Extra Innings: Bender throws area's first no-hitter
All the pressure was on Sam Bender's shoulders when Chambersburg's softball team faced Carlisle last week.
The Lady Trojans were looking to clinch the Mid Penn Commonwealth Division title, and Bender delivered. She fired the area's first and only no-hitter to this point.
"I have to be honest, I didn't even know I threw a no-hitter until (coach Chris Skultety) told me," Bender said at the time.
Bender's only blemishes were a walk and a hit batter, but those both came in the first inning. She had seven strikeouts in the 11-1 victory.
HUGE INNING: A lot of teams talk about having one big inning, but Shippensburg had a huge inning on Friday against Northern York.
In a 15-2 victory, the Lady Hounds scored 10 runs in the first inning against the Polar Bears. All but three of those runs came with one out on the board.
What's more - Shippensburg went through the entire batting order almost twice, and only one player did not score in the frame.
TAKE THREE: It's not often that non-league teams compete three times in one season, but that could be the case for Chambersburg and Greencastle-Antrim if the pair make it out of the Mid Penn Conference semifinals.
On Tuesday, the Lady Trojans face West Perry, and Greencastle takes on Lower Dauphin. The winners of those games will play for the MPC Championship at 4:30 on Thursday at Big Spring.
The teams split their games during the regular season. Chambersburg edged the Blue Devils, 5-3, in the Big Spring Tournament championship, but Greencastle had the final say the second time around. Morgan Wagaman scored a run in the bottom of the seventh for a 6-5 victory.
COLONIAL DIV. SHAKES OUT: After the craziness that was Mid Penn Colonial Division softball this season, Greencastle officially took the title, finishing 8-2 in the league.
The final standings were distinctly different from last year's results. James Buchanan, which finished in a tie with Shippensburg for the crown last year, finished in fifth, while the Hounds settled in in third place. But the team that made the biggest jump was the Waynesboro Maidens.
Last year, the Maidens were 2-8 in the Colonial Division and merely 5-15 overall. This year was a complete 180, which saw the Maidens go 12-6 (7-3 MPC). Waynesboro still has a non-league game against Mechanicsburg scheduled for Tuesday.
DISTRICT 5 PLAYOFFS UNLIKELY: With the season coming to a rapid close, it's looking more and more unlikely that any of the area's District 5 softball teams will be advancing to the postseason.
Fannett-Metal, which completed its season with a 9-11 record, faltered at the end of the year and currently sits in ninth place in the district rankings. The top eight teams make the playoffs.
Forbes Road (5-13) is 11th, McConnellsburg (4-13) is 12th, and Southern Fulton (4-15) is 16th.