May 29, 2013 3 min read

WEXFORD – It might just be the hardest game to win in the WPIAL softball playoffs.

The battle for the third and final spot in the district for the state tournament is waged between teams that have each suffered losses in the semifinals. Overcoming the disappointment of having your dreams of winning a WPIAL championship derailed is the first hurdle.

Fortunately for Chartiers-Houston, Toni Spossey had one of her best games.

The sophomore pitcher fired a two-hit shutout and came up a home run shy of hitting for the cycle to help propel Chartiers-Houston to a 2-0 victory over Beaver in the Class AA third-place game at North Allegheny High School Wednesday.

The Bucs moved to 19-1 and will play the District 6 champion, Phillipsburg Osceola, in the PIAA first round Monday.

“It was nerve-wracking,” said Spossey, who struck out seven and walked just one. “This is the first trip to the playoffs for me.”

Spossey baffled a Beaver team that had only 11 players on the roster and started six freshmen. Spossey took a no-hitter into the sixth inning but one of those freshmen, pitcher Casey Farkasovsky, rapped a clean single through the left side of the infield to break it up.

“(Spossey) has pitched great any time we’ve put her out there,” said Chartiers-Houston head coach Tricia Alderson. “She pitched great against Riverside (in a 4-0 semifinal loss). She got the win against South Fayette (7-4) and split innings in a bunch of scrimmages.”

Spossey got the start over senior Kayla Briggs, who played center field and batted leadoff.

Alderson wasn’t giving any secrets away about who would start in the playoffs.

“We have a good 1-2 punch,” she said.

The Bucs scored two runs in the third but could have had more if not for a baserunning error in the second and a couple missed opportunities later in the game.

Kassie Kesneck led off the third with an infield single and was sacrificed to second by Sabrina Stankus. One out later, Piper McLaughlin hit a triple to left field that scored Kesneck and Spossey followed with a double that dropped along the left field foul line that scored McLaughlin.

“I thought we would score a few more runs,” Alderson said.

In the second inning, Megan Kraushaar drew a one-out walk, stole second and went to third on a single by Samantha Elliott. After Casey Craig popped up to shortstop, Elliott took off for second, hoping to draw a throw and allow Kraushaar to score from third. But Elliott was tagged out before Kraushaar could reach home plate and that ended the inning.

Spossey tripled to right field with one out in the sixth but was stranded when Farkasovsky struck out Haley Sutton and got Kraushaar to ground out to short.

In the seventh, Kesneck doubled with two outs but Farkasovsky struck out Stankus.

Farkasovsky was on base three times, walking in the first inning, getting on by fielder’s choice in the fourth and singling to break up the no-hitter in the sixth. The only other hit for Beaver came in the seventh, when Jayda Justice lofted one into left field. But Spossey stopped a one-hop comebacker and struck out Ariada Jusino to end the game.

“We just wanted to win the game,” said Alderson. “It’s important to qualify for the state playoffs. That’s the goal, especially since moving up to Class AA. … In the state playoffs, everyone is 0-0. It’s one-and-done now, and anything can happen.”