Chartiers-Houston advanced to the PIAA Class A softball championship with its 1-0 victory over Claysburg-Kimmel Monday at Shanksville-Stonycreek High School.
The win put the Bucs, winners of seven WPIAL titles (1985, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007) in their rich history, into the title game for the sixth time.
No WPIAL team has appeared in six PIAA softball title games. Shaler has played in five and Sto-Rox in four.
Chartiers-Houston previously reached the finals in 1987, 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2005.
There are two common threads linking each of the five previous appearances: Chartiers-Houston has never won a PIAA title and the Bucs have yet to score a run.
1987 Minersville (District 11) 2, Chartiers-Houston 0
1999 Minersville 6, Chartiers-Houston 0
2000 Canton (District 4) 8, Chartiers-Houston 0
2003 South Williamsport (District 4) 11, Chartiers-Houston 0 (5 inn.)
2005 Minersville 4, Chartiers-Houston 0
The good news for the Bucs is they aren't playing Minersville. Chartiers-Houston (22-2) faces District 4 champion Montgomery, a 2-1 winner over Northeast Bradford in nine innings, Friday morning at Shippensburg University's Robb Field. The game starts at 10 a.m.
"We'll be the underdog, but we've been the underdog pretty much the entire time and we like that," said Bucs coach Tricia Alderson, who pitched in the 1987 championship game and coached in the 2005 contest.
In order to capture the elusive title, the Bucs must find a way to crack the scoreboard. Think about it, in five PIAA championship appearances there has not been one wild pitch, passed ball, walk or error that's led to a Chartiers-Houston run.
Extraordinary.
The guess here is this group of Bucs, an unlikely bunch to get this far considering only three players participate in softball outside the high school season, finally scores a run in the state championship. Whether it leads to a win is anybody's guess.
"We've never scored a run there so that's the first thing we want to do," Alderson said. "And, hopefully, we can get a win."
2 comments:
Good Luck Chartiers! You seem to be the team of destiny this year. Every bounce you needed you got, every chance offered you jumped on. I really think you are destined to win.
Dan Alderson - the missing piece to a state title. Congratulations to the Bucs.
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