District 3 3A softball: Kutztown gives up five-run lead in championship game loss
· Yahoo Sports
The Kutztown Cougars, fresh off their BCIAA championship, were just eight outs away from capturing their 12th district title and second in three years.
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But then came Susquenita’s bats, which slowly erased those hopes hit by hit during a decisive fifth inning in Tuesday’s District 3 Class 3A softball championship at Seaber Softball Stadium on the campus of Millersville University.
The second-seeded Cougars ultimately fell 6-5 to the Blackhawks, who also defeated Kutztown 2-0 in last season’s district championship game.
“Nothing to take away from them, they’re definitely a good team. We knew coming in they were a good hitting team. We got to that point in the last couple of games where we get that five, six, seven-run lead and can’t put it away. It’s been like three out of the last four games. I don’t know,” Cougars coach Kevin Conrad said of the loss. “They did hit some hard balls in that inning. It’s one of those things, you don’t know when to pull the trigger and when not to pull the trigger. We lived and died all year with Savannah (Follweiler) in the circle and with our offense, and they just got the best of us.”
Kutztown (18-5) built a five-run lead by scoring two runs in both the first and third innings.
In the third, Jayden Gehris drove in two runs with a double to center field that scored Jade Fitzgerald and Kya Barrell as the Cougars continued to control the game early on.
In the circle for the top-seeded Blackhawks (22-1) was Kylah Fleisher, whom Kutztown was seeing well early in the game.
Kutztown’s top hitters, Felicia Oldt (2-for-2), Jayden Gehris (1-for-4), and Savannah Follweiler (1-for-4), combined to drive in all five of the Cougars’ runs on the day.
Follweiler also turned in a strong performance in the circle early on, allowing only a few singles through the opening innings while striking out four batters during the game.
But in the fifth inning, the Blackhawks finally began to figure out Follweiler’s pitches.
The inning started with a single from Madelynn Smiley, followed by a base hit from Braelyn Prinz with one out.
Kaydon Brandt then drove in Susquenita’s first run of the game with another single to the outfield.
From there, the Blackhawks continued to pour it on, totaling seven hits during a five-run inning.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Follweiler escaped further damage by recording a strikeout to stop the rally in a now-tied 5-5 game.
“I know we had a couple of miscues there that maybe could have held one or two more runs, but like I said, taking nothing away from them,” Conrad said of the detrimental fifth inning. “We’ve been battling them the last four or five years, back and forth.”
Blackhawks coach Rodney Reed gave high praise to Conrad and the Cougars after the game for the way Kutztown’s program is run and how the team consistently keeps Susquenita on their toes during district playoff time.
“When we start the season off, one of our biggest things is not to meet Kutztown before the finals,” Reed said. “Kevin runs a great program over there. They’re fighters, and they’re going to give you a game. I think all of the games, except for one, have been within one or two runs.”
“I don’t know Kevin that well because we’re pretty far apart, but I’m pretty sure he runs the program pretty much the same way I do, with working hard and practicing hard. But to beat Kutztown in the district finals, that is saying something. That’s a class-act team, and I really respect them.”
The Cougars opened the sixth inning with a hit from Gabriella Parker, the freshman who delivered a walk-off game-winning single against Littlestown in last Friday’s district semifinal.
Ava Kutz later reached base after being hit by a pitch, but with two runners on, the Blackhawks escaped the inning with two flyouts and a 1-3 putout.
Then in the bottom of the sixth, Susquenita’s bats stayed hot.
Prinz blasted a double off the center-field fence to begin the inning, prompting Conrad to pull Follweiler in favor of Paityn Ziegler.
Brandt then stepped to the plate and ripped a hard ground ball past the second baseman, allowing Prinz to score and giving the Blackhawks their first lead of the game.
“The more you see them, the more you’re going to get the timing down and all that,” Reed said. “I’m not going to say I wasn’t getting a little worried. I don’t like that zero on the bottom of the scoreboard, but once we got it rolling, I kept telling the girls to play loose, whether we win or lose.”
A groundout followed by two pop-ups ended the sixth inning, leaving the Cougars with their backs against the wall and just three outs remaining to find some late-game magic at the plate.
Unfortunately for Kutztown, it never came.
With one out in the seventh, Oldt singled to give the Cougars some life, but a pop-up to shortstop and a 6-3 putout ended the game as Kutztown fell short in back-to-back district finals against Susquenita.
“I’m so proud of these girls, and we’re not done yet. Hopefully, we’ll make a good run in the states, too,” Conrad said. “Just the never-give-up attitude on this young team. We graduated four girls last year, and the Player of the Year (Brianna Bauscher) in Berks County. To bring five freshman starters in here and be back here (in the district finals), if somebody would have told me that at the beginning of the year, I probably would have lost a wager there. But I’m so proud of them, and this is going to sting a little bit, but I know we’re going to be ready come Monday.”
Kutztown and Susquenita will both continue their seasons Monday in the opening round of the PIAA state playoffs. Opponents, times, and locations are still to be determined.