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More than a courtesy, freshman Cabry lifts Central York past Dallastown


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A freshman in her first varsity game, Erin Cabry didn't speak much during Central York's bus ride to Dallastown for Wednesday's YAIAA Division I softball game.

Cabry was a little nervous, not quite 100 percent after icing down the ankle she sprained Friday in a JV game.

Panthers coach Shane Walker used her as a courtesy runner, and she wound up scoring the lone run in Central's 1-0 victory.

Cabry played shortstop and third base on the JV team, but Walker figured he could use her speed.

"I've got a pretty good third baseman and I've got a pretty good shortstop," Walker said of his varsity roster.


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Not until the seventh inning Wednesday with the game still scoreless did Cabry's bursts between the base paths truly show. She subbed in for catcher Briannah Dobson, who led off the seventh with a single. Earlier, Cabry's ankle made her questionable enough that Walker opted to use another runner in place of Dobson, who walked twice. When Cabry made her debut in the fifth, she reached third base. Central (8-1, 6-1) couldn't get her any farther, which was typical of the day at Dallastown (8-2, 7-1).

Neither Central pitcher Kayla Resh nor Dallastown's Jaelynn Harbold allowed many scoring opportunities.

Through the first three innings, Dallastown leadoff hitter Lyndee Anders supplied the only hit on a two-out double. Central got two runners into scoring position in the fifth, but couldn't capitalize with just one out. Harbold induced a pop fly on a bunt and then got the strikeout to end that threat.

Resh found similar fortune in the bottom of the fifth, as shortstop Kyla Caruso — one of the reasons Cabry usually plays JV — back-pedaled into the outfield before turning and stretching out her glove to pull down the ball.

"For a pitcher, getting all of those pop ups helps a lot," Resh said. "It just makes me happy."

Resh finished with only three strikeouts and a walk, but she also gave up just three hits. Harbold struck out six for the Wildcats, who maintained a half-game lead in the YAIAA Division I standings despite the loss. It's one that left players upset and disappointed for now, Dallastown coach Jeff Deardorff said.

"They have short memories," Deardorff said. "They'll be over it. If we're away and we lose, about halfway home they're usually over it."

For two hours on Dallastown's home field in front of its high school, a matter of inches separated the two with critical calls down both foul lines. Early, a softball whizzed down the third-base line only to be called foul and prevent a Dallastown run.

In the top of the seventh, a throw to first base hit Central batter Monica Albers' helmet before she extended a foot to the bag. Albers originally thought she was safe, and Cabry thought she scored the go-ahead run.

Umpires convened and ruled Albers out. Moments later they called Cabry to return to third base.

"It was nerve-wracking I have to admit," Cabry said. "It was just a confusing play, all around."

Central and Dallastown might still be playing had Cabry not drawn the defense's attention on the next play. With first base open, No. 9 hitter Alyssa Stonebraker safely reached it as Cabry shuffled between home and third.

She listened to her coach, Walker, who yelled instruction from behind as fielders tossed the ball in effort to tag her out.

"I heard him yell 'back,' so I went back, and 'forth,' so I had to stick with it," said Cabry, who safely retreated back to third base.

Her move set up Resh, whose infield hit drew a throw home. Cabry beat it and supplied the lone run.

Walker joked the move to call her up made him look like a "genius." Cabry said she was just happy the day ended after an exasperating bus ride.

"I was extremely nervous," she said. "I was in my own world. I was trying to focus on it."

Contact Matt Goul at 771-2045.

Central York 1, Dallastown 0

Central York0000001—160Dallastown0000000—030

CY, Kayla Resh and Briannah Dobson. Dt, Jaelynn Harbold and Melanie Grant.

SO-BB — CY, Resh 3-1. Dt, Harbold, 6-3; W — Resh; L — Harbold; 2B — CY, Haley Klunk. Dt, Lyndee Anders.