Pictured above: Mia Galella from Holy Cross, shown in five photo, drove in five runs in the district semfinal. (Tim Drewes Photo)
Elk Lake and Holy Cross will meet for the District 2 Class 2A softball title for the third straight year Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. at the University of Scranton.
Top-seeded Elk Lake has beaten Holy Cross in two entirely different types of one-run games the past two seasons.
The Lady Warriors won, 2-1, in 2021 and held off a Lady Crusaders rally to repeat, 12-11, last season.
Holy Cross (14-8) and Elk Lake (18-2) secured their spots in the final by getting through close semifinal games Wednesday. Elk Lake had a quarterfinal bye in the seven-team tournament while Holy Cross also had to win a quarterfinal game in order to get to the final.
A look back at the first two rounds of the tournament:
QUARTERFINALS
Dunmore 12, Lackawanna Trail 4
Rachel Walsh hit a two-run homer and Morgan Quinn had a solo homer for Dunmore in the May 22 win at Lackawanna Trail.
Carolena Ryan had two hits and scored three times for Lackawanna Trail.
Lakeland 9, Blue Ridge 8
Lakeland outlasted Blue Ridge in 10 innings in the May 22 game.
Holy Cross 14, Montrose 1
Holy Cross began the tournament with an 11-run first inning and a five-inning, home victory. For a full report on that game, see: Lady Crusaders romp in opener – NEPA Sports Nation.
SEMIFINALS
Elk Lake 6, Dunmore 4
Amanda Voll struck out eight while going the distance and Mati Lord went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and an RBI in the semifinals.
Voll did not walk a batter in the six-hitter. She allowed just two unearned runs.
The game was tied, 2-2, before Elk Lake scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Leah Traver also had a double and RBI.
Holy Cross 11, Lakeland 8
Mia Galella went 3-for-3 with a double, home run, five RBIs and two runs scored to lead Holy Cross to the come-from-behind semifinal victory.
Katie Wywoda went 2-for-2 with a double, triple and three runs scored.
Winning pitcher Ava Schmidt had two hits, two runs and an RBI.
Schmidt came on in relief in the third inning with Lakeland in front, 5-3. She struck out six while allowing just two unearned runs on three hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Chloe Mendicino added to the offense by going 2-for-3 and Mia Scalese drove in two runs.
Wywoda doubled and Galella hit a two-run homer in the first inning to open the scoring.
Lakeland jumped ahead with five runs in the top of the second.
Holy Cross did not have a hit in the bottom of the inning, but managed to load the bases and pick up a run on a wild pitch.
The Lady Crusaders tied the game in the third when Scalese doubled in a run, stole third and scored on a wild pitch.
Schmidt struck out the side on 12 pitches in the fourth and Holy Cross went ahead in the bottom of the inning.
Holy Cross broke a 5-5 tie with the five-run inning.
Mendicino scored on a wild pitch. Wywoda tripled and scored on a Galella single. Schmidt singled in another run before the first out was recorded. Mia Scalese’s sacrifice fly drove in Emma Scalese, her sister.
Lakeland got two runs back in the fifth, but Galella doubled to score Wywoda, making it 11-7.
Schmidt got out of a bases-loaded situation in the sixth before securing the win by giving up just one run in the seventh.
