HS Softball: Williams Valley slugs way past Schuylkill Haven

Williams Valley warms up between innings during Tuesday's Schuylkill League Division II game against Schuylkill Haven at Lee Reiser Field. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)

TOWER CITY — Schuylkill Haven had all of the momentum — three hits, a run home in the top of the first inning and an early lead against Williams Valley.

That lead didn’t last long.

Three batters, to be exact. The Vikings batted around in three straight innings to club their way past the Hurricanes 16-1 in three innings on a sun-splashed Tuesday afternoon at Lee Reiser Field.

Williams Valley (16-1, 11-0 D-II) won its eighth straight game and moved one step closer to the Division II championship. The Vikes host rival Tri-Valley on Thursday.

Smashing 16 hits, Williams Valley answered Schuylkill Haven’s opening salvo with a five-run first inning. The Vikings added four runs in the second inning and seven more in the third to end the game by the 15-run rule.

“We took good approaches at the plate tonight,” Williams Valley coach Ryan Underkoffler said. “We told them to get their own pitch and rip one they could hit hard, and they’ve been doing that all year. They take sound advice from us. It one of those things they’ve been doing all year.”

Schuylkill Haven (11-5, 8-3) pushed one run across in the first inning, but it could have been much more.

Kaitlyn Russo led off with a walk, and Teagan Wehr singled to put runners at the corners with nobody out. Wehr tried to steal second base, but Williams Valley cut off the throw and relayed home to cut down Russo at the plate. One out later, Emmie Scherer delivered an RBI single to right field, but the Hurricanes ended up leaving the bases loaded.

Williams Valley wasted no time in wrestling the momentum away from the Hurricanes and keeping it the rest of the afternoon.

Ella Kobularik, who went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, led off with a single. Kayla Hand followed with a single to put runners at the corners, and Hand promptly stole second base. After a long at-bat, Sage Smeltz belted a two-run single to center field to put the Vikings ahead to stay. Also in the first inning, Audrina Fry hit a sacrifice fly; a run scored on an error; and Ally Underkoffler drove in a run with a groundout.

When it was over, Williams Valley had five runs on five hits, with a walk and an error helping the Vikings take a 5-1 lead.

After a shaky start, Sage Smeltz settled down in the circle and retired the final seven batters she faced. Smeltz finished with five strikeouts and two walks in her three innings of work.

Williams Valley then went right back to work clubbing the softball in the second inning, batting around again and posting four runs on the board. Sage Smeltz roped an RBI double, and Quin Smeltz followed with an unusual home run, to say the least. She hit a high drive to left field; the ball landed on the plastic blue covering at the fence, caromed high into the air and landed over the fence for a two-run home run. Fry singled and scored on Olivia Hand’s RBI double to make it 9-1.

The Vikings put the game away with a seven-run third inning. Highlights included Delaney Bixler’s two-run double and Kobularik’s RBI triple.

All game, Williams Valley kept hitting and hitting and running and running. In addition to their 16 hits, the Vikings stole seven bases.

Every player in the starting lineup had at least one hit; eight different players scored runs; and seven players notched at least one RBI.

Other top hitters for Williams Valley included Kayla Hand, 2-for-2 with two runs scored; Sage Smeltz, 2-for-3 with a double and four RBIs; and Quin Smeltz, 3-for-3 with a home run, three runs and two RBIs.

“We put pressure on the opposing team,” Ryan Underkoffler said. “It’s one of those parts of the game that you get another team in their head, you take advantage of it. With our bats and our speed on the bases, we can do that.”

Game Summary

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN (1) — Russo 2b 1 0 0 0, Wehr ss 2 1 1 0, Becker cf 2 0 0 0, E. Scherer lf 2 0 1 1, Schoffstall 1b 1 0 1 0, Jenan 3b 0 0 0 0, A. Scherer rf-p 1 0 0 0, Line p-rf 1 0 0 0, Domermuth c 1 0 0 0. Totals 11 1 3 1.

WILLIAMS VALLEY (16) — Kobularik ss 4 3 4 1, K. Hand cf 2 2 2 0, S. Smeltz p 3 0 2 4, Ziegler cr 0 3 0 0, Q. Smeltz c 3 3 3 2, Fry 1b 1 2 1 1, O. Hand 3b 2 1 1 1, Underkoffler dp 2 0 1 2, Brill 2b 3 1 1 0, Bixler rf 3 1 1 2, Mahoney lf 0 0 0 0. Totals 23 16 16 12.

SH (11-5, 8-3)                100 —  1

WV (16-1, 11-0)           547 — 16

E — Schuylkill Haven 4, Williams Valley 0

LOB — Schuylkill Haven 3, Williams Valley 3

2B — S. Smeltz, O. Hand, Bixler

3B — Kobularik

HR — Q. Smeltz

SB — Wehr, K. Hand, Fry, O. Hand, Underkoffler, Kobularik, Ziegler

CS — Russo

SAC — K. Hand

SF — Fry, Underkoffler

Schuylkill Haven

                                       IP     H      R       ER    BB    K

Line L,6-3                1.1      8      8         7        1       1

A. Scherer                1.1     8      8         3        1       1

Williams Valley

                  IP     H      R       ER    BB    K

S.Smeltz W,9-0      3      3       1         1        2       5

WP — A. Scherer. PB — Domermuth 2. T — 1:15.