When Sports Were Played: C-H outlasts Burgettstown in 15-inning marathon
Observer-Reporter
Chartiers-Houston High School softball coach Tricia Alderson reacts in the background as Danni Claassen scores the tying run in the seventh inning of a WPIAL Class A softball quarterfinal game May 24, 2004, at California University. Burgettstown pitcher Gina Kokoskie (12) waits for the ball. C-H won the game, 2-1, in 15 innings.
Associated Press
Chartiers-Houston’s Danni Claassen (9) is safe at second base with a double as Burgettstown second baseman Jamie Petrel attempts a tag during a WPIAL playoff softball game May 24, 2004. Chartiers-Houston won 2-1 in 15 innings.
The previous “When Sports Were Played” was about a five-overtime college basketball game. Today, in keeping with the theme of long contests, we revisit a well-played 15-inning softball playoff game betrween Chartiers-Houston and Burgettstown from May 24, 2004:
CALIFORNIA – There were enough story lines and plot twists in the WPIAL Class A softball quarterfinal game between Chartiers-Houston and Burgettstown to keep a mini-series fresh for three days.
And that’s how long the game might have lasted had Shannon Arnold’s fly ball not fallen for a single Monday evening.
Arnold’s bloop hit fell in front of charging Burgettstown left fielder Krystal Wojtaszek and scored Casey Kapis from third base in the top of the 15th inning. The run capped Chartiers-Houston’s 2-1 victory in a tension-filled, 3-hour-and-5-minute epic at California University’s Lilley Field.
“I honestly thought we would be here all night, that they would have to turn the lights on because nobody was going to score,” said Chartiers-Houston coach Tricia Alderson.
Nobody would have blinked if that happened. The evenly matched teams played with heart and emotion, turning in a performance more fitting a championship game than a mere quarterfinal contest.
“It’s a shame this was the quarterfinals,” said Burgettstown coach Mark Deer. “We’ve been overlooked all year, but we proved we’re as good as any team.”
The victory was gratifying for Chartiers-Houston (18-3) because the Bucs overcame a first-inning deficit, pitched out of a full-blown jam in the sixth, tied the score in the seventh when they were down to their final two outs and won with two clutch hits.
And the player who delivered the game-winning single erased the memory of an early mistake.
With two outs in the first inning and Burgettstown’s Jamie Petrel on second base, Arnold, the Bucs’ catcher, had a third strike glance off her glove. Arnold recovered and tried to throw out batter Heather Markley at first base, but the throw sailed wide and directly to right fielder Shanna Tarr.
Petrel, meanwhile, never stopped running and raced home with the game’s first run.
“I felt I had to do something to score a run because I gave them one,” Arnold said.
For Burgettstown (13-5), it was a bitter defeat. Because it was a quarterfinal game, the Blue Devils’ season is over. Had it come in the semifinals, they would have played in the third-place game for a spot in the PIAA playoffs.
“The shame of it all is we have to meet this early,” Deer said. “I talked to Tricia about this earlier and there was no doubt in our minds that we both were in the top four teams. To have both of us and Sto-Rox all in the top half of the bracket is ludicrous.”
Burgettstown pitcher Gina Kokoskie matched Chartiers-Houston’ Jenn Alderson for the entire game.
Kokoskie tossed a six-hitter with 15 strikeouts, but what’s most impressive is the senior right-hander did not walk a batter. Alderson, also a senior, was simply dominating. She did not give up an earned run, tossed a three-hitter and struck out 16.
Alderson’s biggest strikeouts came in the sixth when Burgettstown’s first two batters reached base. No. 9 batter Elysia Orison was hit by a pitch and Danielle Lucas lined a single to right field while C-H was expecting a bunt. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third with no outs.
But Alderson struck out both Petrel and Sarah D’Urzo, and retired Markley on a groundout.
Chartiers-Houston scored in the seventh. Danni Calussen dropped a hit over Lucas, the Blue Devils’ shortstop, and hustled into second base to beat the throw from the outfield. Claussen advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.
With Alderson and Kokoskie overmatching hitters in the extra innings, it appeared the winning run was destined to come on an error or mental mistake.
“You start thinking the innings might be wearing on the players mentally,” Deer said. “You try to keep them alert because often things like a passed ball are what beat you. At least that’s not what happened. We went down on clean hits.”
In the 15th, Kapis, the only player with two hits, drove a pitch off the center-field wall for her second double. Two batters later, Kapis hesitated and bluffed center fielder Stacy Rutter into thinking she wouldn’t advance on a flyout. Kapis beat a strong throw to third base and scored on Arnold’s game-winner.