Jun. 8—PINE GROVE — Mackenzie Carl does everything you’d want a leadoff batter to do.
Williams Valley’s junior shortstop puts the ball in play. She gets on base. She attacks on the basepaths. She scores runs. And she fires up her teammates.
Carl did all of that and more Monday afternoon to lead the Vikings past District 12 champion Conwell-Egan 15-0 in four innings in a PIAA Class AA first-round game at Pine Grove’s Stump Field.
With the win, District 11 champion Williams Valley (20-4) advanced to Thursday’s quarterfinals to meet District 6 champion Mount Union (19-3) at a site and time to be announced. Mount Union was a 12-3 winner over District 4 runner-up Wyalusing in another first-round game Monday.
Carl’s trip around the bases in the first inning illustrated just how adept she is as a leadoff hitter. Despite getting behind in the count 1-2, Carl fouled off a pitch to stay alive, then laced a hard single through the hole between the third baseman and shortstop.
Alex Bogle followed with a single to nearly that same spot to put runners at first and second. Emma Crisswell then hit a hard one-hopper that the second baseman misplayed. As Conwell-Egan (12-9) tracked down the ball in the outfield, Carl never stopped running and dove around the tag attempt by catcher Ang Brensen to score the first run of the game just three batters in.
Tori Rabuck’s RBI groundout made it 2-0, and Lainie Shoop followed with a booming RBI triple to right field to chase home Crisswell for a 3-0 lead. Jade Groff then roped an RBI double to left field, and Shoop scored to put a shellshocked Conwell-Egan team into a 4-0 hole.
“I like being leadoff because it gets the game started and everybody’s excited when I start it off,” Carl said. “And it just turns into a hitting parade.
“That’s how it starts,” she added. “Every game, that’s how we get it going.”
Williams Valley was just getting started. The Vikings added five runs in the second inning, three in the third and three more in the fourth to end the game by the 15-run rule.
And Carl was at the center of much of the action. She finished 4-for-4 with three runs scored to lead the Vikings’ 18-hit attack. She singled and scored in the second inning, singled in the third inning and singled and scored in the fourth.
Williams Valley’s offense was a whole lot more than just Carl, though.
Shoop had a pair of triples in three at-bats, the second one coming with the bases loaded in the third inning to increase the Vikings’ lead from 9-0 to 12-0. In the play-in game against Bristol, Shoop hit a two-run home run and an RBI single.
“We practice a lot and get a lot of repetition, and we’re constantly going back to the mechanics, and it really follows through in the end when it comes to game time,” Shoop said. “And I couldn’t be prouder of these girls.”
Jade Groff, who homered against Bristol, continued her hot hitting with her RBI double in the first inning and an RBI triple in the second. Crisswell, Rabuck and Gracie Ruch delivered RBI singles as Williams Valley’s lead grew from a manageable 4-0 to a commanding 9-0.
In the fourth, Bogle laced a two-run single, and Rabuck smashed an RBI single to center field to drive in the 15th run.
And don’t forget about the No. 9 hitter, second baseman Olivia Savage, who went 3-for-3 with a double and scored a run.
“We talked about being patient at the plate and getting our pitches,” Williams Valley coach Ryan Underkoffler said. “They’re seeing a lot more pitches now. They’re being more selective than they were early in the season.
“In previous years, we hit one through nine,” Underkoffler added. “At the beginning of the year, we had the top five or six hit. Now it’s one through nine. Everybody’s doing their part.”
All of that offense made life easier for Crisswell. The senior right-hander continued her lights-out pitching by hurling a three-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none. In four postseason games, Crisswell has pitched 16 shutout innings, allowing six hits and striking out 35.
In its four playoff games, Williams Valley has gone 57-for-103 at the plate for a .553 team batting average while outscoring its four opponents 55-0.
“We’re hitting our stride, so that’s a good thing,” Underkoffler said.
Contact the writer: blipsky@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6012: @boblipskyRH on Twitter