Agape Freedom Sports LLC

WRITTEN BY: JERIC YURKANIN

Throop — What looked on paper like it might be a routine Mid Valley win over Lakeland turned into anything but that for much of the afternoon.

For the first 4 1/2 innings, this was no easy Mid Valley Spartanettes victory.

Lakeland came in as the clear underdog, but the Lady Chiefs played with heart, discipline, and the kind of defensive focus that made one of the area’s top teams uncomfortable. From the field to the dugout, Lakeland brought energy. The Lady Chiefs’ bench was alive all game long, rocking with support for one another, bringing juice, and showing the kind of togetherness every coach wants to see.

And honestly, it was one of the best 4 1/2-inning stretches Lakeland has played all season.

Against one of the top teams in the Lackawanna Conference. Against a Mid Valley team that reached the 3A state semifinals last year. Against one of the area’s best pitchers, Ava Hazleton.

Lakeland gave Mid Valley problems.

They gave them fits. They gave them worry. They gave them real tension.

You could see it building. You could see the anxiousness and frustration on Hazleton’s face. You could see that this was not the kind of game Mid Valley expected. Lakeland had turned what many thought would be a comfortable afternoon for the Spartanettes into a real battle.

But that is softball.

It is not always about who looks better on paper. It is about who shows up that day. Who is more locked in. Who is more motivated. Who makes the routine plays. Who gets the key hits, finds the gaps, and makes fewer mistakes.

For 4 1/2 innings, Lakeland did so many of those things well. The Lady Chiefs defended hard, competed hard, and made one of the area’s premier teams work for everything.

Then came the bottom of the fifth.

And sometimes, that is all it takes.

Lakeland had one rough inning, and against a team like Mid Valley, one bad inning can change everything. It happens even to good teams. You can play clean, disciplined softball for most of the game, but one inning of mistakes, one stretch where the ball starts getting thrown around, one moment where things snowball — that can cost you.

Mid Valley took full advantage, erupting for 10 runs in the inning and turning a tight game into a much different final picture.

But the score should not erase what Lakeland showed for most of the day.

Because if not for that one inning, the Lady Chiefs may have had a real shot to pull off one of the bigger upsets of the young season.

There was also a key moment in that fifth inning that added even more frustration for Lakeland. After a Mid Valley double, two Spartanettes players were advancing home while the ball was thrown from third base back to second. Lakeland’s shortstop appeared to tag the runner at second on a play that could have been a huge out and maybe slowed the inning down. Instead, there was confusion. Lakeland’s head coach and assistant immediately looked to both umpires for an answer, but both seemed unsure, nodding and looking confused as their attention had been pulled toward the runners advancing to third and home. The umpires did not see what was happening at second base. They were focused on home and third.

It was one of those moments that felt big.

The Lakeland dugout was not happy, and neither were the coaches. I was in awe as well, because Mid Valley looked clearly out at second during a huge inning.

A moment that could have shifted momentum. A moment that might have given Lakeland some life. A moment that instead added to the chaos of an inning that got away.

Still, when Lakeland looks back at this one, the Lady Chiefs should keep their heads up.

They should be proud.

This is how things went down.

Lakeland came out swinging in the top of the first. Mick Eremo singled to left, Olivia Lach worked a walk, and Olivia Cunningham doubled to right to bring home the first run. Kamri Naniewicz followed with a single to shortstop that scored Lach and moved Cunningham to third. Then Abby Ross ripped a line-drive double to left, bringing home both Cunningham and Naniewicz as Lakeland suddenly grabbed a 4-0 lead. The inning kept going. Kendall Sewitsky, Alexis Tolerico, and Tori Wormuth all drew walks, Ross came home, and Lakeland stretched the lead to 6-0 before Mid Valley could finally escape the inning.

But Mid Valley answered immediately in the bottom of the first. Abby Mackey singled to center, Angela Laskowski doubled to right, and Parker Bennett knocked both runners in to cut the lead to 6-2. Later in the inning, an error on a throw allowed Bennett and Adrian Davey to score, and just like that Mid Valley was right back in it at 6-4.

Lakeland pushed again in the second. Lach singled to left, Abby Ross added another hit, and Zoey Gregory doubled to center to bring in two more runs. That made it 8-4 Lakeland, and at that point the Lady Chiefs were not just hanging around — they were dictating the pace of the game.

The Lakeland defense then did its part. The Chiefs held Mid Valley scoreless in the second, worked through traffic in the third, and still carried the lead into the fourth. Mid Valley scratched one back in the bottom of the fourth when Ava Hazleton singled, Abby Mackey added a hit, and Angela Laskowski drove in Addison Frein to make it 8-5. Even then, Lakeland still had control.

Then came the fifth.

Mid Valley’s bats came alive all at once. Avery Tinney singled. Marley Morano reached. Natalie Hricenak got aboard. Then Hazleton delivered the moment that changed everything, tripling to right field and driving in three runs to tie the game at 8-8. Frein followed with a single that scored Hazleton and gave Mid Valley its first lead of the afternoon at 9-8. From there, the Spartanettes just kept coming. Laskowski doubled in more runs, Bennett reached on an error that brought home another, Tinney added a triple, and Morano capped it off as Mid Valley put up 10 runs in a game-turning inning to take a 15-8 lead.

That one inning decided the scoreboard, but it did not erase how hard Lakeland competed.

Mid Valley’s offense showed exactly why the Spartanettes are considered one of the toughest lineups in the area. They finished with 19 hits and 15 runs, and once the lineup got rolling, it came in waves. Laskowski was a force, going 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs and two doubles. Hazleton helped her own cause with 2 hits and 3 RBIs, then settled in inside the circle and struck out 11 over 5.2 innings. Tinney drove in 3 runs, Mackey collected 3 hits, and the Spartanettes showed the kind of depth that makes them dangerous from top to bottom.

But this game was not one-sided for most of the day. Lakeland came out ready to compete and refused to roll over. The Lady Chiefs collected 11 hits and scored 8 runs, keeping pressure on Mid Valley for much of the afternoon. Abby Ross led the charge with 3 hits and 2 RBIs, while Eremo and Cunningham helped spark that explosive first inning. Gregory battled through six innings in the circle against one of the most dangerous offenses in the conference, and for much of the game Lakeland made Mid Valley earn every bit of it.

“Coming into the game, we knew we had nothing to lose. The girls took control at the plate, coming out big in the first inning, which built the momentum going forward. Getting ahead fired them up and allowed them to have confidence in themselves that they are capable of competing with any team,” said Lakeland head coach Dana Diskin.

She added, “This group of kids is determined. We try to emphasize the focus on the little things rather than the overall outcome. When they perform to their ability, and play as a team for each other, anything is possible.”

Mid Valley came back and won, and in the end the Spartanettes once again proved why they are one of the best teams in District 2. They stayed patient, waited for their opening, and when it arrived, they hit like a powerhouse.

But Lakeland walked off that field with something too.

Not the win. But proof.

Proof they can compete. Proof they can push a heavyweight. Proof they can stand in the dugout across from one of the area’s best and make them feel pressure.

The scoreboard will say Mid Valley 15, Lakeland 8.

But if you were there, you saw something bigger than that.

You saw a Lakeland team that did not back down, did not flinch, and for most of the afternoon made one of the area’s top programs feel every single inning of the fight.

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