Rachel Miller
Extra innings. Walk-off victory. Conference championship.
It was a pretty dramatic Sunday for the Penn State Behrend softball team.
Needing two victories Sunday to claim the AMCC tournament championship, Behrend beat host D’Youville 2-1 in the first game before earning a walk-off, 3-2 win in 13 innings in Buffalo.
The Lions, with a roster filled with area high school graduates, won the marathon game when sophomore Julia Luke, a Fort LeBoeuf grad, cracked the decisive RBI single in the bottom of the 13th. Sophomore Amanda Krolczyk, another former LeBoeuf Bison, scored the winning run to help Behrend claim its sixth AMCC tourney title and first since 2012.
Behrend (25-14) received the AMCC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament and was expected to find out its opponent and location today.
Allania Banta
Amanda Krolczyk
Sophomore pitcher Rachel Miller put together a great tournament, as the North East graduate pitched both games. She threw four innings in the first game and allowed five hits with no runs. Freshman Alexa Bupp (Warren) picked up the win in three innings of relief and two strike outs.
Miller returned in the second game to go all 13 innings with four strikeouts for her 14th win.
Miller, Krolczyk and sophomore Allania Banta (a center fielder and Fort LeBoeuf graduate) were named to the all-tournament team.
The Lions’ title-winning season was crafted partly by the efforts of their nine grads of District 10 schools.
Miller is one of the top pitchers in the AMCC. She has a 14-4 record with a 1.63 ERA, 13 complete games, 104 strikeouts and 34 walks this season.
Krolczyk, a pitcher/first baseman, hit .356 with three home runs and 22 RBIs this season. On the mound, Krolczyk went 2-0 with a save and 3.43 ERA in 16 1/3 innings.
Banta hit .325 with 25 RBIs and a team-best 35 runs scored, 17 walks and 11 doubles.
Bupp went 7-6 with a 3.35 ERA as a pitcher. She also played shortstop and hit .330 with 31 RBIs and five home runs.
Luke, a third baseman, hit .235 with 15 RBIs.
Freshman pitcher/first baseman Natalie Brock (Cochranton), senior second baseman Leah Griffin (Conneaut Valley), freshman infielder Holly Miller (Harbor Creek) and freshman shortstop Sydney Linkerhof (Corry) also play for the Lions.
Brock pitched in nine games and went 2-2 with one save and a team-leading 1.33 ERA in 26 1/3 innings.
Griffin hit .301 with 11 RBIs and 12 runs scored, while Holly Miller (.259 average, 8 runs scored) and Linkerhof (.190, 2) saw limited action.