But with zero outs on the board, a runner on and Pine Grove having already scored two runs in the fourth to steal the momentum, the pieces would click back into place. Third baseman Raelee Repasky turned an infield grounder into a runner out at second to get the first out on the board. Then, shortstop Addisyn Burns caught a short popup to left before firing a laser to first for an inning-closing double play.

Both returning starters would go on to leave large impacts, and they’d by no means be the only standouts. And while their efforts, coupled with those from pitcher Sierra Albright, catcher Kailey Eckert, first baseman Kendall Gavlock and others, wouldn’t result in a win, what came of them was a battle for the ages – a defensive masterclass spanning 13 innings.

Burns was everywhere to start the outing, pulling in three putouts prior to the her fourth-inning double play and arguably making the team’s biggest offensive play of the game. After Gavlock and Eckert kicked off the third with back-to-back hits to each get in scoring position, Burns belted a flyball to center to bat them both home for a two-RBI double.

Coupled with the junior logging an additional hit within a promising 12th inning and many of her putouts, including two additional ones following her double play, being decently difficult plays to make, it was a standout performance for the junior. All those plays came in her first start in a state championship game.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bald Eagle Area sophomore gets to her feet after a slide against Pine Grove during the PIAA Class AAA softball championship at Beard Field on Friday. The Eagles fell 4-3 in 13 innings.

“Going into it, we knew we had to play our very best considering it was the last game and last game for the seniors,” said Burns when asked about the performance. “We just had to leave it all out on the field.”

Like Burns, Repasky was also a force defensively, closing out a two-hit sixth for the Cardinals with a double play of her own and making an absurd catch on a nine-inning liner that looked like it’d be the game-winning play for Pine Grove. She headlined the sophomores’ defensive effort while Gavlock headlined their offensive one, with the latter leading off Bald Eagle’s two-run third and helping it load the bases in the 12th.

“It’s just you know what you have to do,” said Gavlock on her mindset heading into those critical at-bats. “You just want to do your best, swing as hard as you can and hope it gets through. That happened to me a couple times, got lucky and got a double off an error in the infield. It’s just about doing your best.”

And when push turned to shove late, with the international tiebreaker in effect after the tenth, big plays at home kept the Eagles in the game.

On two occasions in the tenth and 12th, the Cardinals landed successful leadoff sacrifice bunts to get a runner on third and set them up for the win. Both occasions saw them attempt a suicide squeeze – a sacrifice bunt to get that runner home – and both times, BEA was prepared.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bald Eagle Area sophomore Kendall Gavlock inches toward second against Pine Grove during the PIAA Class AAA softball championship at Beard Field on Friday. The Eagles fell 4-3 in 13 innings.

In the tenth, Albright got the ball to Eckert with a toss from her glove hand – a glove flip. And in the 12th, Repasky was the one to get it there, with Eckert making the successful tag on both occasions.

“We’ve practiced the little things since Day One,” said Eckert when discussing those plays. “Those are one of those little things that can make or break a game, and we executed them well and did exactly what we practiced.”

“We work on those plays every single day in practice, every single day,” emphasized Albright. “Glove flip comes in clutch sometimes.”

Offensively, both Eckert and Albright were also impactful, with Eckert reaching base five times and going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run and Albright posting a seventh-inning double that ultimately translated into the game-tying run. Eckert in particular served as a spark-plug, one that drew two intentional walks by the time it was all said and done.

“The noise only gets to me on the outside. As soon as I step up in the box, it’s peace and quiet,” said Eckert on prospering under pressure. “It’s just me versus the pitcher, and I’d say I got the best of her today. But she got the best of us.”

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bald Eagle Area seniors Kailey Eckert, left, and Sierra Albright, right, talk to each other against Pine Grove during the PIAA Class AAA softball championship at Beard Field on Friday. The Eagles fell 4-3 in 13 innings.

While mistakes ultimately cost the Eagles in the end, they didn’t let them define their performance. It was an effort that reflected how they got to Beard Field in the first place, one that extended its season by an hour and a half and kept them in it until the very end.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bald Eagle Area senior Kailey Eckert swings at a pitch against Pine Grove during the PIAA Class AAA softball championship at Beard Field on Friday. The Eagles fell 4-3 in 13 innings.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bald Eagle Area shortstop Addisyn Burns fields an out against Pine Grove during the PIAA Class AAA softball championship at Beard Field on Friday. The Eagles fell 4-3 in 13 innings.