NEWVILLE — It’s not often a team gives up an 8-0 lead in a softball game.

That’s a fate that befell Chambersburg in a Mid Penn Conference tournament semifinal game against Shippensburg on Tuesday at Big Spring H.S.

Perhaps ever rarer, the Trojans found a way to come back and claim a 10-9 victory, thanks to a defensive lapse by the Lady Hounds and a clutch hit by Brooklyn Miller.

Chambersburg (14-7) will face East Pennsboro (19-0) in the championship game at 4:30 Thursday at Big Spring. The Panthers blanked Mechanicsburg 6-0 in the other semifinal as ace Cailey Joyce fired a no-hitter with zero walks and 15 strikeouts.

“It seems like we’ve done that all year — get a huge lead, and then let people back in,” Trojan coach Chris Skultety said. “I just know these girls aren’t going to quit … just like Ship didn’t quit.”

Shippensburg coach Mike Peters said, “We fought back; that was one thing I liked. Give Chambersburg credit — they made us make the plays and we didn’t make a couple of them.”

The Trojans trailed 9-8 entering the top of the seventh inning, but Alexis Estep led off with a base hit. An out later, Taylor Myers singled, and a fielder’s choice by Kara Neidigh left runners at second and third and two out.

Miller then had an event-filled at-bat. First she lifted a foul pop-up down the third-base line that could have been caught by either the Hound third baseman or shortstop for the final out. Instead, it fell to the grass.

Peters said, “The bottom line is, we had a chance to get the last out in the seventh, but we didn’t. The girls didn’t communicate.”

Then, Ship pitcher Emily Wenner unleashed a low wild pitch that enabled Estep to score the tying run. Finally, Miller lofted a single that right fielder Hayleigh Highlands came close to making a catch on, driving in the go-ahead run.

Mackenzie Stake, who had pitched the first four innings for Chambersburg, re-entered to pitch the bottom of the seventh and retired the Hounds 1-2-3.

“She just lost her confidence in the fifth inning, but I wanted to put her back in there because she needed it,” Skultety said. “And she did a nice job.”

Chambersburg loaded the bases with no outs in the third inning, and got consecutive RBI base hits from Sara Washabaugh, Kirsten Johnson and Estep. Then Molly Keefer (pictured above) stepped up and blasted a shot over the fence in right for a grand slam and a 7-0 lead.

Skultety said, “She has been struggling the last four or five games, and that was her first hit in a while with runners on base. But when she makes contact, she hits rockets.”

Neidigh plated a run in the top of the fifth on a grounder to make it 8-0.

But then Ship found its batting eye in the bottom of the fifth. A walk and Highlands’ double made it 7-1, and Sami Barmont’s hit brought in another run. Morgan Fetter than launched a shot over the fence in left for the game’s second grand slam, and suddenly it was 8-6.

“Morgan struggled a little against Red Land last night and I told her to relax and she hit a three-run homer,” Peters said. “So after she had struggled in her first two at-bats today, I reminded her of that and then she hits a grand slam.”

The Greyhounds didn’t stop in the sixth, now facing Miller’s pitches. Highlands — a JV player until a recent injury created a spot for her — hit a home run off the top of the fence, Wenner doubled in a run to tie the game, and another run scored on a Trojan error to make it 9-8.

NOTES: Amber Orndorff was 3-for-4 for Ship (15-4), and Wenner, Barmont and Highlands each had two hits … Myers was 3-for-4 for the Trojans, and Neidigh, Miller, Washabaugh, Johnson and Estep each had two hits … Stake (pictured below) earned a save and Miller got the win … The Greyhounds are ranked No. 5 in Class 5A; Chambersburg is No. 7 in 6A.

Chambersburg 10, Shippensburg 9
Chambersburg: Taylor Myers,cf 4-0-3-0, Kara Neidigh, lf 5-2-2-1, Brooklyn Miller, 3b 5-1-2-1, Haiden Brookens, dp 3-0-0-0, Mackenzie Stake, p 0-0-0-0, Erin Pattillo, ss 0-0-0-0, Hailey Privett, c 3-0-1-0, Laikyn Wagner, cf 0-1-0-0, Hannah Weagley, c 1-0-0-0, Sara Washabaugh, 1b 4-1-2-1, Kirsten Johnson, 2b 3-1-2-1, Alexis Estep, ss 4-3-2-1, Molly Keefer, rf 2-1-1-4, Alyssa Wenger, rf 1-0-0-0. Totals 35-10-15-9.
Shippensburg: Amber Orndorff, cf 4-2-3-0, Emily Wenner, p 3-2-2-1, Sami Barmont, ss 3-1-2-1, Morgan Fetter, c 3-1-1-4, Baille Jones, 1b 4-0-0-0, Bailey Bauserman, dp 3-0-0-0, Zoe Holtry, 2b 0-0-0-0, Rachel Kline, 3b 4-0-0-0, Jessica Lindsay, lf 3-1-0-0, Hayleigh Highlands, rf 4-2-2-2. Totals 31-9-10-8.
Chambersburg         007   010   2   —   10
Shippensburg           000   063   0   —    9
E — Chbg 1; Ship 1. LOB — Chbg 9; Ship 6. 2B — Highlands, Wenner. HR — Keefer (2); Fetter. SB — Myers, Neidigh. CS — Wenner. SAC — Brookens.
Chambersburg Pitching
                                          ip   h   r   er  bb  k
Stake, S (1)                       5     7   6   6    4    6
Miller, W (6-3)                2     3   3   2    1    0
Shippensburg Pitching
Wenner, L                      7   15  10  9   5   4
WP — Wenner.

(Photos by Darby Sells)