ORWIGSBURG — Williams Valley’s seniors know all about joy and heartbreak.
As sophomores, they felt the joy of winning district gold and later the first state championship in school history.
As juniors, they felt the sting of heartbreak after falling to Minersville by the slimmest of margins in the District 11 Class A championship game at Blue Mountain’s Patton Field.
Vikings coach Lee Reiser recalled the looks on his players’ faces as they climbed the steps to leave the field and head home.
The message contained just two words: “Never again.’’
So when Williams Valley stepped back onto Patton Field on Tuesday night for the 2015 District 11 Class A final against Tri-Valley, the Vikings would not be denied.
Senior Hannah Nestor led the attack at the top of the order and Tianna Yanoscak pitched out of numerous jams to lead the Vikes to a 4-1 victory in front of a huge crowd.
“I think it definitely gave us more drive to win it this year,’’ Hannah Nestor said of losing in 2014. “We knew how it felt when we lost in that game, and there was no way we were going to let it happen again.
“We did it as sophomores, and that was great,’’ she added, “but that’s definitely something we wanted for our senior year to go out with a bang.’’
So Williams Valley, with its sixth District 11 championship, advances to the PIAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons. The Vikings (20-2) will take on District 12 champion GAMP (Girard Academic Music Program) on Monday at Patton Field. The time will be determined later in the week.
Meanwhile, Tri-Valley (20-3) finished as the district runner-up for the seventh time, including twice in the past three years to Williams Valley. The cruelest part is that only the District 11 champion advances to states.
“It’s an older team. I thought this was going to be their year,’’ Tri-Valley coach Marty Shade said. “Once again, heartache sets in. I told the girls, ‘Until you learn to play under the bright lights, we’re never going to get to the next level.’ ’’
With the rival schools separated by about 9 miles and a mountain, the third meeting of the season held no surprises.
It was all about execution.
Williams Valley moved runners, caught the ball and pitched out of trouble.
Tri-Valley did not.
Still, the Dawgs struck first by bunching three singles in the bottom of the first inning. Wendy Header led off with a bullet to center field and scored on Cat Troutman’s two-out single to left.
Tri-Valley had a chance for more, but as she did all evening, Yanoscak limited the damage. The Dawgs left seven runners on base — all of them in scoring position.
“It’s like a sense of relief for all of us,’’ Yanoscak said of escaping all that trouble.
The junior right-hander also gave a lot of credit to senior catcher Maura Kreiser, who formulates a game plan and calls pitches on her own.
“If it wasn’t for her, we would probably be struggling,’’ Yanoscak said with a laugh.
At the plate, Williams Valley benefitted from five Tri-Valley errors and some other defensive lapses. Losing pitcher Taryn Wilson allowed just one earned run, striking out nine and walking none.
“You can’t give a championship-caliber team like Williams Valley chances like that,’’ Shade said. “They took advantage of every one.
“I thought we had some chances, and we just couldn’t come through with the key hit.’’
Trailing 1-0, the Vikings went ahead to stay in the second inning.
Kreiser reached on an error and came all the way around to score when Caitlyn Pinchorski clubbed a triple over the left fielder’s head. The ball could have been caught but was slightly misplayed.
Senior first baseman Haley Nestor lined the next pitch into right field for an RBI single that gave Williams Valley a 2-1 lead.
The Vikes, known for their slugging ability, used the short game to add a pair of insurance runs in the fifth. The strategy change came after Wilson retired seven in a row — four via strikeout — through the third and fourth innings.
An error on leadoff batter Kyrsten Miller’s ground ball opened the door, and a passed ball, a stolen base and three sacrifice bunts moved runners along. In all, Williams Valley converted five sacrifice bunts in the game.
Hannah Nestor then beat out an infield single to drive in Miller. Nestor swiped second, took third on an error and scored on Yanoscak’s perfectly executed squeeze bunt.
The play seemed to startle the Dawgs as Nestor raced home to make it 4-1.
Now it’s on to states, with the last two PIAA Class A champions (Williams Valley in 2013 and Minersville in 2014) coming from Division II of the Schuylkill League.
“When we started the semifinals and finals, I said to them: ‘These are the state playoff games right here,’ ’’ Reiser said. “I firmly believe that.
“Whoever survives through this has a real good shot at winning it all.’’
Game Summary
District 11 Class A Championship
At Patton Field, Orwigsburg
WILLIAMS VALLEY (4) — Han. Nestor ss 4 1 2 1, Hawk cf 3 0 0 0, Yanoscak p 3 0 0 1, Whitcomb cr 0 0 0 0, Whelski 2b 3 0 1 0, Calnon pr 0 0 0 0, Kreiser c 4 1 0 0, Pinchorski 3b 4 1 1 1, Hal. Nestor 1b 4 0 2 1, Miller rf 3 1 1 0, Boyer lf 1 0 0 0. Totals 29 4 7 4.
TRI-VALLEY (1) — W. Header ss 4 1 3 0, T. Header lf 4 0 1 0, Horn cf 3 0 2 0, Wilson p 3 0 1 0, Underkoffler cr 0 0 0 0, Troutman c 2 0 1 1, Jordan cr 0 0 0 0, Ebersole 2b 3 0 0 0, Sherry 3b 3 0 0 0, Boyer 1b 3 0 0 0, Geist dp 3 0 0 0, Deeter rf 0 0 0 0. Totals 28 1 8 1.
WV (20-2) 020 020 0 — 4
TV (20-3) 100 000 0 — 1
E — Williams Valley 1, Tri-Valley 5. DP — Williams Valley 1. LOB — Williams Valley 8, Tri-Valley 7. 3B — Pinchorski. SB — Han. Nestor. S — Boyer 2, Hawk, Yanoscak, Whelski.
Wms. Valley IP H R ER BB K
Ynscak W,14-2 7 8 1 1 1 8
Tri-Valley IP H R ER BB K
Wilson L,20-3 7 7 4 1 0 9
WP — Yanoscak 2. PB — Troutman, Kreiser. T — 1:35.