http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/
FROM KEITH GROLLER
STATE COLLEGE — In four previous trips to the state finals, Brandywine softball coach Don Roach had to console teary-eyed players after disappointing defeats.
On Friday morning after yet another PIAA 2A title game, Roach was the one crying.
But these were tears of joy.
Finally, Brandywine was a state champion.
The fifth time proved to be the charm for the Bullets, who defeated Riverside and star pitcher Kristen Wilson by a 1-0 score.
"I don't care about winning or losing, but it sure feels a lot better when we win," Roach, a Bethlehem native and Freedom High graduate, said. "We came in here with the attitude that this was David versus Goliath. We even talked about the 'Miracle on Ice' this morning. We knew we were the underdogs and that we had to scrape, scratch and claw to win the game and that's exactly what it took."
Jessica Musser’s single to right field scored Amanda Hess with her team’s only run in the bottom of the fourth inning and senior pitcher Megan Olsen made sure that was enough for the biggest win in Brandywine history.
Roach got choked up when thinking about all of the other girls who have come through his remarkable program over the past decade; players who didn't get to experience what his current Bullets did on Friday at Penn State's Beard Field.
"This team broke through the door, but all of those other teams showed them how to get here and do what they did today," Roach said. "It's interesting because we've come here before with dominant pitchers and now today we faced a real dominant pitcher, and somehow, the tables were turned."
Brandywine (27-2) was facing a pitcher in Wilson, who had given up just one hit in three previous PIAA playoff games. In fact, she had shut out 14 of Riverside's last 15 opponents, and had allowed just seven runs all season.
She lived up to her billing by allowing just one hit and recording seven strikeouts through three innings.
However, the Bullets, who were shut out in state final appearances in both 2009 and 2011, kept battling and finally broke through in the fourth when Hess singled to right with two out.
Dayna Jalowy followed with a grounder to first that went for an error.
Musser then followed with her hit that hugged the line in right.
Olsen, meanwhile, gave up four hits, but was able to work out of trouble.
Riverside (22-1) had two runners in the first, and got a one-out triple by Logan Snyder in the third, but couldn’t score.
The Panthers had one more good chance in the fourth when Natalie Pritts singled, moved to second on a sacrifice and advanced to third on a wild pitch. But Pritts stayed there as Olsen got a strikeout for the inning's second out and then a groundout.
Snyder singled again with two out in the fifth, but Olsen retired the last seven Riverside batters in order.
"This is the best feeling ever," Olsen said. "Our team played amazing. They played their hearts out."
Riverside 000 000 0 — 0 4 1
Brandywine 000 100 x — 1 5 0
Wilson and Mansfield; M. Olsen and Jalowy.
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