STATE COLLEGE - With one flick of her wrist and one swing of her bat, Morgen Woodford turned the momentum Minersville's way.
The Battlin' Miners rode that momentum the rest of the way to defeat Claysburg-Kimmel 4-1 on Friday in the PIAA Class A championship game at Penn State University's Nittany Lion Softball Park.
In the top of the first inning, the senior catcher threw out Madison Ickes trying to steal second base. With her quick release, Woodford put the ball right on the bag.
Shortstop Reighly Melochick caught the ball, waited for Ickes to arrive and applied the tag. Ickes - Claysburg's fastest player - marked the fourth runner Woodford threw out trying to steal during the state playoffs.
"I just did my thing,'' Woodford said. "I remember in March and April we were in the gym. Bird (Riley Gerenda) would fire. I'd just go to my ear and fire it down. My arm was falling off because I threw like a hundred down, but it pays off.''
In the bottom of the first inning, Woodford came through with a clutch hit to put Minersville on the board and salvage what could have been a deflating missed opportunity.
The Miners put runners at first and third with one out, but Claysburg-Kimmel's Kiersten Coho recorded a strikeout for out No. 2.
Woodford worked the count to 2-1, then laced a line single between the first and second basemen. Adrienne Krozunskie scored on the RBI single to right field that put Minersville up 1-0.
The hit had extra significance as it was the 100th of Woodford's career.
"They didn't tell me that,'' Woodford said. "They didn't tell me because I'm a nervous person and I would think about it too much.
"It's awesome,'' she added. "When we beat Williams Valley it was like we're going to State College somehow. Here we are with our second gold medal as a senior.''
Weather woes
At 4:34 p.m., with Minersville coming in to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning, officials halted play and ordered the evacuation of the stadium.
A line of severe thunderstorms - lots of yellow and red on the radar - approached from the west. Though bright sunshine still shone as the crowd headed for cover, in just a few minutes, skies darkened and the winds kicked up.
The grounds crew immediately pulled the tarp across the infield and placed nearly 100 weights all around the edges to keep the tarp in place.
At 5:03 p.m., the skies opened up, with heavy rain pelting the ballpark.
At 5:30 p.m., the grounds crew got word to remove the tarp, and fans streamed back into the stadium. The teams got time to warm up again, play resumed at 5:55 p.m. and lasted just 16 more minutes.
"I think the delay really hurt us,'' Minersville coach Dave Homa said. "We had the momentum."
Mother and daughter
In 1982, Tammy McDonald pitched Nativity to the PIAA Class AA state championship game, falling to Iroquois 6-0 at Shippensburg University.
Friday, Tammy Gerenda watched her daughter Riley pitch and win a state championship with the Miners.
It's unknown if any mother-daughter combinations ever pitched in state championship games, but it's got to be a very short list.
Standing-room only
Both Claysburg-Kimmel and Minersville fans packed Nittany Lion Softball Park, with people lined up five-plus deep around the concourse areas along the first- and third-base lines.
Bald Eagle Area was scheduled to play in the final game, the Class AA championship against Central Columbia. BEA is located in Wingate, approximately 15 miles north of State College, and brought an overflow crowd of its own.
During the Minersville game, the stadium reached standing-room-only capacity of 1,350. Officials were forced to close the stadium gates. If one person left the park, someone else could enter.
Honoring America
Williams Valley senior Brooke Unger handled the vocalist duties, singing both the national anthem and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame.''