Back Mountain blanks Northwest for District 31 Major Softball title

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NANTICOKE — Back Mountain had to work itself out of a bit of a jam right off the bat in Friday night’s District 31 Major Softball championship game.

Once they got in to hit, however, they made sure that Northwest couldn’t cause any more issues as Back Mountain rolled to a second straight district title.

Back Mountain’s offense scored three times in the first and added four more run in each of the next two innings to beat Northwest 11-0 in four innings for the District 31 Major Softball championship at Nanticoke Area High School.

All but one of the 12 hitters Back Mountain manager Heather Spudis sent to the plate on Friday night reached base safely at least once, including six of the team’s first seven batters as they got ahead and stayed ahead.

“We have great bats … we have 12 very strong hitters,” Spudis said. “If we did allow a run or two, they would still come back and hit the ball and get us back in the game.”

Paige Spudis pitched all four innings to earn the win for Back Mountain, and her toughest challenge came right in the top of the first.

Northwest was able to load the bases with no outs to start the game. They did so on a catcher’s interference call, a walk and a hit-by-pitch that the umpiring crew had to discuss whether or not the batter had actually swung at the pitch.

It may not have been the ideal start to the day for Spudis, but she quickly found her composure: two strikeouts and a soft grounder to first baseman Rita Zangardi kept Northwest from scoring.

“Paige has always been a gamer, she’s a different breed of player. … She’s very confident in her abilities,” Heather Spudis said. “She knew she got herself into that position, she knew how to work herself out of it.”

Paige Spudis settled in nicely after that, only allowing three baserunners over the final three innings on two walks and a base hit from Northwest cleanup hitter Lily May.

She also had two hits, including a two-run base hit in the second inning, as a key cog in Back Mountain’s lineup. Right there with her was Annie Osipower, who scorched a two-run triple into the right-center gap two batters after Spudis to help Back Mountain pull away.

Back Mountain led 7-0 after two innings, and then the bottom half of the order delivered in the third inning with four runs on four hits.

Sophia Davidson and Rita Zangardi each had RBI singles in the inning for Back Mountain, as did leadoff hitter Elliot Rigol after the bottom of the order was able to turn the lineup back over to the top.

Needing just three outs to end the game early with an 11-run lead, Spudis was able to get the first two outs before allowing a base hit to May, and walking Maci Kittle.

It wasn’t an issue for Spudis, however, inducing a groundout to second to end the game and bring home the District 31 championship banner for Back Mountain.

Back Mountain will head to the Section 5 Major Softball Tournament, starting on July 3 at North Pocono’s Dandy Lion Little League.

District 31 Major Softball Championship

Back Mountain 11, Northwest 0 (4 inn.)

Northwest`AB`R`H`BI

Mason c`2`0`0`0

Nafus ss`1`0`0`0

Paull 2b`1`0`0`0

May 1b`2`0`1`0

Kittle cf`1`0`0`0

Maciejczak rf`2`0`0`0

Agostinelli 3b`1`0`0`0

Welch p`1`0`0`0

Jola lf`0`0`0`0

Holcomb eh`1`0`0`0

O’Kane eh`1`0`0`0

Heiss eh`1`0`0`0

Totals`14`0`1`0

Back Mountain`AB`R`H`BI

Rigol c`2`1`1`1

Spudis p`3`2`2`2

Jenkins 3b`2`0`1`1

Osipower ss`2`1`2`2

Coyne rf`2`0`1`0

Wilson lf`2`1`1`0

Oliver 2b`0`1`0`0

Davidson eh`2`1`1`1

Gavlick eh`2`0`0`0

Zangardi 1b`1`1`1`1

Sears cf`1`2`0`0

Ecenrode eh`1`1`0`0

Totals`20`11`10`8

Northwest`000`0 — 0

Back Mountain`344`x — 11

3B — Osipower.

Northwest`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Welch (L)`3`10`11`11`5`2

Back Mountain`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Spudis (W)`4`1`0`0`3`5