close

Familiar softball playoff foes B-C, Chartiers-Houston meet again

By Justin Zackal For The 4 min read

And so they meet again. In each of the last five years the Beth-Center and Chartiers-Houston softball teams have determined their postseason fates against one another in the WPIAL Class A playoffs. The Lady Bucs won four of the five encounters all held at California University of Pa.’s Lilly Field, including this year’s 1-0 triumph in the semifinal game on May 27.

But this time around is different. A trip to the state championships game is on the line.

Beth-Center (18-7), having never advanced this far in the state tournament, will face its familiar playoff opponent, Chartiers-Houston (20-1), in tonight’s PIAA semifinal game held fittingly at Lilly Field with a 7 o’clock first pitch.

B-C players like senior pitcher Chelsea Stotka wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s nice to play them again,” Stotka said. “It’s sort of a rivalry. After last game we are all upset (because) we felt we should have done better. It’ll be nice to get them back.”

Stotka pitched a gem in the one-run loss to Chartiers-Houston on May 27. She hurled a complete-game four-hitter with 10 strikeouts and no walks. The one run she allowed came on a sixth-inning RBI-single by Brooke Johnson scoring Jaci Timko from third.

Beth-Center had its chances in the game. Stotka was thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning when Chartiers-Houston ate up Amanda Higinbotham’s squeeze-play attempt.

The Bucs, according to their coach Tricia Alderson in her postgame comments, practiced and were prepared for Beth-Center to play small ball. That is just one indication of how familiar these teams are with each other.

“Chartiers-Houston knows us as well as they know their own team,” said Beth-Center coach Frank Mazeppa, “and we know them about as much as we know our own team.”

Beth-Center, despite its 1-4 record against the Bucs in the playoffs, is very competitive when playing Chartiers-Houston, this year’s WPIAL champion. Three of the playoff losses were scores of 1-0.

“You can’t expect anything different from them,” Stotka, said, “and you can’t expect anything different from us.”

Well, for Beth-Center, hopefully you can expect a different outcome. According to Mazeppa, however, that will not mean the Lady Bulldogs will be taking a different approach to the game.

“That’s the first thing I said (coming into the playoffs),” Mazeppa said. “There’s nothing new to tell, just go out and play our game.”

Beth-Center, after its loss to the Bucs, qualified for the PIAA tournament with a 1-0 win over Vincentian in the WPIAL third-place consolation game. The Lady Bulldogs went on to defeat Elk County Christian, 6-4, in Tuesday’s first-round game in Brockway, and Leechburg, 4-1, in Thursday’s quarterfinal game at Lilly Field.

The last time Beth-Center played a game in the state tournament was in 2002 when the Lady Bulldogs lost 5-4 to Penn’s Valley, the eventual state champion, in the first round.

Chartiers-Houston, a team that has qualified for the PIAA tournament every year since the start of single-A softball classification in 1999, is looking to make its first trip to the state championships game since 2003 when it lost to South Williamsport. The Bucs also finished as runners-up in the state in 1999 and 2000.

The Bucs are coming off a 2-1 win over Smethport in the quarterfinals on Thursday in Clarion. Danielle Claasen, the winning pitcher in Chartiers-Houston’s win over B-C on May 27 giving up three hits and three walks with two strikeouts, is coming off perhaps her best game of the season against Smethport with a season-high 13 strikeouts.

But Stotka, who fanned 10 last time against Chartiers-Houston, is not expecting tonight’s game to be a pitcher’s duel.

“You can’t expect as many strikeouts,” Stotka said. “I’ve got to rely on our defense. The team has always picked me up so far.”

Relying on teammates is something Mazeppa noted for Beth-Center advancing this far.

“They’re special,” Mazeppa said. “They stuck together as a team and they played hard and never gave up … and here we are.”

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today