BUTLER, Pa. (D9Sports) — A freshman/senior battery of Alyssa Stitt and Taylor Downs helped the Karns City softball team start off the season on a strong note with a 4-1 win over Brookville at Kelly Automotive Park in Butler Thursday.
The freshman, Stitt, went 3-for-4 with a run scored while setting the table from the leadoff spot for the Lady Gremlins (1-0). She had hits in each of her first three high-school at bats.
“She’s a ball player,” Karns City head coach Buddy Gibson said. “I really thought she would do well. She’s a great catcher. She can play any position on the field. She’s a good hitter. She’s going to be a real good ball players.”
Watch Stitt collect her third hit
Downs, a senior, was on the flipside of the coin holding the Brookville bats silent throwing a strong seven innings of 3-hit ball. She struck out eight, walk two and allowed one run on a park-aided inside the park home run to Brookville’s Elaina Powell. That hit broke a string of 12 in a row set down by Downs, who retired 16 of the final 19 Lady Raiders she faced.
Stitt and Downs talked about their games and the Karns City win.
Karns City, after failing to take advantage of a leadoff double by Stitt in the first inning, was able to get the rookie around in the third when she singled with one out, stole second, moved to third on a ground out by LeeAnn Gibson and then scored on an Ashley Coon infield single to shortstop.
Watch Coon’s infield RBI single
The Lady Gremlins then tacked on unearned runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 3-0 lead.
In the fourth, Makala Bailey reached on an infield single and then scored on a play that saw Brookville commit three errors on one play.
Taylor Ekas hit a hard grounder to second that got past second baseman Abby Sunealitis pushing Bailey to third. Then right fielder Caitlyn Hill bobbled the ball allowing Bailey to score, and when shortstop Powell threw wild to home, Ekas took second.
In the fifth, Stitt led off with a single and went to second on an error by Sunealitis, who failed to touch second on a flip from Powell, which would have retired Stitt on a grounder by Gibson. Stitt was then erased at third when Coon reached on a fielder’s choice pushing Gibson to second. Both runners stole bases, and Downs helped herself with an RBI groundout to third.
That groundout to third continued a game-long trend by the Lady Gremlins off being very aggressive on the basepaths.
“We wanted to be aggressive with a young team,” Buddy Gibson said. “We wanted to try to get the runs when the base runners got on and move them up without having to bunt the ball or hit the ball trying to get them to make mistakes.”
While Karns City was scoring, Downs was silencing the Brookville bats.
After allowing a two-out infield single to Hill in the second inning, she proceeded to set down the next 12 Lady Raiders she faced while striking out five before Powell got the inside-the-park home run on a ball that skipped past leftfielder Katie Neff and rolled into the no-man’s land on the field built for baseball.
“I was very happy with how she pitched,” Buddy Gibson said. “We planned four, maybe five innings for her at most. She went the whole game. For this early in the season, I didn’t think she would be able to do that. But she did, and did it very well.”
Watch Downs induce a groundout
Karns City got the run back for Downs in the bottom of the sixth when Ekas, who was 2-for-3, doubled to right leading off, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI groundout to first by pinch hitter Micaiah Matson.
“With a young team, we didn’t really know what to expect,” Buddy Gibson said. “Playing here, the girls never got the chance to do that before. A lot new things. A lot of new girls. I’m happy that we get out of her with a win.”
KARNS CITY 4, BROOKVILLE 1
Score by innings
Brookville 000 001 0 — 1
Karns City 001 111 x — 4
Brookville — 1
Hannah Kirkwood 3b 3000 Madison Gilbert lf 3000, Elaina Powell ss 3121, Laken Hergert c 2000, Elliette Park cf 3000, Abby Sunealitis 2b 3000, Jordan MacWilliams 1b 2000, Caitlyn Hill rf 2010, Natasha Stritzinger ph 1000, Carlie McManigle p 3000. Totals 23-1-3-1.
Karns City — 4
Alyssa Stitt c 4130, LeeAnn Gibson 3b 3100, Ashley Coon ss 3011, Taylor Downs p 3001, Makala Bailey 1b 3110, Taylor Ekas 2b 3120, Sam Graz rf/pr 1000, Mackanzie Shay ph 0000, Katie Neff lf 2000, Micaiah Matson 1001, Emily Wolff 3000. Totals 26-4-7-3.
LOB — Brookville 5. Karns City 6. 2B — Stitt, Ekas. HR — Powell. SB — Coon (3) Stitt, Gibson, Graz. E — Sunealitis (2), Hill, Powell, Coon. SAC — Graz.
PITCHING
Brookville — McManigle: 6 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 6 K.
Karns City — Downs: 7 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K.
Winning pitcher: Downs
Losing pitcher: McManigle
