By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
NEW TRIPOLI, Pa. — Athens' historic came season to an end in convincing fashion, an 11-0 loss to District 11 champion Northwestern Lehigh here Monday afternoon in the opening round of the PIAA, Class 4A softball playoffs.
"We knew what we were coming up against," said Athens coach Brian Wendela. "We knew they were a good team, we just wanted to try to keep the girls relaxed.
"We were hoping it would be more of a pitching battle, but it just wasn't our day.
"We can make excuses all day long that we got on a bus for a three-hour drive ... is that tough? Yes, but I think we're a good team that got beat by a better team," added Wendela.
The Tigers, who reached the state semifinals last year, took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a double by Natalie Conner and an RBI single by Shelby Mitman.
NL had runners on first and second and no outs after an error, but Athens ace Gretchan Hiley escaped further damage by retiring the next three batters.
Georgia Tech commit Abby Dunstan gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the third inning, and Conner followed with a two-run single to make it 4-0.
Northwestern Lehigh tacked on five unearned runs with two outs, capped by a two-RBI double by Dunstan, to extend its lead to 9-0.
Sophomore McKenna Jarvis hit a hard groundball single into left field with one out in the top of the fourth inning, and then stole second.
Senior Jules Pack worked her second walk of the game to put runners on second and third with two outs, but Tiger ace Emma Freeman ended the threat with a strikeout.
Ella Bressi stroked a line-drive RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the fourth to bring the 10-run "mercy" rule into effect, and the Tigers tacked on an unearned run on an Athens error to make it 11-0.
Freeman retired the Wildcats in order in the top of the fifth inning to end the game.
Dunstan doubled and singled, scored one run, and had three RBI, and Bressi singled twice, scored two runs, and had two RBI to pace Northwestern Lehigh's 10-hit attack.
"They are a good-hitting team," said Wendela. "They deserved everything they got."
Gretchan Hiley was tagged with the loss, allowing 11 runs — four earned — on 10 hits, while striking out a season-low four and walking three.
Jarvis accounted for Athens only hit, and Pack was the only other batter to reach base with a pair of base on balls.
The Wildcats wrap up the season at 21-2, including the program's first-ever District 4 title.
"I told the girls they have nothing to hang their heads about," said Wendela.
"They re-wrote every record as a team in the school history," he noted. "They represented our school well all year long.
"They came in during the offseason, they worked hard, and good things happened. I'm so proud of them.
"They've come so far when I stepped in on Day 1, and they've grown, and matured," added Wendela. "I hope more than anything they take some of the life lessons that we talked about with them along the way."
The Wildcats will graduate four seniors in Ella Coyle, Jules Pack, Gretchen Schmieg, and Savannah Persun, who missed the season with a knee injury.
"The seniors have been a huge part of the program.
"The program had a strange aura around in when I came in," said Wendela. "We didn't know what direction we were going in, but I'll give credit to the seniors, they bought in and did what we wanted from them.
"They work hard every day, they love the game," he noted. "They're going to be truly missed. Three of them are starters, and that's going to be hard to replace.
"They're going to be hard to replace because they are all good girls, they're fun to be around every day at practice ... we're going to miss them a whole bunch," added Wendela.
However, Wendela acknowledges the cupboard is far from bare with a host of players returning, led by sophomore ace Gretchan Hiley.
"We have one of the best pitchers in the state returning. She might not have shown it today, and she's pretty upset about it, but she's one of the best.
"We have some young talent on our bench right now, and there's some even younger talent from our junior high team that could possibly help us," said Wendela.
"If we can keep it together, who knows what can happen," he added. "We're looking to come back next year, and win another District title, and more — that's the goal."
Wendela also tipped his cap to the fans.
"I want to give a huge 'thank you' to the valley as a whole, not just our Athens Wildcats," he said. "I want to thank the whole community for all of their support not only during the regular-season, but the postseason as well.
"It was a little overwhelming with the support they showed our softball team this year," he added.
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens sophomore Gretchan Hiley. IN TOP PHOTO: Athens junior Savannah Finan. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
