Central Bucks South edged Bishop Shanahan 1-0 in a nine-inning thriller in Friday evening’s PIAA Class AAAA state title game at Penn State University. To view photos of the historic night, please visit the Photo Gallery.
STATE COLLEGE – Sometimes magic happens when it’s least expected.
That was the case in Friday night’s PIAA Class AAAA state title game pitting Central Bucks South against Bishop Shanahan at Penn State University’s Beard Field.
It looked for all the world as though Shanahan mound ace Kate Poppe had dodged a bullet when – after Haileigh Stocks led off the ninth inning of a scoreless contest with a double – she retired Morgan Decker and Lauren Klepcheck with Stocks still stranded on second.
There remained, however, the not-so-little matter of retiring Hallie Bilker.
And what exactly was going through the soft-spoken rightfielder’s mind when she stepped to the plate with the outcome hanging in the balance?
“Kind of nothing,” Bilker said. “I had a clear head. I didn’t want Haileigh to be left out there. I left Morgan and Lauren on base the last time I was up, so I was like, ‘I can’t do that again.’ I didn’t want to strike out. I just wanted to hit the ball and get a run in.”
In a contest that featured a grand total of seven hits – three by the Titans, Bilker had the at-bat of the game, fouling off three two-strike pitches before stroking a ball up the middle that deflected off the glove of shortstop Alyssa Lewis and trickled into center field as Stocks raced home with a run that would be the game winner.
The contingent of South fans who made the trek to State College erupted. After eight innings of futility that saw the Titans collect just one hit, their team had scored that oh-so-elusive run. All that remained was for Stocks to close out the bottom of the inning.
There was no denying Stocks or the Titans on this day. The senior mound ace set down the Eagles in order, putting the finishing touches on a brilliant performance by striking out a pair – including one for the final out of the heartstopping 1-0 win.
If there was pressure, Stocks certainly didn’t let it show, striking out the first batter she faced on three pitches and retiring the next on a groundout to Decker at third.
“The last inning wasn’t too bad,” Stocks said. “I was excited, but the two innings before that were nerveracking. I had a little bit of a heart attack.
“We were really focused, especially in the last inning. We knew we had to play like it was 0-0. Even when we had two outs and we went around and did our high fives (at the mound), we were like, ‘All right, chill. It’s still a 0-0 game. We didn’t win yet.’ We knew we had to really focus and not get ahead of ourselves.”
Stocks and the Titans didn’t get ahead of themselves, and the school’s very first state championship was in the books when the senior hurler fired a third strike past Julianna Fullum for the game’s final out. The celebration – four years in the making for the team’s eight seniors – was about to begin.
“It hit me after she got the first out,” catcher Lauren Klepchick said of Stocks strikeout to open the bottom of the ninth. “I started crying on the field after she got the first out. I was like, ‘This is not going to happen.’”
“I wasn’t looking at her,” Stocks said. “I knew I would either start dying laughing or start crying.”
The Titans did plenty of both after Friday’s historic win in a pitcher’s duel that kept fans for both sides on the edge of their seats. While Stocks allowed one hit through the first six innings, Poppe took a no-hitter into the seventh.
“It was frustrating,” Stocks said. “Before you knew it, it was the sixth inning and then the seventh inning, and it was still 0-0, and we were barely getting hits.”
Things got real interesting in the seventh inning after Decker was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Klepchick followed and ripped a double to deep center, putting runners on second and third with none out.
Poppe responded by retiring the next batter she faced on a harmless popup to the catcher and striking out the next two batters to thwart that potential rally.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles generated a threat of their own. Kathleen Devaney and Bridget Magee opened the inning with back-to-back singles. A grounder to shortstop Michelle Gessner resulted in a putout at third for the first out, and Stocks followed that with a strikeout. Both runners advanced on a rare wild pitch, but Stocks came up with another strikeout for the inning’s final out.
After the Titans went down in order in the top of the eighth, the Eagles once again generated a threat in the bottom of the inning. Erica Keen led off with a single to center, and she moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt. Stocks elected to walk the dangerous Poppe, and the Eagles had runners on second and third after Decker turned a slow roller to third into an out at first. Again, Stocks escaped unscathed, coaxing a come-backer to the mound out of the next batter she faced for the inning’s final out.
“I knew I just had to hit my spots and not overthrow,” Stocks said. “I knew we could get them out if it was on the ground.”
That set the stage for the ninth inning that began with Stocks ripping Poppe’s first pitch into the gap in deep left center for a standup double.
“I knew we would break through sometime,” Stocks said. “I just wanted to go up there and pound it. I knew if I got on base we would find a way to score.”
Bilker made sure that would happen, battling Poppe until she found the pitch she liked and singling up the middle to plate the game winner.
“I had a couple of at-bats early in the season where I fouled a lot of pitches,” Bilker said. “I knew I had to battle back. I struck out against her earlier in the game on a rise ball, and I just knew I couldn’t go after a high pitch again. I made sure it was in the strike zone so I could drive it.
“I tried to stay calm and focused, but it’s kind of hard when it’s the ninth inning.”
“She fought off the tough pitches, fouled them off,” coach Dan Hayes said. “(Poppe) ended up throwing her a change-up, and that’s what Hallie hit. In a situation like that, you hate to get beat on your third or fourth best pitch, but then too, Bilker stayed with it, and the results were good.”
Neither pitcher deserved to lose Friday’s state title game. Poppe allowed three hits and struck out 17 in another classic performance while Stocks gave up four hits and fanned 12 in another masterpiece.
“She’s been doing it all year,” Hayes said of his senior pitcher. “She gets in jam and just incredibly buckles down and hates to have anybody score on her. It’s incredible.”
Friday’s win – the 22nd of the season for the Titans and 21st for Stocks – ensured the Titans their spot in the record books. They are the first team in the eight-year history of CB South to capture a state title.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 1, BISHOP SHANAHAN 0 (9 innings)
Central Bucks South (1) – Jae Epstein cf 4 0 0 0; Haileigh Stocks p 4 0 1 1; Morgan Decker 3b 3 0 0 0; Lauren Klepchick c 4 0 1 0; Hallie Bilker 3 0 1 1; Carly Dudek lf 4 0 0 0; Kristyn Marinelli 1b 1 0 0 0; Alli Waddington 1b 1 0 0 0; Maddie Decker dp 2 0 0 0; Kim Rowe ph 1 0 0 0; Alyssa Virginio 2b 2 0 0 0; Ally Horvath 1 0 0 0. TOTALS 30 1 3 1.
BISHOP SHANAHAN (0) – Marisa Giordano rf 2 0 0 0; Erica Keen cf 4 0 1 0 ; Kate Poppe p 2 0 1 0; Claudia Boggi c 4 0 0 0; Kathleen Devaney 2b 4 0 1 0; Bridget Magee dp 4 0 1 0; Christina Lewis pr 0 0 0 0; Kelsey Campbell 3b 4 0 0 0; Julianna Fullum 1b 2 0 0 0; Steph Salcito lf 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 29 0 4 0.
Central Bucks South000 000 001 – 1-3-1
Bishop Shanahan 000 000 000 – 0-4-1
E-Shanahan 1, CB South 1. LOB-Shanahan 9, CB South 5. 2B-Lauren Klepchick, Haileigh Stocks.
IP H R ER BB SO
Central Bucks South
Haileigh Stocks (W) 9 4 0 0 5 12
Bishop Shanahan
Kate Poppe (L) 9 3 1 1 2 17
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