FAYETTEVILLE — When the team you’re facing plays a flawless game, you know it’s going to be difficult to find a way to win.
That’s the feeling Greencastle-Antrim’s softball team found itself dealing with Tuesday afternoon at Norlo Park, when the Blue Devils had to compete against a Chambersburg team that did everything right.
Kendall Flory
The result was a 7-0 non-league win for the Trojans, who got a 5-hit shutout from pitcher Issie Slimmer, home runs from Kylee Perry and Kendall Flory, and no mistakes from a defense that produced a couple of highlight-reel plays to bring home the “Battle of the Bats” trophy over their local rival.
“There are some things we’ll need to work on that we didn’t do well today,” G-A coach Mark DeCarli said. “We’ll have to learn from it. If we do, we can do well in the playoffs; if we don’t, it could be a shorter run than we want. But the better team today won the game, no question.”
Chambersburg coach Chris Skultety said, “That was a great performance — we put everything together today. We know Greencastle can really hit and pitch well.”
The game made a big turn in the Trojans’ favor in the top of the first inning. With a runner on first and two outs, Blue Devil cleanup hitter Kylie Kerns sent the ball flying to deep left field. Chambersburg’s Erissa Varner ran back to the fence, turned, reached up and caught the ball in the web of her glove to deny Kerns a home run.
Skultety said, “That was a big catch by Varner in the first — I think it got them down a little.”
“Kylie hit it pretty hard, but their girl made a nice play on it,” DeCarli said.
The other defensive gem was turned in by centerfielder Marley Onomastico for the final out of the sixth. Kindal Rice blistered a low line drive up the middle. Onomastico decided to try for the out, and just got her glove under it to make the diving catch.
Slimmer did the rest. G-A hit some balls hard, especially early, but couldn’t string any hits together. The Blue Devils had 5 hits, but never more than one in an inning. One baserunner reached second base, on Paiton Gordon’s single and a sac bunt by Serenity Goodman in the third, but nobody else got past first base.
DeCarli said, “We’ve struggled lately with the offense, not getting enough hits. (Slimmer) was hitting that outside corner and our girls couldn’t seem to go get it.”
Slimmer had a good curveball working and her control was superb — no walks, although one hit batter, and five strikeouts.
“To hold them to five hits was great,” Skultety said. “Once she started hitting her spots, she settled in and closed the door.”
Chambersburg catcher Flory said, “The coaches gave us a good idea of where they like to hit the ball, so Issie stayed away from that. She was hitting her spots really well.”
The Trojan offense had a good day, too. Greencastle ace Kiersten Swain, who had put together several excellent outings in a row, surrendered 5 earned runs, 8 hits and a walk in 3.2 innings.
Chambersbug scored with power: the second batter to face Swain, Kylee Perry, absolutely crushed a solo home run in the first. In the third, with a run already in on Onomastico’s sacrifice fly to the fence in left, Flory hit another bomb that carried the fence easily, making it 5-0.
“I was just thinking about not dropping my hands when I swing,” Flory said. “When I hit it, I was almost expecting it to hit the top of the fence and come back in play.”
The Trojans also manufactured a few runs: Piper Jones and Sanay Jones each hit into a fielder’s choice to the right side of the infield with a runner on third and less than two outs for RBIs, Onomastico hit her sac fly and Varner walked, stole second and third base and came home when the throw to third was wild.
Next up for Chambersburg are the District 3 Class 6A playoffs. The No. 2 Trojans (16-3) and No. 1 Central Dauphin (18-1) earned byes in the first round, which means Chambersburg’s next game will be at home on Thursday, May 21 in a quarterfinal, likely vs. either No. 7 Mechanicsburg (13-7) or No. 10 Hempfield (10-10).
Greencastle (16-3) plays Wednesday in a semifinal game of the Mid Penn Conference playoffs. They take on Keystone champion Red Land (18-2) at Central Dauphin at 4:30. A win would put them in the final on Friday.
The Blue Devils have also clinched the No. 2 seed in District 3 5A, behind No. 1 Solanco (20-0). G-A gets a first-round bye, and will host a quarterfinal game on Thursday, May 21, likely against either No. 7 Hershey (15-4) or No. 10 Twin Valley (15-4).
NOTES: G-A had won 11 consecutive games … The Trojans now have 7 straight victories … Addy Gsell was 3-for-4 for Chambersburg, and Varner, Flory and Hensley Brookens each had 2 hits … Katie Zawilinski threw the final 2.1 innings for Greencastle, allowing 3 hits and 1 unearned run.