SOFTBALL: Saturday's roundup, Shippensburg and Chambersburg go 2-1 at Big Spring Tournament

NEWVILLE >> Three area teams competed in the Big Spring Tournament on Saturday, and Chambersburg and Shippensburg both came out with winning records.

The Trojans lost their opener but rebounded for two wins, and the Lady Hounds won their first two before falling in the championship game. Greencastle had a disappointing day, finishing 1-2.

Chambersburg (8-7) ran into a hot Spring Grove team in the first round. The Rockets racked up 10 runs on 12 hits to hand the Trojans a 10-4 defeat.

"I told the girls that Spring Grove brought their hitting shoes this morning," Chambersburg co-coach Ted Bittinger said. "We struggled a bit against their pitcher, but we rebounded well the rest of the way."

The Trojans bounced back with a 12-1 win over New Oxford, followed by an 11-0 throttling of Greencastle in the fifth-place game.

In the game with New Oxford, Caeley Etter led the game off with her first home run of the season, and Sam Bender notched her third long ball of the year. Chelsea Sommerville finished 3-for-3, Alyia Kauffman was 2-for-4, and Taylor Kump was 2-for-3.

In the Trojans' win over the Blue Devils (9-4), Leah Hunt, Lily Nolan and Riley Burkholder all had doubles, and Chambersburg scored eight runs in the first two innings to take a commanding lead.

"Overall, we had a really good day," Bittinger said. "We bounced back and hit the ball well, and we should have helped ourselves in the district power rankings."

Hunt had an impressive day for Chambersburg. At the plate, she finished 6-for-9 with five RBIs, and she also got her first career win on the mound. She combined to throw 12 innings and gave up just two earned runs on six hits with 14 strikeouts. Bender was also 6-for-9 for the day and drove in six runs.

Katie Gelsinger had the only hit for the Blue Devils against Chambersburg. Greencastle went into the day with much higher expectations.

"This obviously wasn't the Saturday we wanted to have," G-A coach Mark DeCarli said. "We just have to hope that the girls learn from this and use this as motivation for the coming week."

Greencastle suffered a heartbreaker to South Western in the first game, taking a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning before the Mustangs scored two to pull ahead. The Devils pumped out five extra-base hits in the game, and Alicen Hoover finished with two hits, including a double.

Greencastle rebounded in Game 2 for an 11-5 win over Muhlenberg behind Liz Ward, who improved to 5-0 on the mound and was 3-for-3 with four RBIs at the plate.

Ally Brown also finished with two hits, a triple and two RBIs, and Ali Sherman had three hits, including a double.

"Our pitchers are doing a pretty good job, but we're not playing the defense behind them," DeCarli said. "Both Liz and Ally pitch to contact, so our defense needs to make the plays behind them if we're going to be successful."

The Lady Hounds (9-5) ambushed both Muhlenberg (12-3 win) in the opener and South Western (11-1) in the semis. Ship pounded out 12 runs on 15 hits in the opener, led by Courtney Coy, who finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Lexi Wolfe finished 3-for-5, and Morgan Fetter and Sami Barmont were both 2-for-4.

In Game 2, Ship used a five-run fourth inning to pull ahead from South Western. Coy finished 3-for-4, and also improved to 8-5 on the mound with a pair of wins. Fetter added a triple for the Lady Hounds.

Spring Grove 10, Chambersburg 4

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W — Wivell; L — Laken Myers (4-4).

2B — (SG) Cainman; 3B — (C) Tara Harmon, Leah Hunt.

Shippensburg 12, Muhlenberg 3

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W — Courtney Coy (7-4); L — Alexis Pugliese.

2B — (S) Coy, Brooke Barrett, (M) Curry; 3B — (S) Morgan Fetter.

South Western 7, Greencastle 6

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W — Ally Fleming; L — Ally Brown (4-3).

2B — (GA) Liz Ward, Alicen Hoover, Alison Shockey, (SW) Kaylen Welington, Bailey Moses; 3B — (GA) Erin Bontrager, Brooke Zeger; SB — (GA) Morgan Wagaman 2, (SW) Flemming, Hannah Sterrett, Allie Zombro.

Chambersburg 12, New Oxford 1

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W — Leah Hunt (1-0); L — Peck.

2B — (C) Sam Bender; HR —(C) Caeley Etter (1), Bender (3).

Greencastle 11, Muhlenberg 5

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W — Liz Ward (5-0); L — Kristy Kuczawa.

2B — (GA) Ali Sherman; 3B — (M) Kuczawa, Alexis Pugliese, (GA) Ally Brown; SB — (GA) Morgan Clopper 2.

Shippensburg 11, South Western 1

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W — Courtney Coy (8-4); L — Sterrett.

3B — (SW) Glover, (S) Morgan Fetter.

Chambersburg 11, Greencastle 0

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W — Laken Myers (5-4); L — Ally Brown (4-4).

2B — (C) Lily Nolan, Leah Hunt, Riley Burkholder.

JAMES BUCHANAN GOES 1-1 >> James Buchanan's long winning streak came to a crashing halt Saturday, but the Rockets rebounded to pick up a victory and place third in the Northeastern Tournament.