FAYETTEVILLE — Courtney Coppersmith was as good as advertised.

Maybe better.

The Central York senior left-hander fired a 3-hit shutout, striking out 14, to lead the Panthers to a 3-0 non-league softball victory over Chambersburg at Norlo Park on Friday afternoon.

“She’s the best we’ll see this year … and for some of our kids, maybe the best they’ll ever see,” Trojan coach Chris Skultety said. “We had some better at-bats later in the game, but we just haven’t seen anyone like her. We cranked up the pitching machine, but you just can’t simulate her pitches.”

Coppersmith, who has allowed only three earned runs all season and averages over 15 K’s per game, was in command the whole way, and her riseball — especially with two strikes — was extremely hard to not swing at. And a swing on those pitches almost always resulted in a miss.

The lefty, who will attend UMBC next year and has hit 67 miles per hour, struck out seven of the first nine Trojan batters, and the only two who didn’t fan made outs on bunts.

Skultety said, “She was smart. She kept throwing that riser and we kept swinging at it. And she’s the first lefty we’ve seen since sometime last year.”

Kara Neidigh broke up the no-hit bid with one out in the top of the fourth, smacking a grounder right back up the middle for a clean hit. Taylor Myers followed with a sharp single to the shortstop hole. However, Coppersmith followed with back-to-back strikeouts.

She walked Haiden Brookens in the fifth, but fanned the next three batters. Brookens reached in the seventh with a looping base hit to right (see photo above), but another strikeout ended the game.

“We were swinging at the first pitch later in the game,” Skultety said. “She was throwing it for strikes and we figured we might as well get aggressive and get our hacks in. We didn’t do so well with our bunt game; I don’t think we fully committed to it.

“Hey, she’s the best pitcher in the district. It was a good measuring stick for us.”

NOTES: Coppersmith also went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and an RBI for the Panthers (16-0, ranked No. 1 in District 3) … Erin Cabry ripped a leadoff home run in the fifth … Another run scored in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Briana Smith … Central York did not make an out on a ground ball … Chambersburg starting pitcher Brooklyn Miller got out of bases-loaded, no-out jam in the second on a double play liner and a pop out … Mackenzie Stake (pictured at top) allowed only one hit in her three innings of work … The Trojans are now 10-5.

Central York 3, Chambersburg 0
Central York: Erin Cabry, ss 4-2-2-1, Emily Smith, dp 3-1-1-0, Payton Ness, lf 0-0-0-0, Taylor Sanders, 2b 4-0-0-0, Courtney Coppersmith, p 3 0-2-1, Delaney Bolen, cr 0-0-0-0, Briana Smith, 1b 2-0-0-1, Allison Twigg, rf 3-0-2-0, Lexi McAnnaney, c 2-0-0-0, Kelci Stonebreaker, cr 0-0-0-0, Natalie Craig, 3b 3-0-0-0, Kristina Landis, cf 3-0-0-0. Totals 27-3-7-3.
Chambersburg: Kirsten Johnson, 2b 3-0-0-0, Kara Neidigh, lf 3-0-1-0, Taylor Myers, cf 3-0-1-0, Brooklyn Miller, p 3-0-0-0, Alexis Estep, ss 3-0-0-0, Haiden Brookens, 3b 2-0-1-0, Haley Privett, c 2-0-0-0, Hannah Weagley, ph 1-0-0-0, Alyssa Wenger, dp 2-0-0-0, Sara Washabaugh, 1b 0-0-0-0, Mackenzie Stake, p 0-0-0-0, Molly Keefer, rf 2-0-0-0. Totals 24-0-3-0.
Central York          001   020   0   —   3
Chambersburg     000   000   0   —   0
LOB — CY 8; Chbg 4. DP — Chbg 1. E — Chbg 1. 2B — Coppersmith 2. HR — Cabry. SB — Brookens.
Central York Pitching
                                      ip  h   r  er  bb  k
Coppersmith, W         7   3   0   0   1   14
Chambersburg Pitching
Miller, L (4-2)              4   6   2   2   1   1
Stake                             3   1   1   1   2   3
WP — Coppersmith. PB — Chbg 1.

(Photos by Darby Sell)