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DIST. 3-AAA SOFTBALL: Greencastle-Antrim uses clutch hitting to defeat Dover, 5-1


GREENCASTLE >> Throughout the softball season, Greencastle-Antrim coach Mark DeCarli has been looking for three things: Good hitting, strong pitching and solid defense.

He got all three on Tuesday afternoon in the first round of the District 3 Class AAA playoffs.

The Blue Devils produced 11 hits, held Dover to just one run and committed only one error that didn't cause any damage. They ended up with a 5-1 victory and will face Lampeter-Strasburg (20-3) on Thursday in the quarterfinals at a site and time to be decided.

"Overall, I was very pleased," DeCarli said. "Defense has been our Achilles' heel all year, and the past couple of games, it's been getting better and better. Dover is a good team, and we stepped up today and played good defense."

Greencastle (14-7) had a stranglehold on the game early, going ahead 4-0 after three innings. But after allowing three runs in the bottom of the third, Dover (11-8) had its best chance of the day.

Taylor Lamparter led off with a single and was followed by an infield single from Cassandra Root, and Karsyn Blauser then drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Abbey Lower then had a fine at-bat, getting it to a full count and fouling off three pitches before smacking an RBI single to plate Lamparter. But Greencastle's Ally Brown then struck out a batter and induced a flyout and groundout to end the threat.

"That's one thing we've been trying to work on," Eagles coach Lauren Craig said. "That's been one of our shortfalls this year, and we've been really focused on trying to bring those girls around. It's been a struggle for us the latter part of this season."

Dover may have also made another critical mistake. The Blue Devils had already faced Eagle pitcher Lexi Gohn at the Cumberland Valley tournament, and they jumped on her early. In four innings of work, Gohn allowed seven hits and four runs, all of which were earned.

"The second girl, (Lamparter), we hadn't seen her before and I thought she had some pretty good movement," DeCarli said. "We haven't seen too many lefties, so if they had've thrown her in the beginning of the game, it could've been a different story."

Greencastle, on the other hand, allowed Brown to throw the complete game, and she didn't disappoint. She scattered five hits, allowing more than one in only the fourth inning.

"We had the lead in that fourth inning, so that helped a little bit to lessen the pressure," Brown said. "My defense had been good all day, I'd been pitching good all day, and we'd been hitting good all day. I knew that even if something did happen, we'd be able to come back from it."

Brown also helped her own cause in a big way. She finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs and had a clutch, two-RBI double in the third inning that plated what proved to be the winning run.

She was matched by Morgan Wagaman, who was 4-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Three of Wagaman's singles were bunts.

"They were pitching right down the middle of the plate, and that doesn't usually happen with left-handed pitchers," Wagaman said. "They normally pitch outside, so that was helping me when I bunted. I also think my speed helps. Normally when people bunt, they can't get there quickly enough."

NOTES >> Lower finished with a pair of hits for Dover ... The Eagles left eight stranded, compared to just six for G-A ... The Blue Devils got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from Alicen Hoover.

Greencastle 5, Dover 1

DoverGreencastleabrhbabrhbBaum cf3000Wagmn cf4240Goodmn 3b4010Shermn lf3110Cutright ss4000Brown p3033Gohn p3000Clopper cr0100Lampartr lf3110Gelsingr c2010Bitner lf0000Shocky cr0000Root 2b3010Ward 3b2000Blauser c1000Zeger 1b2100Lower lf3021Bontrgr ss3000Hknsmth 1b3000Hoover dp3011Walck lf3010Reitz 2b0000Totals27151Totals265114
Dover0001000—1Greencastle103001x—5

E: GA 1; LOB: Dover 8, GA 6; 2B: Brown; SB: Wagaman, Ward, Clopper; CS: Ward.

Dover pitching

Gohn (L)474422Lamparter241111

Greencastle pitching

HBP: by Brown (Blauser).

WP: Brown 1, Lamparter.

T: 1:48.