Big Inning Helps Holy Redeemer Beat Deer Lakes in AA Softball

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, June 12, 2015 | 3:19 PM

Holy Redeemer scored 5 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a lead they would never relinquish as the Royals defeated Deer Lakes 10-5 to capture their first ever Class AA State championship at Beard Field on the campus of Penn State University.

Deer Lakes took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when senior Tiffany Edwards singled home Shae Robson who had reached on an error. The Royals answered in the bottom of the inning when senior Kaya Swanek doubled home Morgan Bienkowski and Jen Ringsdorf to give Holy Redeemer a 2-1. Swanek narrowly missed a 3-run homerun down the leftfield line. The Lancers score 4 more runs in the top of the second to take a 5-2 lead. After two outs, Sarah Blinn singled, Rachel Tanilli walked and Robson loaded the bases of Royals starter Kristen Coffay. Senior shortstop Katie Gozzard continued her torrid post season when she drove home 2 runs with a single. Edwards then hit a line drive to right field that was misplayed by Randi Kuhar for a 3-base error. Again, Holy Redeemer had a 2-run answer in the bottom of the inning. Abbey Shorts led off and was hit by an Edwards pitch. Freshman Samantha Rajza laid down a sacrifice bunt and when Edwards threw the ball past first base, Shorts went to third base. Tanilli did a great job backing up the play but when her throw got away from third baseman Brittany Dengler, Shorts scored and Rajza ended up on third. Bienkowski followed with the second of her three hits to score Rajza to make the score 5-4 Deer Lakes after two innings.

Holy Redeemer head coach Jerry Pualukonis then made the move of the game when he decided to remove the sophomore Coffay and replace her on the mound with Bienkowski. Paulukonis said after the game he thought about making the switch in the top of the second, but flipped the switch in the next inning and the moved paid off handsomely. The freshman came into the title game with an (8-0) record and an earned run average of (0.41) and she did not disappoint, allowing 4 hits and posting 5 scoreless innings to earn the victory. After walking the first batter she faced, Bienkowski would retire 10-straight batters before the Lancers added a pair of singles in the sixth and seventh innings.

The Royals broke the game open in their half of the fourth when they sent ten batters to the plate. Bienkowski was again in the middle of the rally, leading off with a double. After a wild pitch and a fly out, Brittany Hebda laid down a bunt, but the Lancers could not get the out at the plate as Edwards threw past Blinn and the game was tied. After Swanek walked, she continued around first base on a delayed steal and when Deer Lakes threw the ball to second baseman Stephanie Drapela, her relay to the plate was late as Hebda made a great slide to avoid the tag by Blinn and the Royals had their first lead a 6-5. Olivia Mennig doubled to left to score Swanek and Coffay singled to put runners at 1^st and 3^rd. Kuhar drove home a run with a single which ended the game on the mound for the Seton Hill bound Edwards. The sophomore Robson came onto pitch, but the inning continued for Holy Redeemer. Shorts popped out and Rajza singled home Coffay to give the Royals a 9-5 lead. Kuhar would add her second RBI of the game in the fifth inning as she was hit by a Robson pitch which scored Swanek to score the game’s final run. The Lancers put runners at first and second in the sixth inning but failed to score and Deer Lakes did the same in the seventh, but Bienkowski shut the door with a pair of fielder’s choice ground outs to end the game. The 10 runs were the most allowed by the Lancers all season. An emotional Deer Lakes head coach Craig Taliani, who has led the Lancers to the WPIAL playoffs in 9 of his 11 seasons, said the loss would stick with Deer Lakes for a long time but also said he was proud of his team for having such a great year and making finishing as the state Class AA runner up to a “great Holy Redeemer team that to their credit took advantage of our mistakes today.”

Holy Redeemer, the champions from District 2 end the season with a (23-1) record and the Royals won 19 straight games after losing to North Pocono on April 19^th. Deer Lakes, after making three straight appearances in the state quarterfinals, made its first ever appearance in the PIAA Championship, The Lancers had their 22-game winning streak snapped with the loss. Deer Lakes, which won their second WPIAL title this year, ends the campaign with a (24-2) record and the Lancers set the school record with the most wins for a softball season. Edwards took the loss for Deer Lakes and finished her senior year with a record of (20-2). She also ended her fine career at Deer Lakes at (63-6).
 

Scoring Summary:

Deer Lakes Lancers:   1 – 4 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 =    5 – 7 – 5
Holy Redeemer Royals:   2 – 2 – 0 – 5 – 1 – 0 – X = 10 – 10 – 2

Deer Lakes Pitching:

Tiffany Edwards         3 1/3 IP, 8 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 1 K – LP (20-2)

Shae Robson              2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

Holy Redeemer Pitching:

Kristen Coffay             2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K

Morgan Bienkowski    5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K – WP (9-0)

Tags: Deer Lakes, Holy Redeemer