NTL SOFTBALL: ATHENS WINS CENTRAL COLUMBIA TOURNAMENT (2025-04-27)

Valley Sports Report
BLOOMSBURG — Unbeaten Athens kept rolling with wins over Central Columbia and Berwick here Sunday at the Central Columbia Softball Tournament.

"Awesome job again by the girls today," said Athens coach Brian Wendela. "They keep finding ways to win and it has been everyone in the lineup taking turns contributing.

"It’s really been fun to watch and I’m super-proud of the effort these girls give every time out," added Wendela. "They just keep grinding and playing hard and as a team."

The Wildcats, now 12-0, handed the host Blue Jays, now 10-2, its second loss of the season with an 8-6 win, then thumped Berwick (6-6), 15-3, in the nightcap.

"We had the tough task of getting on a bus for a couple of hours for rare Sunday games against a very good hitting team from Central Columbia and another solid team in Berwick," said Wendela. "I was kind of wondering how we were going to handle that whole situation. We definitely had a couple mental lapses today we need to straightened out and the wind didn’t do any of the teams any favors today. However the girls played the game that was presented to them twice today and came out on top.

"This team has been showing they can deal with the adversity and they continue to have each other's back no matter what’s happening and today was just some good experience for the whole team moving forward into the final stretch of the season.

"We are playing really good softball, but I feel we have yet to meet our full potential offensively and defensively," added Wendela. "The goal is to be playing at our best when post season play begins and we will keep working to do just that."

ATHENS 8 CENTRAL COLUMBIA 6
In the first game, Athens let a 6-1 lead slip through its fingers, but RBI singles by juniors Savannah Finan and Maddie Hiley late in the game lifted Athens to an 8-6 win over Central Columbia in a battle of the top two teams in Class 4A in District 4.

The Wildcats, playing as the home team, took advantage of five Blue Jay errors in the win.

Sophomore Gretchan Hiley led off the bottom of the first inning with a double, and junior Maddie Hiley walked. With two outs, Gretchan Hiley scored on a passed ball, and Maddie Hiley scored on an error to give Athens a 2-0 lead.

The Blue Jays answered with an unearned run in the top of the second inning to close the gap to 2-1.

In the bottom of the fourth, Finan reached on a dropped third strike, and junior Danica May smacked a line-drive double to right field.

Senior Gretchen Schmieg knocked in a run with a groundout to make it 3-1, and back-to-back Central Columbia errors plated to more tuns to extend the lead to 5-1.

Sophomore McKenna Jarvis capped the rally with an RBI single up the middle to make it 6-1.

The Blue Jays, who did not have a hit through the first four innings and struck out 10 times against Athens ace Gretchan Hiley, used two singles and a walk to set the stage for freshman Jude Flick, who smacked a grand slam over the center-field fence to trim the deficit to 6-5.

Two more hits plated another run for Central Columbia to tie the game at 6-6.

Athens answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Schmieg and Gretchan Hiley worked two-out walks, and Maddie Hiley lined an RBI single into right field to give the Wildcats a 7-6 lead.

After Gretchan Hiley pitched around a one-out single in the top of the sixth, the Wildcats added an insurance run in the home half of the inning on a two-out triple by senior Jules Pack and an RBI single to left field by Finan to make it 8-6.

Gretchan Hiley allowed a one-out single in the top of the seventh inning, then hit a batter. She struck out the next two batters, with the game ending when freshman catcher Memphis Paul gunned down a CC runner on a dropped third strike.

All nine of Athens' starters had one hit.

Maddie Hiley singled, scored two runs, and drove in one run, while Gretchan Hiley doubled and scored two runs, Pack tripled and scored one run, and May doubled and scored one run.

Schmieg and Finan each singled, scored one run, and drove in one run for the Wildcats, while Paul and Jarvis each singled and knocked in one run, and senior Ella Coyle added a single.

Gretchan Hiley earned the win, allowing six runs — five earned — on seven hits, while striking out 15 and walking two in seven innings of work.

ATHENS 15, BERWICK 3, 5 inn.
Athens pounded out 13 hits, and sophomore Gretchan Hiley was untouchable through three innings to help the Wildcats to a 15-3 five-inning win over Berwick.

The Wildcats, playing as the visitors, scored two runs in the top of the first inning. Gretchan Hiley led off with a single, and scored on an RBI triple to right field by junior Maddie Hiley, who scored on a two-out double by senior Ella Coyle.

Athens took complete control of the game with seven runs in the second inning in a rally that included a two-run double by Maddie Hiley, a two-run triple by senior Jules Pack, an RBI double by junior McKenna Jarvis, and RBI singles by freshman Memphis Paul and junior Savannah Finan.

Athens added to its lead with a two-run single by Coyle in the third inning to take an 11-0 lead.

Gretchan Hiley struck out the first seven batters she faced, and fanned eight batters in three perfect innings to earn the win.

Maddie Hiley pitched the final two innings, allowing three runs on four hits, while striking out two and walking two.

Gretchan Hiley was 3-for-3 with a double and four runs scored, and Maddie Hiley tripled and doubled, scored four runs, and had four RBI to lead the Wildcats at the plate.

Coyle doubled and singled, scored one run, and had three RBI in the win, while Pack tripled and singled, scored one run, and had two RBI, Paul singled twice, scored one run, and drove in two runs, Jarvis doubled, scored one run, and knocked in one run, Finan singled and drove in one run, Andrea Davis scored two runs, and Faith Pankhurst crossed the plate once.

Athens hosts Wellsboro Tuesday.

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