Lake-Lehman center fielder Ava Hudak sprints to reach for a ball in the right-center gap during Thursday’s District 2 Class 3A championship game.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman’s Krista Scoblick slides into third for a triple in the fifth inning of Thursday’s District 2 Class 3A championship game.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman’s Jillian Ulozas claps after her bases-loaded triple in the seventh inning moved the Black Knights within a run of tying the game.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman left fielder Krista Scoblick makes catch in the sixth inning of Thursday’s District 2 Class 3A championship game.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
SCRANTON — An inch farther. Maybe even less than an inch.
That, perhaps, was the additional distance needed on a towering fly to right field by Lake-Lehman’s Jillian Ulozas in the bottom of the seventh Thursday. Instead, the ball bounced straight up off the top of the fence and fell into the field for a bases-clearing triple and not a game-tying grand slam.
Unable to get Ulozas across the plate, Lehman ended up just short of a major upset as state-power Mid Valley held on for a 7-6 victory in the District 2 Class 3A softball championship game at Marywood University.
Mid Valley (19-2) will advance to the PIAA Class 3A playoffs Monday, playing District 3 runner-up Susquenita (19-4) at a site and time to be announced. Lehman finished the year at 13-7.
The final four innings were played Thursday after the game was suspended Wednesday because of lightning followed by heavy thunderstorms. Lehman led 3-2 when the game was stopped, and Mid Valley wasted no time regaining the lead Thursday by scoring three times in the fourth. The Spartans tacked on a run in the fifth and sixth to take a 7-3 lead into the seventh.
“When we got a little padding there, 7-3, I felt pretty great going into the seventh,” Mid Valley coach Mike Piercy said. “I knew each of those runs were going to be important. It became 6-3 then 7-3. Then they start off with two singles and it’s like, ‘Here we go.’ ”
Hailey Kline and Krista Scoblick opened the Lehman seventh with singles. An out later, Kirsten Finarelli singled to load the bases and bring Ulozas to the plate.
Ulozas’ three-run homer in the seventh in the semifinals gave Lehman a 6-5 win over Holy Redeemer. She came oh-so-close to more last at-bat heroics. As her blast descended, it hit off the top of the curved plastic covering on the fence and bounced back into play.
“I was thinking she could definitely do it again,” Lehman coach Nicole Chipego said. “I have more confidence in Jillian than anybody. I’m her coach. Every coach should be as confident in their kids as we are as coaches.”
Ulozas was hustling all the way and ended up at third. But Mid Valley pitcher Maranda Runco retired the next two batters, keeping the Spartans’ hopes alive for a return to the state championship game.
Lehman had a couple other opportunities to score. Scoblick tripled with one out in the fifth but was stranded. Ulozas and Ava Hudak reached on errors to put runners on the corners with one out in the sixth. Again, the Black Knights couldn’t get a run in.
Lehman took no chances pitching to Runco, one of the most-feared power hitters in the state who has 28 career home runs in two seasons. Instead, she was intentionally walked four times. The hitters in front of her, though, did damage.
Leadoff hitter Kat Davis had an RBI single in the fourth and scored what proved to be the winning run in the sixth after hitting a triple. Chiara Zavislak had a two-run single in the fourth as Mid Valley took a 5-3.
Hudak, Lehman’s center fielder, prevented further damage by ending the inning with an over-the-shoulder catch on a dead sprint to the fence.
“We hit balls hard (Wednesday) and didn’t strike out,” Piercy said. “We hit balls hard and felt like we were on their pitcher and good things were going to happen.”
District 2 Class 3A Championship
Mid Valley 7, Lake-Lehman 6
Lehman`AB`R`H`BI
Scoblick lf`4`3`3`0
Beyer p`3`0`0`0
Finarelli ss`3`1`1`0
Ulozas c`3`1`2`4
Smith 1b`4`0`1`0
Hudak cf`4`0`0`0
Honeywell 2b`3`0`0`0
Bucknavage rf`3`0`0`0
Kline 3b`3`1`1`0
Totals`30`6`8`4
Mid Valley`AB`R`H`BI
Davis 2b`4`3`4`1
Zavislak cf`4`0`2`2
Runco p`0`0`0`0
Carroll cr`0`0`0`0
Rebar 1b`3`0`1`1
Cortazar rf`4`0`0`0
Kizer lf`3`1`1`0
Terranelli c`3`2`2`0
Kobylanski 3b`2`1`2`2
Hasenzahl pr`0`0`0`0
Larson ss`3`0`0`0
Totals`26`7`12`6
Lake-Lehman`201`000`3 — 6
Mid Valley`110`311`x — 7
2B — Kobylanski 2. 3B — Scoblick, Ulozas, Davis.
Lehman`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Beyer L`6`12`7`7`5`1
Mid Valley`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Runco`7`8`6`4`0`4
