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Trojans win D6 title on Gardner’s hit

Worth the Wait for Gold

By William Whisler 7 min read

LORETTO -- Mount Union and Penns Valley's District 6 Class 2A softball final lived up to the billing of a championship caliber game and then some on Thursday evening at Saint Francis University as the teams exchanged blows and naturally needed extra innings to decide it.

Mount Union (18-3) showed incredible poise in the face of adversity, overcoming a five-run sixth inning by the Rams (13-8) to come away with a stunning 9-8 walk-off victory in nine innings to claim the school's second District 6 championship in school history in Loretto.

"We never gave up and that's what I'm really proud of," Mount Union coach Matt Fiscus said. "Even when we were down by three, it would have been easy to just pack it in and say it wasn't our day. You could make a bunch of excuses with the field being wet and all these different things. They just keep going until they get the job done."

Mount Union's Kadyn Crisswell had a dominant game at the plate, hitting a pair of homers including a two-run moon shot in the fifth inning that cleared the left field fence by at least 30 feet. Crisswell finished with three RBIs.

Kaitlin Arnold hit a clutch game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh and it was Kendra Gardner who delivered the game-winner, driving an RBI single down the left field line to send the Trojans into a frenzy as players began spilling out of the dugout as the celebration began.

Gardner entered the at-bat 0-for-4, but came through big for Mount Union, finding a pitch to drive to win the game and send the Trojans to the PIAA Tournament, which begins on Monday.

"I didn't have a lot of confidence going up there at first," Gardner said. "I was down, and I got back up. It's a great feeling (to come through)."

Fiscus was pleased with the production he got throughout the lineup as the Trojans pounded out 13 hits in the victory.

"Kendra had a great hit there. I told them before we started that they would have four at-bats and that I didn't want one bad at-bat to influence the others," Fiscus said. "Kendra came through in the ninth when we needed her most. It was a line drive down the line and you couldn't ask for anymore. Whether you hit in the one spot and hit home runs or you're in the eight spot and get a game-winning hit, we win as a team and lose as a team."

Trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the first, Crisswell didn't waste any time knotting the game back up, as she quickly deposited a pitch over the left field fence for her first home run of the game. The Trojans added a second run in the frame on an RBI groundout by Kayshawna Spriggs to carry a 2-1 lead into the second.

Penns Valley scored a run in the second inning to tie the game and the score remained 2-2 until the top of the fifth inning when Allison O'Brien reached on a lead-off walk and came around to score. O'Brien stole second before an Avery Dinges single scored her to give the Rams the 3-2 lead headed to the bottom of the fifth. Mount Union escaped the big inning with a double play to limit the Rams to one run.

Mount Union once again had an answer for the Penns Valley rally, scoring three times in the fifth with Crisswell starting the inning with a double into deep right field. Karrigan Woodward reached first on an error and then stole second before a two-run single by Morgan Brumbaugh put the Trojans ahead, 4-3. Brumbaugh later scored on a wild pitch to give Mount Union a two-run cushion.

The Rams big rally came in the sixth with a two-run double to deep right center by Avelyn Van Heyst tying the game at five. Van Heyst scored on a wild pitch and then another RBI double by Avery Dinges gave the Rams a 7-5 lead. An eighth run scored on a Mount Union error to give momentum right back to Penns Valley.

Crisswell again answered with a home run of her own, this time hitting her two-run no-doubter to bring Mount Union back within a run heading into the seventh.

"We just had to keep the momentum and energy up," Crisswell said. "It felt great just having everyone hit well. Everyone on this team played a part in this game. It was really amazing to keep the energy and that's what kept us going."

Arnold's line-drive home run in the seventh landed just beyond the center field fence to send the game to extra innings. Gardner's clutch hit in the ninth gave the Trojans the title.

"When one person is down in this lineup someone else steps up," Fiscus said. "To be a good team, you have to hit throughout the lineup and hitting in the eight-spot today for the win showed that. We had some chances in some of the earlier innings there and we were finally able to get a clutch hit in the ninth. When something doesn't go your way, you can pack it in or you can go out and battle, and that's what we did."

For Mount Union's senior class, going out with a District 6 title means everything as the group also contributed to the school's first title in 2018, winning two of its three seasons after last year was lost to COVID-19.

"It's awesome because we played a part in the District 6 championship as freshmen," Crisswell said. "We were able to come in with a bang and go out with a bang."

Woodward agreed, as the senior picked up the victory on the mound throwing all nine innings, while adding a pair of doubles at the plate.

"We are a great team, and we work together," Woodward said. "Everyone played a big part in this. We did some team bonding the night before and played some cornhole and spike ball to stay loose and get ready for it. It feels amazing."

The victory sends Mount Union to the PIAA tournament as District 6's top seed, where the Trojans will face the runner-up from the District 3-4-10 Sub-Regional on Monday.

"There are very few teams playing this time of year and you have to be proud to be playing," Fiscus said. "I'd put us up against just about anybody. We play a good brand of ball and we're in a good conference. We played some good competition and we're ready to play whoever comes our way."

Mount Union 9, Penns Valley 8 (9 innings)

MU 200 032 101 -- 9 13 4

PV 110 015 000 -- 8 13 3

WP: Karrigan Woodward. LP: Allison O'Brien. SO: Kendra Bumbardner 4 (PV). BB: Woodward 3 (MU); Bumbardner 2, O'Brien 1 (PV). HR: Kadyn Crisswell 2, Kaitlin Arnold. 2B: Woodward 2, Crisswell (MU); Scotty Dinges, Avelyn Van Heyst (PV). MH: Crisswell 3-4, Woodward 2-5, Kayshawna Spriggs 2-4, Patyn Crisswell 2-5 (MU); Avery Dinges 3-4, Jordan Anderson 3-5, Bumgardner 2-5, Ellie Coursen 2-5, Van Heyst 2-5 (PV). RBI: K. Crisswell 3, Morgan Brumbaugh 2, Kendra Gardner, Arnold, Spriggs (MU); Avery Dinges 2, Van Heyst 2, Bumgardner, Scotty Dinges (PV).

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