CLARION, Pa. (D9Sports) — Over the next few weeks we will take a look at the Top 15 stories to impact the EYT Media coverage area (exploreClarion.com, exploreVenango.com, exploreJeffersonpa.com.(Photo by Jared Bakaysa of JB Graphics. See more of Bakaysa’s work here)
NO. 4 — DCC SOFTBALL REACHES PIAA TITLE GAME
Over the past few seasons, the DuBois Central Catholic softball team seemed to just be a play or two away from advancing to the PIAA Class 1A title game but always seemed to come up short.
Not in 2019.
The Lady Cardinals overcame some midseason adversity to reach the PIAA title game for the first time in school history ousting an old thorn in the side on the way to the title game. And while DCC came up short in a 5-0 loss to Williams Valley in the championship tilt, it is a season that won’t soon be forgotten in Lady Cards history.
DCC, which set a team goal of reaching the championship game before the season started, started the year on fire winning nine in a row. But then adversity struck. It was discovered, internally, that the school had failed to submit the proper paperwork on a student who had transferred into the school at the start of the school year. DCC took action reporting its mistake to the District 9 committee, which declared the Lady Cardinals had to forfeit the nine games that player was used in meaning DCC now had nine losses on its official slate despite not losing a game on the field.
Those nine “defeats” would be the only ones “suffered” by DCC in the regular season but it was enough to send the Lady Cardinals on the road for the District 9 Class 1A playoffs.
That didn’t pose a problem, as DCC used a great offense to roll past Coudersport, 15-3 in five innings in the quarterfinal, then past top-seeded Otto-Eldred, 22-8, in the semifinals. In the title game, a seven-run first inning was enough to help the Lady Cardinals capture their third D9 title in the last four years, 7-2, over second-seeded Clarion.
It was more of the same in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs, as DCC knocked off Leechburg, 14-4, in six innings.
The PIAA quarterfinals meant a date with Claysburg-Kimmel, the team that beat DCC in the same round in 2018.
And it looked like the Lady Bulldogs were going to repeat the feat when they used a fifth-inning grand slam to take a 5-2 lead.
Jordy Kosko got a run back with a home run in the bottom of the fifth, but things seemed bleak for DCC in the seventh when, despite having runners on second and third with two outs, the Lady Cards were down to their last strike when Ashley Wruble fell into an 0-2 hole. But Wruble poked a single up the middle to score two runs and force extra innings. Then in the ninth, Avery Sickeri’s single won the game sending DCC onto the PIAA semifinals for the third time in four years.
In the semifinals, the Lady Cards faced old nemesis West Greene, who beat DCC in the semifinals in both 2016 and 2017.
The game was tied at two going to the top of the third when Shay Gulvas led off the inning with a solo home run to put DCC ahead 3-2.
The game remained 3-2 into the bottom of the seventh inning when West Greene, the two-time defending PIAA champion, put runners on first and third with two outs. A groundball in the hole at shortstop looked like it could tie the game, but Gulvas was able to get to the ball and throw to first to send the Lady Cardinals to Penn State and the PIAA title game.
Wruble earned D9Sports.com District 9 MVP and Offensive Player of the Year honors after hitting .632 with six home runs, 10 doubles, seven triples, 47 RBIs and 47 runs scored while recording an on-base percentage of .679 and an OPS of 1.794. She was also 13-1 in the circle with a 1.79 ERA.
TOP 15 EYT MEDIA SPORTS STORIES FROM 2018-19 SCHOOL YEAR
4. DCC Softball Reaches PIAA Title Game
5. Brookville Boys’ Track Finishes Second in the State
6. Oil City Wins First District 10 Football Crown Since 1998
7. Clarion/C-L Combine Football Programs
8. Curwensville Head Coach Andy Evanko Passes Away
9. Newcomb Sets D9’s Single-Season Rushing Mark
10. Franklin Baseball Wins D10 Title, Advances to PIAA Semifinals
11. Young Clearfield Softball Team Reaches PIAA Semifinals
12. Cranberry Softball Goes to PIAA Semifinals
13. A-C Valley Girls’ Basketball Wins KSAC Title; Advances to PIAA Quarterfinals
14. Oil City’s Emma Stevenson wins 1,600-meter run at District 10 championship
15. Clarion Volleyball Wins D9 Title Advances to PIAA Quarterfinals
