Agape Freedom Sports LLC

WRITTEN BY: JERIC YURKANIN

DUNMORE – Old Forge came into this one as what many would call the underdog against a giant in Holy Cross — a heavily favored team and one of the area’s true powerhouses over the last few years.

And on paper, it was easy to understand why.

Holy Cross opened the season by steamrolling through its first four wins, beating Lackawanna Trail 17-1, Scranton 11-1, Lakeland 15-1, and Riverside 17-0. Their only loss came against a much bigger Abington Heights squad, a 5A program and one of the top teams in the area, in a 10-3 game. And Abington is no ordinary team either, with a Division I commit in the circle and the kind of talent that can test anybody.

So yes, Holy Cross came in looking like the favorite.

But Old Forge and head coach Pat Revello did not walk into this game carrying fear.

That is simply not who they are.

They are the kind of team that embraces these moments — lining up against top competition, testing themselves, and stepping right into the fire no matter what logo is sitting in the other dugout. For a Class A school, Old Forge continues to show it is one of the toughest small-school teams in the area — a team fully capable of hanging with programs across 1A, 2A, and 3A.

Even their losses tell part of the story.

Two of Old Forge’s losses, in what is now a 2-3 start, came against two teams that were in my top-five countdown: Mid Valley and now Holy Cross. There is no shame in that. None. Not in early April, and not in a district like this one.

Because what people sometimes forget is this: District 2 softball is no easy place to survive.

And the Lackawanna Conference is certainly no walk in the park.

This area has produced a long line of Division I talent over the last decade, and lately it feels like that number just keeps growing. Valley View alone had four Division I players last year, lost two to graduation, and still has three Division I recruits on this year’s roster. Add in programs like North Pocono, Abington Heights, and Dunmore, and you start to understand just how deep and competitive this conference really is.

In my opinion, this may be one of the toughest districts in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Around here, you do not get many easy nights. You are either outscoring teams, or you are watching strong, higher-classification programs overwhelm good lower-classification teams. There are not always a lot of close games in this landscape.

Which is exactly why Old Forge’s effort stood out.

They made Holy Cross earn it.

They made them work for it.

They made them scrap for every single inch.

And from the first pitch, you could feel it.

There was juice in the air. There was pressure in every at-bat. There was that feeling that this was not going to be one of those quiet early-season games people forget a week later.

This one had life.

Top 1st — Old Forge wastes no time setting the tone.

Joselyn DeStefano draws a walk to open things up, immediately putting pressure on Holy Cross. Ava Arnold goes down on strikes, and Kate O’Hearn follows with a groundout to the pitcher. Two quick outs.

But Old Forge does not blink.

Abigail Lenceski battles and reaches on a dropped third strike, and in that split second, chaos turns into opportunity. DeStefano is already flying down the line. She crosses the plate standing.

Just like that, the underdog strikes first.

Juliette DeStefano grounds out to first to end the inning, but the message is already sent.

Old Forge did not come here to sit back and hope.

They came to swing.

Old Forge 1, Holy Cross 0.

Bottom 1st — and here comes Holy Cross.

You could feel the energy shift almost instantly.

Lila Kolcharno opens with a single, and suddenly the dugout is alive. Ava Schmidt follows and rips a double down the left-field line. Runners move. Pressure builds. The sound gets louder. The game speeds up.

“Even when I’m not throwing my best, I know I just need to take a deep breath and focus on one pitch at a time. Not every inning is going to go my way, but my mindset is to keep battling and trust my team so we can stay in the game,” said Holy Cross pitcher Ava Schmidt.

Then Jules Galella sends a ball into left field, and Schmidt comes home.

Tie game.

And then came the swing everybody in the park felt.

Peyton Graboske stepped in and absolutely launched one over the fence. No doubt. No question. The kind of swing that changes the temperature of a game in one violent crack of the bat.

The crowd erupts.

Holy Cross erupts.

And just like that, everything flips.

“I had two runners on, so I was just trying to make solid contact to drive those runs in. I sat back and waited for my pitch,” said Holy Cross’s Peyton Graboske.

McKinley Griffiths works a walk, Maya DeSantis adds a single, and the inning keeps breathing before Keira Bauman strikes out to end it.

But the damage is done.

In one inning, Holy Cross goes from trailing to surging.

Holy Cross 4, Old Forge 1.

Top 2nd — and Old Forge answers like a team with no quit in it.

Julia Marianelli strikes out for the first out.

Ariana Davitt lines a single into center.

Addison Rafalko strikes out.

Two outs.

This is where some teams start to sag. This is where some dugouts get quiet.

Not this one.

Kamryn Notari draws a walk, and just like that, there is traffic on the bases and belief building again.

Then Joselyn DeStefano steps in and delivers again — a sharp double into left that brings two runs home. Davitt scores. Courtesy runner Jenny Solfanelli is flying right behind her.

Just like that, the gap shrinks to one.

4-3.

Arnold follows with a walk. O’Hearn puts the ball in play and reaches on an error, and suddenly the inning cracks wide open. DeStefano scores. Arnold scores. The dugout explodes, the noise rises, and momentum comes storming right back into the Old Forge side.

In the blink of an eye, the underdog has flipped the game.

Old Forge 5, Holy Cross 4.

And now everybody in the park knows this is real.

Bottom 2nd — and Holy Cross answers right back.

Ava Schmidt stays hot, lacing another double to left.

Kolcharno lines out. One away.

Galella strikes out. Two away.

But with two outs, Peyton Graboske comes through again — this time with a clutch single to left that brings Schmidt home.

Tie game.

5-5.

“I knew she was going to try to get me on changeups, so I sat back on those and adjusted for the fastball,” Graboske said.

She added, “I tried to stay disciplined and look for a pitch I knew I could drive.”

“Peyton is an absolute wrecking machine. She is maturing as a hitter. She takes what the pitcher gives her and barrels everything. She battles every at-bat. It’s a pleasure to watch her hit,” said Holy Cross head coach Joe Ross.

And from there, this game stopped being a sprint and turned into a war.

The next four innings were tight, tense, and full of pressure. Every pitch felt important. Every out felt heavier. Gloves flashed. Pitchers settled in. The game slowed down and somehow felt faster at the same time, because every single moment carried weight.

Nobody was giving anything away.

“During a tight game, I knew I had to hit my spots and not leave the ball over the plate. They were good hitters, so I needed to trust my defense to make the plays behind me,” Schmidt said.

Top 7 — Old Forge gets one more shot.

One last chance.

One last chance to steal one on the road against one of the area’s best.

But Holy Cross shuts the door.

Three outs. No runs.

And now it all comes down to the bottom half.

Bottom 7 — two outs, everything on the line.

Maya DeSantis steps in and singles.

Emily Fitzpatrick follows with another single.

Now the pressure is everywhere.

You can feel it in the dugout. You can feel it in the crowd. You can feel it in every set of eyes locked on the infield.

Keira Bauman puts the ball in play — a grounder to the infield — and then, in an instant, it turns into chaos. An error at second.

And DeSantis is already moving.

She is flying home.

She touches the plate.

Game over.

Holy Cross walks it off, 6-5, in a game that felt like it could snap either direction all night.

“A win like this fuels us for the upcoming games and shows that in close situations — whether we’re tied or trailing — we can come back. It brings us together and shows we can compete in tough moments,” Schmidt said.

Final: Holy Cross 6, Old Forge 5.

“I’m proud of the way my team competed. We talk all the time about playing the game and competing. We did that today,” said Holy Cross head coach Joe Ross.

And even in defeat, Old Forge made one thing very clear:

They are not just hanging with the best.

They are built to punch with them.

“Old Forge is an experienced, talented team. Kamryn Notari did a great job pitching, and they swing it well,” Ross added.

“We showed a whole bunch of toughness today. Being down 4-1, they could’ve gone through the motions the rest of the way, but they didn’t. We were down big against Mid Valley and fought back, too. This team is showing resiliency. Notari showed she can pitch with the best of them. A bad inning here, a bad inning there — erase a few of those, and we’re undefeated,” said Old Forge head coach Pat Revello.

Revello added, “I don’t feel we’re underrated at all. But we opened our league with two of the elite teams in the area — both on the road. We’ve played six games and haven’t had a home game yet. We made some good plays, but we also made some errors that cost us in big ways. Overall, I’m happy with the spirit and fight of this team. Am I happy with our record? Not at all.”

And that may be the biggest takeaway of all.

Holy Cross got the win.

But Old Forge left the field proving something.

This was not a moral victory. This was not one of those games where a losing team simply “played hard.”

No — this was Old Forge walking into a hostile spot against one of the area’s heavyweights and showing it belongs in that kind of fight.

Holy Cross finished with 6 runs on 13 hits, led by Peyton Graboske, who went 2-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBI. Ava Schmidt added a huge day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with 2 runs and a pair of doubles, while Jules Galella also went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Emily Fitzpatrick and Maya DeSantis each collected two hits, and DeSantis scored the game-winning run. As a team, Holy Cross kept the pressure on all game long, piling up 13 hits and forcing Old Forge to keep answering.

Old Forge answered with 5 runs on 9 hits and more than enough toughness to make Holy Cross feel every bit of this one. Joselyn DeStefano went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and a double, helping drive the Blue Devils’ biggest early push. Juliette DeStefano led the way with three hits, while Ariana Davitt added two hits and scored a run. The Blue Devils finished with 9 hits and made sure this never became comfortable for the Crusaders.

In the circle, Ava Schmidt went the distance for Holy Cross, working through 7 innings while allowing 5 runs on 9 hits in a gritty complete-game effort. Kamryn Notari gave Old Forge 6.2 innings, struck out five, and kept battling against a dangerous Holy Cross lineup that finished with 13 hits.

This was not just a game.

It was a statement.

Holy Cross showed why it remains one of the area’s elite, finding a way to win when the pressure got loud and the margin got razor-thin. But just as powerful was the message Old Forge sent. This is a team that does not back down, does not fold, and does not care who is standing across from it.

They belong in these games.

And if this is what early April softball looks like in District 2, then buckle up.

Because the rest of this season is going to be must-watch. 🥎🔥

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Special thanks to Andy’s Pizza, Tasty Freeze, Lewis Brothers, and everyone who has supported and donated this softball season— your support makes this coverage possible.