KNOX, Pa. (D9Sports) — All season long Karns City has relied on the pitching tandem of freshman Logan Byers and sophomore Mackenzie Shay to win games.
(Photo: Logan Byers, Karns City)
That rotation paid dividends Tuesday afternoon in a 14-2, much-closer-than-the-score-indicates, six-inning win at Keystone.
Shay started and was pitching well until the fourth when three straight hits off her, including a leadoff triple by Jessi Phillipi, allowed Keystone to tie the game at two.
That’s when Karns City skipper Mike Stitt made the move to his freshman, and she came up huge in keeping the game tied.
After hitting the first batter she faced, Jenna Hawk, to load the bases with nobody out, Byers dug in and got Autumn Rapp to hit into a fielder’s choice with courtesy runner Clair Warner erased at the plate on a nice throw by second baseman Mackenzie Dunn, another freshman. She then struck out Alyssa Dunlap swinging before striking out Cora Black looking to escape the jam with no further damage.
As the team came into the dugout, the Karns City coaches could be heard telling them “Logan just gave us a spark, now let’s do something about it.”
And boy did the Lady Gremlins do something about it.
In the top of the fifth, Karns City, which had grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second, retook the lead with three runs thanks in large part to a three-base throwing error by Dunlap on a ball hit by Makala Bailey that scored two runs and an RBI groundout by Dunn.
Then, after Byers set Keystone down in order in the fifth, Karns City put the game away by sending 14 batters to the plate and getting four hits while also taking advantage of four Keystone errors and a wild pitch on a third strike to score nine times to put the game away.
Chandley Stuchell, who batted twice in the inning as a pinch-hitter, scored twice in the frame starting things off by reaching on an error and then later singling home a pair of runs before scoring again.
Dunn, Bailey, Brittney Friters and Emily Wolfe added RBIs in the frame for Karns City, while Katie Neff had a book-rule double.
Byers talked about her performance and the team’s win, which moved the Lady Gremlins, the lone Class 3A team in District 9, to 9-4 on the season.
Prior to the fifth, Keystone coach John Stiglitz had to be happy with what he saw from his team with the Lady Panthers battling back from the early hole to tie the game with single runs in the second and fourth.
In the second, Makena Stiller walked with one out, moved to second on a grounder by Reagan Lecker and scored on a two-out single to left-center by Hawk.
Then, in the fourth, after the leadoff triple by Phillipi, Stiller followed with a bunt single and took second when the throw came to the plate, and Lecker drove Phillipi home with a single to right.
Karns City, which saw only one of its 14 runs earned, scored two unearned runs in the second when Kate Alen reach second on a catch error by right fielder Rapp and then scored on a wild pitch. Taylor Ekis continued the rally with a two-out double and scored on a single to center by Neff.
Bailey led Karns City going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Neff added a 2-for-4 day with the double, a run scored and an RBI, while Ekis was 1-for-2 with a run scored and Stuchell going 1-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Allen and Wolfe also both scored twice with Dunn driving in two and scoring once.
Lecker was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI for Keystone, which added a final run in the bottom of the sixth when Lecker singled with one out, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out single to center by Lauren Slaugenhaupt.
Karns City closes out the regular season by hosting Redbank Valley Thursday.
Keystone, which is 5-13 on the year, finishes its season when it hosts A-C Valley Wednesday.
KARNS CITY 14, KEYSTONE 3, 6 INNINGS
Score by Innings
Karns City 020 039 — 14
Keystone 010 101 — 3
KARNS CITY — 14
Emily Wolfe cf 5211, Alyssa Stitt ss 5110, Makala Bailey lf 5232, Mackenzie Dunn 2b 4112, Kate Allen 3b 4210, Sami Graziolli rf 4100, Emily Huff c 3000, Brittney Friters ph 0101, Taylor Ekis 1b 2110, Chandley Stuchell ph/1b 2212, Katie Neff dp 4121, Mackenzie Shay p 0000, Logan Byers p 0000. Totals 38-14-11-9.
KEYSTONE — 3
Cora Black dp 3000, Rachel Champluver c 0000, Jaycee Pritt 2b 3000, Dani Larrow ss 3000, Jessi Phillipi cf 3110, MaKena Stiller p 2010, Clair Warner cr 0100, Reagan Lecker lf 3121, Jenna Hawk 1b 2011, Autumn Rapp rf 1000, Lauren Slaugenhaupt rf 1011, Alyssa Dunlap 3b 3000. Totals. 24-3-6-3.
LOB: Karns City 6. Keystone 6. Errors: Karns City 0. Keystone 7. 2B: Dunn, Ekis, Neff. 3B: Phillipi. SB: Wolfe, Bailey, Stuchell. HBP: Hawk by Byers.
PITCHING
Karns City
Mackenzie Shay — 3IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 0 HP
Logan Byers — 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HP
TOTALS — 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HP
Shay pitched to three batters in the fourth
Keystone
MaKena Stiller — 6 IP, 11 H, 14 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 0 HP
Winning pitcher: Byers
Losing pitcher: Stiller
