STATE COLLEGE — Sometime last fall, Holy Redeemer softball coaches Jerry Paulukonis and John Bryan had a realization.
“We said, ‘We have the talent to do something special,’ ” recalled Paulukonis, the Royals head coach.
Several months later and that special feat, a crowning achievement for all involved, was finally accomplished.
Friday, Holy Redeemer brought home the PIAA Class AA state championship with a 10-5 win over District 7 champion Deer Lakes at Penn State University’s Nittany Lion Softball Park.
It’s the first state title for Holy Redeemer softball.
“I think it’s the greatest feeling,” junior second baseman Olivia Mennig said. “For a high schooler, your dream is to win states. To be able to do it, it’s unbelievable.”
The win brings an end to a thrilling postseason, which included the Royals winning all four state playoff games in come-from-behind fashion, including Friday’s game.
“When you’re in those situations again and again and again, you kind of get used to it,” Paulukonis said. “You know what you have to do to get it done.”
Holy Redeemer got it done Friday in the fourth inning, when the offense exploded for five runs and took a commanding 9-5 lead.
The fourth-inning hit parade saw Holy Redeemer bat around the order, as well as a stretch where five consecutive players — Brittany Hebda, Kaya Swanek, Mennig, Kristen Coffay and Randie Kuhar — reached base.
“As soon as we got our bats going, I knew we could get up,” said Coffay, who had an RBI single and scored in the fourth.
Holy Redeemer also chased highly touted Deer Lakes pitcher Tiffany Edwards from the game in the fourth. Edwards allowed nine runs in her short-lived start.
Both teams had shaky starts, combining to commit six errors in the first two innings. Holy Redeemer credited that to nerves.
“A game like this, the big crowd, the field, it got to both of us,” Swanek said. “I think that is almost good, though, because it evened out. We both had our errors, not one team had an advantage.”
Swanek gave Holy Redeemer, the home team, a 2-1 lead in the first inning when she mashed a two-run double off the top of the left field fence to score Morgan Bienkowski and Jen Ringsdorf.
However, Deer Lakes wasted no time in countering.
The Lancers tagged Holy Redeemer starting pitcher Coffay for five runs — three unearned — in the first two innings, prompting Paulukonis to make a pitching change.
He called for Bienkowski, who held Deer Lakes scoreless in the final five frames. The Royals outscored Deer Lakes 6-0 in that span.
Class AAAA Championship
Parkland 4
Cumberland Valley 3
STATE COLLEGE — No. 9 hitter Kyliegh Staudt broke a 3-3 tie with the go-ahead single in the bottom of the sixth inning as District 11 champion Parkland won the fifth state title in program history.
The Trojans (29-1) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on Madi Marshall’s single. Cumberland Valley tied the game in the fourth on Alexa Erney’s solo homer and Taylor Haupt’s RBI double.
The teams traded runs after a 25-minute rain delay before Staudt hit a hard grounder off losing pitcher Jen Hanshaw that trickled into right field and plated Sam Pickar with the winning run.
Class AAA Championship
Bethlehem Catholic 2
Trinity-Washington 0
STATE COLLEGE — Junior left-hander Elyse Cuttic tossed a complete-game shutout and Bethanne Brandstetter and Angelys Cotto delivered RBI singles as the Golden Hawks captured the first state title in program history with a victory over District 7 third-place finisher Trinity.
Bethlehem Catholic (20-7) was the state runner-up in 2009 and 2013. Trinity finished 20-6.