STRATTANVILLE, Pa. — Thanks to terrific pitching from Makena Stiller and a strong day at the plate from Rebecca Hurst, Keystone got a much-needed 10-0 win at Clarion-Limestone Wednesday.
The Lady Panthers came into the game on a four-game losing streak and sitting at 2-6 following a loss to DuBois Central Catholic Tuesday but rode a strong game from Stiller in the circle to a win over a C-L club that had been looking to climb back to .500 but instead fell to 5-7 on the year.
Stiller tossed a two-hitter and worked around five walks in throwing the shutout. She struck out seven and retired seven of the final eight batters she faced.
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“She had a good night,” Keystone manager John Stiglitz said. “She did a nice job.”
Stiller and her batterymate, Rebecca Hurst, were also key on offense for Keystone.
Hurst was one base in all five of her plate appearances going 3-for-4 with a walk while also reaching on an error. She had a double, an RBI and a run scored.
Stiller helped her cause going 2-for-5 with an RBI.
Stiller and Hurst talk about the win and their performances.
Stiglitz agreed with his players on the importance of the victory.
“Every win is important,” the veteran coach said. “But this one was maybe a little more because we have lost a lot of close games this year, a lot of games we probably should have won but came up a run short or lost in the bottom of the seventh for whatever reason.”
C-L’s Alyssa Kiser tried to match Stiller through the first five innings and kept her team in the game with the Lady Lions trailing 3-0 after five.
But Keystone exploded for seven runs in the final two innings to break the game open chasing Kiser in the seventh after she had allowed seven runs on 12 hits and two walks while striking out three.
“It was nice to see the bats come out and have that many hits at the end of the game,” Stiglitz said. “We hit the ball well at the end of the game.”
Karly Berkery added a 4-for-5 performance for Keystone with two RBIs, and Dani Larrow was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Kiser and Abby Carl had the two hits for C-L.
