Around the Diamond: Ally Brown throws perfect game
Greencastle-Antrim's Ally Brown started the Big Spring Softball Tournament off with a bang, throwing a perfect game in a 10-0 win over South Western in the first round of the tournament.
"It was my first perfect game, so that was really awesome," Brown said. "I wasn't really thinking about it, which is something that last year I really struggled with. I was getting really behind in the count and throwing a lot of pitches, but this year I've really lowered the amount of pitches that I'm throwing and getting ahead in the count, so that's really helped, too."
She struck out eight batters in five shutout innings with no walks - allowing the Lady Blue Devils to rack up 10 runs along the way.
"Her control was on and she was hitting her spots," Greencastle coach Mark DeCarli said. "When she is on, she is on."
Morgan Wagaman, Ali Sherman, Mac Oberholzer, Abby Reitz and Hannah Beeler each had two hits in the win.
Greencastle went on to take down Big Spring 14-0 in the semifinals, in which Olivia Remenick threw a three-hit shutout in four innings.
MORE: Chambersburg makes a statement in Big Spring tourney win
BIG D: During an all-Franklin County tournament semifinal game between Shippensburg and Chambersburg, the Trojans claimed an 8-1 victory to move on to the championship. But the score could have been much different had the Shippensburg defense not stepped up big with Chambersburg runners in scoring position.
In the top of the sixth, Chambersburg loaded the bases with no outs holding a 5-1 lead. But Shippensburg forced an easy fly-out, then turned a quick double play to end the inning unscathed. With the bases loaded, a short blooper was hit toward the third-base side, and Shippensburg's Rachel Kline reached to make the grab, then turned and threw to Maddie Miller at first, who caught her runner off the bag to end the inning with the bases loaded.
CENTURY CLUB: Chambersburg's Leah Hunt got her 100th career hit during the semifinal against Shippensburg with a line-drive to left field - a single that she said, "... wasn't that great."
Career hit No. 103, however, was a doozy. After hitting three-straight singles, Hunt finally racked up some extra bases with a two-run home run to center field during the tournament championship game against Greencastle.
"It's always kind of been about when you're in the box, and on the field for that matter - attack," Hunt said, "And I think that's what the whole team got back into today. I feel like we are in attack mode and that's always what has worked for me hitting-wise, too."
ON THE UPSWING: After starting the season a shaky 2-3, the Greencastle softball team is on a steady upswing, winning seven of its last nine all the while outscoring opponents 87-25.
"We started out slow, but things are starting to jell, so I feel very good about this team and where we are going," DeCarli said. "I think we can get to where we were last year with this team."
As of Monday afternoon, the Lady Blue Devils had one loss in the Mid Penn Colonial Division - to Shippensburg - and is in the hunt for their second-straight division crown. But the Greyhounds are right on their heels with just six games to go in the regular season.