District 11 Softball: Pine Grove rallies past Palisades to capture Class 3A championship
Pine Grove's Hannah Aungst (19), Addison Zimmerman (21) and Madison Shiffer (10) raise the District 11 Class 3A softball championship trophy after the Cardinals defeated Palisades 2-1 on Friday at Blue Mountain's Patton Field. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)
ORWIGSBURG — For the past 12 months, Pine Grove has been waiting for this moment.
A year ago, the Cardinals trudged off the diamond at Blue Mountain’s Patton Field after a stinging loss to Palisades in the District 11 Class 3A semifinals. Since then, through the offseason and winter months, they trained. They practiced. They prepared. They worked and waited. Once the season began, they cranked up the intensity with each game to give themselves another chance against the Pirates.
That chance came Friday in the District 11 Class 3A championship game, on a sun-splashed late morning and afternoon at Patton Field.
This time, the Cardinals would not be denied. They rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to stun Palisades 2-1, capture the district title and advance to the state tournament. Callee Leffler scored on Addison Zimmerman’s squeeze bunt to lift top-seeded Pine Grove (23-2) to victory.
Before we go any further, let’s rewind to last year. In the district semifinals, at the same Patton Field, Pine Grove took a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning, only to see Palisades rally for three runs and post a 3-2 victory en route to its third straight District 11 championship.
This time, the Pirates (21-4) struck first with an unearned run in the top of the first inning. Leadoff batter Catie Russo scooted into second base when her fly ball to shallow left field got dropped for an error. Pine Grove starting pitcher Jamie Dinger struck out the next two batters, but Rhiley Poniktera laced an RBI single to left field to give Palisades a 1-0 lead.
With hard-throwing, star right-hander Karlye Teman in the circle for the Pirates, that one run held up until Pine Grove finally found a way at the end.
“I’m speechless for these kids,” Pine Grove coach Ryan Leffler said, his voice cracking with emotion and tears welling in his eyes. “They work so hard. They fought to the end. It was almost like last year. We were winning 2-0, and they came back and beat us 3-2. From that day on, I really feel like that team learned a lot, and today, it was the opposite. They fought to the end. They believed to the end, and the better team won. I’m so proud of them.”
Pine Grove gave itself plenty of opportunities to score, but each time, Teman came through to keep the Cardinals off the scoreboard. The Cards left runners at second and third in the third inning; loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth but couldn’t score; and had a runner at third base with one out in the fifth but stranded her, too.
“Offensively, we didn’t get a big hit or two to maybe break the game open,” Ryan Leffler said, “but the kids stayed on course.”
While Pine Grove struggled to get that tying and winning run, Dinger hurled a gem for the Cardinals. The sophomore right-hander pitched six-plus innings. She allowed four hits and one unearned run while striking out 13 and walking one.
She left after giving up a leadoff single to Fiona Kelleher to start the top of the seventh. Chelcy Clark, another sophomore right-hander, took over in relief. Clark allowed a sacrifice bunt to Maddi Deem, then struck out Erin Wallbillich for out No. 2. Pine Grove intentionally walked Russo, who reached base all four times she batted, and Clark walked Aubrey Boushell to load the bases. Teman then hit a high chopper that third baseman Meadow Umbenhauer fielded behind the bag. She was too late to retire Russo at third base, but Umbenhauer alertly threw home to catcher Tailyn Bohr, who caught the ball to force out courtesy runner Xiomara Day at the plate.
The umpires had some confusion on the play, whether or not the ball had bounced before Umbenhauer caught it. After a conference, they got it right by calling the forceout at the plate to end the inning and keep the score 1-0.
“Jamie pitched a helluva game. Chelcy came in, got a big strikeout and a ground ball,” Ryan Leffler said.
Down to their last three outs, Pine Grove began the bottom of the seventh with Lily Flynn hitting its best ball of the day — a smash to center field. Paliades’ Jordyn Bonelli glided over for the catch. One out.
No matter. The Cardinals continued to pressure Teman, who finished with 10 strikeouts and nine walks.
Meadow Umbenhauer showed great patience by taking a four-pitch walk to give Pine Grove a baserunner. With Callee Leffler at the plate, Umbenhauer took off for second base. The catcher’s throw sailed into center field. The ball then bounded past Bonelli backing up and rolled toward the fence. Umbenhauer scrambled to her feet and scored to tie the game 1-1 and send the Pine Grove bench into wild screaming and cheering.
“That’s what we’ve been doing all year — being aggressive,” said Ryan Leffler, whose team stole seven bases without being caught.
Added Meadow Umbenhauer: “It was exciting. I got the steal sign, and I took off, ran as fast as I could. I turned around (toward center field), and the ball was under her glove, so I just took off from there. My coach was sending me home, so I just ran as fast as I could.
“It means everything to me,” she added. “It just shows that we really pass the bat. We use teamwork, and it takes everybody.”
Callee Leffler kept the rally going by crushing a one-hop tracer that ate up second baseman Boushell for a single. Leffler promptly stole second and third, giving her five stolen bases on the day.
With Callee Leffler on third base, Palisades head coach Rick Wilmott made the percentage play, intentionally walking Hannah Aungst and Madison Shiffer to load the bases and set up a force at the plate.
On the first pitch to Addison Zimmerman, the senior got a bunt down toward the pitcher. Callee Leffler got a great jump and slid across home plate before Teman could field the ball and flip to catcher Kelleher. Zimmerman, who had two hits, reached the 100 mark for her career.
“We practice it all the time. Visualize it at practice, and it worked,” Ryan Leffler said. “(Callee) was gone. If (Addison) gets the bunt down, it was going to be game over.”
Added Callee Leffler: “I was just really proud of what we did. We crossed off one of our team goals. I never had a doubt what we could do. I believe in us every second.
“I saw the bunt go down, and the only thing I saw was home plate, and I knew I needed to get there,” Callee Leffler added. “I knew I needed to get down (slide). I knew they were going to make a play at home. I just needed to do my job and get there safely to win the game.
“I definitely knew this was going to happen,” she added. “I had a really good jump, so I was really prepared for this moment. I knew Addi was going to get the bunt down, super proud of her what she did. I’m so happy.”
The district championship marked the seventh in Pine Grove history, the Cardinals’ first since their state championship season of 2019. In the first round of the PIAA Tournament on Monday, Pine Grove will host the third-place team from District 3, Trinity (16-4), which topped Littlestown 3-1 in the consolation game. Game time will be announced by the PIAA.
“One of our mottoes this year is: ‘Pass the bat, and play for each other,’ ” Callee Leffler said. “That’s exactly what we did through seven innings. We never doubted ourselves. I think that’s one of the biggest things, just sticking together and playing for each other.”
