Champions again: Determined Lady Warriors end 4 years of frustration with second WPIAL title
BROWNSVILLE – Julia Resnik singled to center field on the first pitch she saw and two pitches later Shelby Telegdy blasted a two-run homer over the left field fence.
Three pitches into its first at bat Elizabeth Forward had seized control of the WPIAL Class AAAA softball championship game against Hampton.
After being denied a second district title the past four years, the determined Lady Warriors weren’t about to loosen their grip on the 2024 prize.
Telegdy, who also hit an RBI double, went 2 for 3 with three RBIs and was the winning pitcher, and Resnik was 3 for 3 with a triple, RBI and three runs scored as top-seeded Elizabeth Forward rolled to a 10-2 victory over the No. 2 Lady Talbots at PennWest California’s Lilley Field on Thursday evening.
“It feels amazing because we’ve worked hard for so many years and finally we pushed through and did it,” Telegdy said.
Hannah Evans contributed two hits and three RBIs, Aubri Cimba doubled and singled and Alivia Grimm also had two hits for EF (20-1), which also got two RBIs from Berlyn Holibaugh.
Elizabeth Forward will begin PIAA play on Monday with a 1 p.m. game against District 3 third-place team Big Spring (17-6) at Norwin.
The Lady Warriors won their first WPIAL championship in 2019 when they went on to reach the PIAA final. Since then, they’ve suffered through plenty of heartbreak.
After its loaded 2020 team saw its season wiped out by the Covid pandemic, Elizabeth Forward was the No. 1 seed in two of the next three years but lost in the semifinals to Highlands after letting a 4-1 lead slip away in the seventh inning in 2021, fell to No. 1 Beaver in the 2022 final and was ambushed by Belle Vernon in last year’s semifinals despite entering the game undefeated.
“The kids felt really bad last year, felt they didn’t do well, and they went 20-2,” EF coach Harry Rutherford said. “They lost in two semifinals games (WPIAL and PIAA).”
Resnik, a sophomore shortstop, was fixated on not allowing senior teammate Telegdy to leave EF without a championship trophy.
“It’s my best friend’s last year. I knew we had to get it done,” Resnik said. “We just had one goal and it was to get here and then to win. We all contributed. It wasn’t just me, it wasn’t just Shelby.”
Rutherford felt the resounding victory made a statement for his program.
“We still are here, we’re still a force and we’ve got a ton of kids coming back,” Rutherford said. “It’s great for this program.”
Rutherford was pleased to see his players celebrating their achievement.
“It’s for the kids. They’ve been looking forward to getting this done,” Rutherford said. “We’re thrilled for them. That’s the big thing, the kids get to have this excitement.”
Telegdy, who allowed six hits and one walk with six strikeouts, gave up a double to Brooke Murgenovich and a walk to Mackenzie Reese with one out in the first inning before escaping the jam with a strikeout and groundout.
Resnik and Telegdy then provided the Lady Warriors with a quick 2-0 lead.
There would be no feeling out the pitcher process for Resnik who revealed her lead-off approach.
“I’m going to swing at the first pitch if it’s right there, and that’s what I did,” Resnik said.
“She’s been the spark plug all year for this team,” Rutherford said of Resnik. “She leads the team in home runs, leads the team in triples, gets another one today. You can’t say enough about her. And I’ve got her for two more years”
Telegdy acknowledged the importance of helping her team jump out to an early lead.
“I think that gave us a lot of momentum and we built off of it,” Telegdy said.
Elizabeth Forward made it 3-0 in the third inning when Resnik led off with a single, went to second on Telegdy’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Holibaugh’s single to center.
The Lady Warriors took a commanding 8-0 lead with five runs in the fourth inning.
Grimm started the rally with a lead-off single, Cimba followed with a sacrifice bunt and Evans hit a run-scoring single to right. Resnik drilled an RBI triple down the right field line and scored on Telegdy’s double to right-center.
After Carlee Soukup walked and Addyson Nigut singled to load the bases, Hampton coach Katie Hedderman called on Cassie Vidic to relieve starting and losing pitcher Marissa Snyder. Holibaugh greeted Vidic with a sacrifice fly and Soukup also scored on a throwing error.
Snyder, who singled twice, surrendered seven earned runs on nine hits with two walks, one hit batter and five strikeouts in 3 ⅓ innings.
Telegdy retired 10 in a row at one point until giving up consecutive two-out singles in the fourth to Aliza Michelli and Jessi Lange but second baseman Holibaugh smothered Vidic’s sharp ground ball to end the threat.
“Our second baseman and shortstop (Resnik) played outstanding defense and our right fielder (Maddisyn Best) made a nice couple plays,” Rutherford pointed out.
Holibaugh made a leaping catch of Charlotte Lomb’s line drive in the third inning, Resnik made a lunging grab of Reese’s line drive leading off the fourth and Best tracked down a pair of fly balls.
The Lady Talbots avoided a shutout with two runs in the fifth.
Snyder reached on an infield hit and took second on Addie Hanna’s sacrifice bunt. Lomb got on board with a fielder’s choice when the throw went to second in an unsuccessful attempt to retire Hanna. Murgenovich moved both runners up with a groundout to Holibaugh and Reese followed with a two-run double.
Elizabeth Forward got both of those runs back and capped the game’s scoring in the bottom of the fifth when Grimm singled to left, Cimba doubled to right and Evans hit a two-run single to center. The Lady Warriors had a chance to end the game on the 10-run mercy rule a few batters later but Hampton center fielder Lange made a diving catch of Nigut’s fly ball to end the inning.
Elizabeth Forward also threatened in the sixth when it got singles from Julia Johnson and Cimba but was held off the scoreboard.
That just delayed the inevitable, as Telegdy shut down the Lady Talbots after Reese’s double, getting the final out on a grounder to third baseman Nigut to set off a wild celebration.
“She’s really worked hard and done a great job for us,” Rutherford said of Telegdy. “I can’t say enough about what she has done for the program.
“We’re hoping that we can maybe bring a state title for her. We’re hoping we can get her 500 career strikeouts. She’s 21 away.”
Rutherford commended his five seniors, Telegdy, Soukup and Best along with Kaitlyn Bloomer and Alyssa Dulla.
“It’s great for them that they were able to do it,” Rutherford said. “It’s nice for them to get the trophy.”