Leah Leshko's eyes teared up a little. Overcome with emotion, she found it difficult to speak.
Standing in front of Minersville's bench on the sandy dirt infield at Allentown's Patriots Park, the senior second baseman tried to express what beating Bristol in the PIAA Class A semifinals meant to her and her teammates.
"I just had my graduation party, and I had my gold medal out on display,'' Leshko said Monday, pausing to compose herself. "And Emily Mealey goes up, she looks at it. She's like, 'I really want one of these,' and now we have the chance to get it again.''
The victory over Bristol put Minersville in the state championship game for the second time in four seasons. When they were freshmen, catcher Morgen Woodford, shortstop Reighly Melochick and Leshko were starters on the 2011 club crowned state champions at Penn State University's brand new Nittany Lion Softball Park.
At 3 p.m. today, the Big Blue Machine (22-3) will be back on that manicured State College diamond trying to win the ninth state championship in school history. They will face District 6 runner-up Claysburg-Kimmel (22-4).
"It's very nice, going out with a bang, especially in basketball and now here,'' Melochick said after the quarterfinal win over Halifax.
Melochick is a 2,000-point scorer in basketball who led the Miners to Schuylkill League and District 11 Class AA titles on a run that ended in the second round of the state tournament. Twelve players listed on the softball roster competed on the basketball team, too.
Leshko is one of them.
"Ever since we beat Williams Valley (in the District 11 final), it was like, 'We better make it to Penn State,' '' she said.
Now they have.
Minersville is still playing softball this season because of its experience and excellence at key positions.
"Be strong up the middle'' is a truism as old as the game itself. Catcher. Pitcher. Shortstop. Second base. Center field.
For the Miners, that means Woodford behind the plate, Riley Gerenda in the circle and the double-play combination of Melochick and Leshko. Four seniors patrol the crucial infield positions.
"We kind of make a 'Y,' '' Melochick said with a laugh.
It's also a big reason "Y'' Minersville reached the state finals yet again.
Rounding out the group is center fielder Adrienne Kroznuskie, who has saved the season with her glove and has hit at a torrid pace from beginning to end.
"There's a freshman in center field and she plays nothing less than a senior does,'' Melochick said.
At the plate, Melochick and Kroznuskie ignite what has become a powerful Minersville lineup.
Though she missed the first half of the season with an injury, Melochick returned at her usual high level. She makes all the plays in the field look effortless and is hitting at a .492 clip with 25 runs scored out of the leadoff spot.
Kroznuskie isn't your typical No. 2 hitter. She doesn't slap and seldom bunts. Instead, she rakes.
Batting .616, she has set numerous Minersville records, most notably hits in a single season (53). Kroznuskie is a five-tool talent with nine home runs, 37 RBIs and 45 runs scored. She's also stolen six bases in three state playoff games.
"Four seniors and Puigy in center,'' Minersville coach Dave Homa said with a laugh.
He's referring to Yasiel Puig, the young and supremely talented Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder.
"She's one of the best we've ever had,'' Homa added.
A four-year starter, Woodford has emerged as the latest in a long line of premier Minersville catchers. She's thrown out three runners trying to steal during the state playoffs while batting .479 with 27 RBIs.
More importantly, she's the coaches' eyes and ears on the field.
"She's an information highway for me,'' Homa said. "She tells me everything that's going on: Is the ball moving inside or outside, what's the ump saying?''
Leshko's been playing her best softball in the state playoffs, going 5-for-9 (.556) with four RBIs and three runs scored. For the year, Leshko's batting .418 with 21 runs scored. She also organizes many of Minersville's cheers, Woodford said.
"Leah's very vocal,'' the catcher added.
When Gerenda participated as a freshman in the 2011 finals, she warmed up with the team but didn't see action during the game.
This time, the right-hander will take the ball as the team's ace. She's coming off one of her best games of the season, a three-hit complete game in the 10-1 win over Bristol.
Gerenda is known as "Bird,'' as in fun-loving, free-spirited Detroit Tigers pitcher Mark "The Bird'' Fidrych of the late 1970s.
She also can be fiercely competitive, often sprinting off the field after inning-ending strikeouts.
In the fifth inning against Halifax, Morgan Cox smashed a line drive back at Gerenda. She stabbed the ball out of the air with her glove, glared plateward and spiked the ball as she ran off the field.
For the season, Gerenda is 14-3 with a 1.21 ERA, striking out 122 in 98.2 innings. She has more than 400 career strikeouts and ranks among Minersville's all-time leaders in that category.
"Morgen and I, we get along so well,'' Gerenda said after the Bristol game. "We're best friends, so we have really good chemistry together. She knows what I want; I know what she wants. Hitting the spots is the most important part of the game.''Claysburg-Kimmel Bulldogs (22-4)
No. Name Grade
3 Keyara Morgan Fr.
4 Madison Ickes Sr.
6 Kiersten Coho Sr
7 Mallory Cox Sr.
8 Hannah Claycomb Jr.
10 Abby Kulick Sr
11 Rachel Walter Sr.
12 Nicole Dively Soph.
13 Erin Claycomb Soph.
14 Kari Glass Jr.
15 Katelyn Gerheim Sr.
17 Christina Wannyn Jr.
18 Whitney Helsel Jr
19 Merceduze LeMaster Sr.
Postseason Results
Date Opponent Score
District 6 Tournament
5/19 vs. Purchase Line 10-0
5/22 vs. West Branch 4-0
5/28 vs. So. Huntingdon 3-7
PIAA Tournament
6/2 vs. DuBois Cent. Cath. 8-2
6/5 vs. Iroquois 6-1
6/9 vs. Neshannock 5-4, 8 inn.
Today vs. Minersville
Minersville Battlin' Miners (23-3)
No. Name Grade
0 Grace Lescavage Jr.
3 Reighly Melochick Sr.
4 Rachel Sterner Soph.
6 Rachel Hughes Fr.
9 Morgen Woodford Sr.
10 Allison Polinsky Fr.
11 Maura Bentz Fr.
12 Riley Gerenda Sr.
13 Alyse Ryan Sr.
14 Sarah Nawrocki Fr.
15 Meg Schwalm Soph.
18 Mallory Ebert Fr.
19 Emily Mealey Fr.
20 Lindsey Snyder Jr.
21 Morgan Nawrocki Sr.
23 Jayme Kerrigan Jr.
24 Leah Leshko Sr.
25 Brianna Smulley Jr.
28 Adrienne Kroznuskie Fr.
34 Rebecca Schweikert Sr.
93 Maddyson Melochick Fr.
Postseason Results
Date Opponent Score
District 11 Tournament
5/20 vs. Moravian Academy 13-0
5/23 vs. Marian 15-0
5/29 vs. Williams Valley 2-1
PIAA Tournament
6/2 vs. Bloomsburg 13-3
6/5 vs. Halifax 12-2
6/9 vs. Bristol 10-1
Today vs. Claysburg-Kimmel
Today's schedule
At Nittany Lion Softball Park
Penn State University
State College
CLASS AAA
Bethlehem Catholic (11-1) vs. Springfield Delco (1-2), 10 a.m.
Class AAAA
Lower Dauphin (3-2) vs. Souderton (1-3), 12:30 p.m.
Class A
Minersville (11-1) vs. Claysburg-Kimmel (6-2), 3 p.m.
Class AA
Central Columbia (4-1) vs. Bald Eagle Area (6-1), 5:30 p.m.
Live updates
Follow the game live on Twitter @pubsportsboss, @rhsportslive and @KeatSportsMedia; and follow on The Republican-Herald Sports page on Facebook.
Television
Pennsylvania Cable Network will air the softball games live. Minersville's game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., with a rebroadcast at midnight. The baseball finals will be broadcast on PCN on tape delay beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday.