valley captains shake hands prior to Saturday's Schuylkill League Division II softball game in Hegins. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)

HEGINS — Williams Valley has been jumping on opponents early all season.

The Vikings did it again Saturday, then held on for dear life to earn a 7-5 victory over rival Tri-Valley in a Schuylkill League Division II softball game played before a huge crowd on a sunny, unseasonably-warm March afternoon.

Williams Valley (5-0, 3-0 D-II) scored five runs in the top of the first inning and tacked on another run in the top of the second for a 6-0 lead.

“We’ve been playing well all season,” Williams Valley coach Ryan Underkoffler said. “We knew this was going to be an important division game. It was important to get those six runs on the board, put the pressure on them. We held on there. We knew they were going to score runs, but our bats have been hot early in the season, and fortunately they stayed hot early in this game.”

Ella Kobularik led off the game with a walk, and Kayla Hand got hit by a pitch to set the table. Sage Smeltz, who finished 4-for-4 with a triple, a solo home run and three RBIs, laced an RBI single to right to get the Vikings on the board. Quin Smeltz followed with an RBI groundout to make it 2-0. Audrina Fry singled home the third run, and Kamri Koppenhaver clubbed a two-run double for a 5-0 advantage.

In the second, Miley Mahoney reached on an error and scored when Sage Smeltz roped a booming triple to deep right field.

After that, Tri-Valley pitcher Kora Rodichok settled in and held Williams Valley to just one more run. Rodichok, who took the loss, and Sage Smeltz, who got the win, both had to work hard to record outs. Rodichok needed 114 pitches (71 strikes) to go the distance. She struck out two but walked five. Sage Smeltz battled through 125 pitches (75 strikes), striking out seven and walking three in her complete-game effort.

Steadily, though, Tri-Valley (2-2, 1-2) worked its way back into the game.

In the bottom of the second inning, freshman No. 9 batter Alina Leonard hammered a two-run home run over the center fielder’s head to cut the deficit to 6-2.

In the third, another freshman, Myah Schwalm, smashed a two-run triple to deep center, and just like that, Williams Valley’s lead shrunk to 6-4.

Sage Smeltz got a run back for the Vikes in the fifth inning when she hit a solo home run. The ball hit one of the structures in right field, and by ground rules, that’s a home run.

Tri-Valley answered in the sixth on Mady Schwalm’s RBI single, but that’s as close as the Dawgs got. After that hit, Sage Smeltz retired the final four batters she faced to clinch the victory. The Bulldogs had chances, leaving eight runners on base, three of them in scoring position.

“Like I told the girls, you can not give a team like Williams Valley five runs in the first inning,” Tri-Valley coach Marty Shade said. “They took advantage of it, and that’s basically the difference in the game. On the plus side, I’m very proud of the way the girls came back. Two big hits by my two freshmen. We have things to work on. It’s early in the year.”

Despite getting their preseason cut short by an extended run during basketball season, the Vikings seem to have hit the ground running. They’ve outscored their opponents 69-9 and outhit them 57-20. Williams Valley averages 13.8 runs and 11.4 hits per game.

“I have no concerns right now,” Underkoffler said. “The way they played the first week, it seems like they’re in midseason form. I think we’re on a roll now, and we’ve just got to keep the ball rolling.”

Game Summary

WILLIAMS VALLEY (7) — Kobularik ss 3 1 1 0, K. Hand cf 2 1 0 0, S. Smeltz p 4 1 4 3, Bixler cr 0 1 0 0, Q. Smeltz c 4 0 0 1, Fry 1b 2 1 1 1, O. Hand 3b 4 0 0 0, Underkoffler 2b 2 1 0 0, Koppenhaver dp 3 0 1 2, Mahoney lf 3 1 0 0, Brill rf 0 0 0 0. Totals 27 7 7 7.

TRI-VALLEY (5) — C. Snyder ss 4 1 1 0, Artz cf 3 1 2 0, Ma. Schwalm 2b 3 0 2 1, Witmer 3b 4 1 1 0, My. Schwalm 1b 4 0 1 2, L. Rodichok c 3 0 1 0, Gerber cr 0 0 0 0, K. Rodichok p 4 0 0 0, A. Snyder cr 0 1 0 0, Stiely lf 3 0 0 0, Leonard rf 3 1 1 2. Totals 31 5 9 5.

WV (5-0, 3-0)               510      010   0 — 7

TV (2-2, 1-2)              022      001   0 — 5

E — Williams Valley 2, Tri-Valley 1

DP — Tri-Valley

LOB — Williams Valley 5, Tri-Valley 8

2B — Koppenhaver

3B — S. Smeltz, My. Schwalm

HR — S. Smeltz, Leonard

SB — Bixler 2, Fry 2, O. Hand

Williams Valley

                                       IP     H      R       ER    BB    K

S.Smeltz W,3-0      7       9       5        4       3       7

Tri-Valley

                  IP     H      R       ER    BB    K

K.Rodichok L,1-1  7       7       7         6       5       2

HBP — by K. Rodichok (K. Hand). T — 1:55.