By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
LIME RIDGE – The rest of Courtney Rebar’s offensive statistics back up coach Mike Piercy’s assertion that she continues to hit the ball hard.
As Mid Valley moves through the postseason, she is back to hitting it high, too.
Rebar blasted a game-winning, two-run homer Thursday to lift the Spartanettes over Forest Hills, 4-2, in a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 3A state softball quarterfinal at Central Columbia High School.
“She’s always a kid who hits the ball really hard,” Piercy said. “I think this year, the ball was more low line drives and groundballs.
“She’s done a great job all year.”
Mid Valley entered the bottom of the sixth with just two hits off Avery Smiach and facing a 2-1 deficit.
Rebar followed Madison Kizer’s game-tying double with a home run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“That was a quality pitcher there,” Piercy said. “ … She had good velocity and did a good job of hitting her spots. We didn’t have much to show for it after the first five innings. But, our at-bats were progressively getting better.
“In the fourth and fifth, we had some good long at-bats and the experienced kids, they came through for us in the sixth inning.”
Rebar’s shot to center field was her third homer of the season and second in three games, adding to the one she hit in the District 2 championship game rout of Holy Redeemer. She had nine home runs a year ago.
“I didn’t really find anything,” said Rebar, who is hitting .448 with 27 runs batted in in 23 games. “I just started to look more into pitches and where they were pitching me and I hit it.”
Mid Valley advanced into the semifinals against District 11 champion Palisades behind the combined efforts of Rebar and Maranda Runco, who led off with her 18th homer on the only pitch thrown to her and tossed a three-hitter.
Piercy moved Runco back to the top of the batting order, knowing it would either give the Spartanettes a runner on base to start the game or encourage Forest Hills to at least pitch to her in the first inning.
In one pitch, Mid Valley was ahead.
It was the last pitch Forest Hills threw to her.
“We took one shot at her,” Forest Hills coach Krista Hershberger said. “We tried to throw a change-up way off the plate and she still sent it over. She’s a very good hitter.
“After that, we knew we weren’t going to let her try to do any more to us.”
The Rangers walked Runco with two out and nobody on in the third and again with two out and Audrey Hasenzahl on third in the fifth inning. Hasenzahl had doubled for just the second Mid Valley hit.
Forest Hills moved in front with two runs when the first three batters reached in the fourth on two walks and a hit, then put a scare into Mid Valley when three straight reached again with one out in the sixth.
Following the walk, hit and hit batter, Runco kept it a one-run game by working out of the bases-loaded jam with consecutive strikeouts.
Those were the first two of five straight outs to finish off the three-hitter that featured 10 strikeouts.
Runco kept it close long enough for the offense to send Mid Valley into the final four Class 3A teams in the state for the second time in three years.
“We knew they were going to be a good hitting team the whole game, so we knew we had to try to keep them off the bases the best we could,” Hershberger said.
Zavislak walked to start the sixth and the Mid Valley power went to work, beginning with Kizer’s double to left-center.
“My best friend Madison Kizer said to me right before that, ‘you and me, always you and me’,” Rebar said.
Together, they put Mid Valley in front.
Second baseman Kat Davis then handled two straight groundballs in the seventh before shortstop Elise Larson threw to first for the last out of the game.
Mid Valley and Palisades will play Tuesday at Bloomsburg University at 4, after the game was rained out from Monday. The winner advances to Friday’s championship game at Penn State.
MORE COVERAGE
Mid Valley-Warrior Run PIAA first-round game story: Runco powers Spartanettes – NEPA Sports Nation.
District 2 Class 3A softball final and semifinal roundup: ROUNDUP: Spartanettes claim fourth straight 3A district title – NEPA Sports Nation.
Riverside-Mid Valley semifinal photo gallery: Riverside at Mid Valley Softball Photo Gallery – NEPA Sports Nation.
District 2 Class 3A quarterfinal roundup: ROUNDUP: Pfeiffer, Kostoff lead Lady Vikes into Class 3A semifinals – NEPA Sports Nation.
