JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com

INDIANS FALL TO GREENCASTLE-ANTRIM IN TRIPLE-A SOFTBALL FINALE; L-S NO-HIT BY SUSQUEHANNOCK IN THIRD-PLACE GAME

Made the trip to Brightbill Park in Harrisburg on Thursday for a pair of District 3 Triple-A softball games: L-S needed to win the third-place game to advance to States, but the Pioneers were no-hit in a 7-0 loss. In the nightcap, Donegal, in the Triple-A championship game for the third year in a row, didn’t have much luck, either. The Indians managed just three hits and settled for the silver. But Donegal will be in the state playoffs next week. He’s my recap from the night on the softball diamond from Friday’s New Era:

HARRISBURG – All Donegal’s softball players could do was laugh.

Literally.

Trailing by nine runs late in the game, and after the Indians committed their uncharacteristic fourth error in the same inning, Donegal’s infielders had a pow-wow with pitcher Abby Hoover and catcher Taylor Hatt in the middle of the diamond.

It was a players-only meeting, and the assembled group stood in a circle and shared a bust-a-gut chuckle, trying to blow off some steam with all the craziness going on around them.

Greencastle-Antrim, playing in a District 3 championship game for the first time in school history, could do no wrong Thursday night.

The pesky Blue Devils pounded out eight hits, feasted on five Donegal errors, and freshman pitcher Autumn Appleby fired a complete-game three-hitter in G-A’s 9-0 win over the Indians in the Triple-A title game at Brightbill Park.

“The wheels sort of came off for us,” Donegal coach Tom Hartman said.

On the plus side, the Indians were back in the district title game for the third year in a row. After winning the crown in 2006, Donegal fell to L-L League foe Lampeter-Strasburg in last year’s championship game, before being drubbed by G-A last night.

“We hate to be bridesmaids,” Hartman said, “and we’ve been bridesmaids two years in a row now.”

Donegal, the Section 3 champ and No. 3 seed, did earn a spot in the PIAA playoffs, and the Indians will take on District 1 champ St. Basil Academy – a 5-3 winner over Nazareth Academy — on Monday at a site and time to be announced.

G-A (21-4) will take on District 1 runner-up Nazareth Academy in the first round.

L-S, which did not successfully defend its district crown, will not be going back to States.

In the first game Thursday, the Pioneers were no-hit by Susquehannock fireballer Megan Sheaf, and the Warriors grabbed third place in Triple-A with a 7-0 win and gained the final berth from District 3 in the PIAA playoffs.

Susquehannock is the defending state champ, and will get a shot to defend its title.

Donegal, the 2006 state champ, has a shot to win its crown back. But the Indians know they’ll have to play better than Thursday, when G-A, the No. 5 seed, scored three runs in the first inning and never looked back.

“They hit and we didn’t hit,” said Donegal centerfielder Nicky Hess, who had one of the Indians’ three hits.

“We needed to answer early and we didn’t do it,” she said. “We hit the ball, but it was always right at somebody.”

Trailing 4-0, Donegal (21-4) rallied in the bottom of the third when Kelsey Hannold led off with a double, Katie Robinson walked and Morgan Kibler singled to load the bases with one out.

But G-A catcher Rochelle Christman picked Hannold off third to squelch the rally.

Christine Ernhart rocketed a solo homer to left for G-A, which added two runs in the fifth, taking advantage of an error and a walk, and three more runs in the seventh, when Kibler – who had cramps in both feet but asked  to stay in the game at shortstop – committed four errors – leading to the meeting and the comic relief.

“The blame here is on me because I didn’t have my club ready to play,” Hartman said. “That’s my fault as a coach. A coach hast to put his players in the best position to win the game, and I didn’t do that. I’ll take it on the chin.”

Susquehannock 7, Lampeter-Strasburg 0

Sheaf was sensational, missing out on a perfect game when the Pioneers’ Lauren McHale reached on an error with two outs in the top of the first.

Sheaf retired the next 19 hitters in a row and struck out 12.

“She was lights out,” said L-S coach Tim Shoff, whose team was no-hit for the first time in his tenure.

“She had a dominating performance. She was phenomenal.”

L-S, the No. 10 seed, hit just one ball to the outfield – Ashley Lehman skied to center with two outs in the third – while top-seeded Susquehannock (20-2) banged out 10 hits and broke the game open with a six-run second.