H.S. Sports Central

Riverside pitcher Kari Falk fell just short of perfection Thursday afternoon.

Falk tossed a one-hitter and faced the minimum 21 batters as Riverside rolled to an 8-0 victory over Sto-Rox in the WPIAL Class AA softball title game at California (Pa.) University's Lilly Field.

The Panthers scored seven runs in the fourth inning and let Falk do the rest. The senior righthander yielded a single to Kerry Connolly to begin the home half of the fourth. But two batters later, Falk caught a line drive off the bat of Chelsie Washington and doubled Connolly off first.

That was all Sto-Rox could muster against Falk, who rounded out her big day by reaching base four times and recording five assists from the pitcher's circle.

Yesterday's win earned Riverside its second consecutive WPIAL title and the school's fifth overall. The Panthers (18-1) will meet Karns City in the PIAA opener Monday in a game tentatively scheduled for Fairhaven Park in Kennedy Township.

Sto-Rox (18-5), winner of 10 WPIAL titles, will enter PIAA play Monday against Bedford at a site and time to be determined.

Falk struck out only four, but was the beneficiary of some solid infield play. Only two balls were hit to the Riverside outfield all day.

"We have a solid defense," Falk said. "Even if I throw it right down the middle, my fielders are going to get to the ball."

"She was so on her game today," Riverside coach Pam McCarty said. "She was hitting her spots today. I'm so proud of this team. There's so much (playoff rivalry) between us and Sto-Rox. I wanted this one more than any game I've ever coached."

Riverside scored most of its runs when it sent 11 batters to the plate in the fourth. Falk led off with a walk and Emily Pritts was hit by a pitch. Kalli Osbourne bunted them up, but they were forced to hold when Samantha Weir hit an infield single to load the bases.

Kessie Osbourne then walked to force in one run and freshman Madison LeBon hit a single through the drawn-in infield to bring home two more .

"That's big, to have our freshman step up there," McCarty said.

Two more runs scored on an error. Falk then put the finishing touch on the big inning with a double down the leftfield line to bring home two more runs.

In the sixth, Chelsea Evans led off with a single and scored on Pritts' sacrifice fly to conclude the scoring.

The game — which took less than 90 minutes to complete — was a frustrating one for veteran Vikings coach Bill Palermo, the winningest coach in WPIAL softball history.

"I don't think they were as good as eight and I don't think we're as bad as zero," Palermo said. "Both of these teams are pretty good. But the better team won — they made a lot of plays."

Palermo also thought the walks led to his team's problems.

"You walk people, then you have to play the infield up and they hit those squeakers through the infield," Palermo said. "That was the key to their rally."

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