'Positive affirmations' help Lancaster Catholic hold off Elizabethtown in L-L League softball quarterfinal

May 8-Kailee Detz was doing everything she could to calm her nerves.

Lancaster Catholic's ace pitcher was in a jam, trying to get the final two outs in the top of the seventh against Elizabethtown on Friday. And she needed to get focused. Pronto.

She was taking a little extra time between pitches, kicking the dirt, talking into her glove, and wiping her brow before getting back into the pitching circle.

"I was trying to slow the game down and just breathe and try not to let things get out of control," Detz said. "I kept telling myself that we can get out of this. Some positive affirmations so things didn't go dark, and spiral into a bunch of runs after that."

Detz was able to lock it back in, getting a fly out and then a game-ending strikeout, and Catholic held off the hard-charging Bears 9-8 in a Lancaster-Lebanon League quarterfinal at Stauffer Park.

Detz scattered 11 hits, walked one, fanned nine, and squirmed her way out of some sticky situations. She needed three strategically placed ice bags to help her cool down and get re-energized after the game.

Catholic (16-3) will take on Donegal - a 5-3 winner over Warwick - in the semifinals on Monday at 7 p.m. at Ephrata Middle School. It's the second year in a row the Crusaders will play in the league semis; they fell to eventual champ Solanco there last year.

E-town (16-5) slugged its way to early 3-0 and 5-2 leads against Catholic. Keira Davis had an RBI double, and Caitlyn McCoach had a sacrifice fly, helping the Bears grab a quick 3-0 cushion in the top of the first.

McCoach got the start in the pitching circle for the Bears. Interestingly, she played for Lancaster Catholic last spring, before transferring to E-town.

Undaunted, Catholic's bats answered in the bottom of the first. Detz belted an RBI triple, plating Angelina Calhoun. Ava Pisano scored to tie it up when Gabby Bigler lived on an error.

E-town's Morgan Baker drilled a two-run triple in the top of the second, giving the Bears a 5-3 edge. But once again, Catholic answered with a pair in the bottom half, getting a two-run single from Emmalyn Maumus.

That's when Detz dialed it in. From two outs in the top of the second until there was one away in the top of the seventh, she retired 14 hitters in a row, with five strikeouts over that span.

"That gave me a lot of confidence," Detz said. "I was nervous because I thought it might be a hitting battle the whole game. I was just going one batter at a time and trying not to lose my focus too much. I was locked in on my pitches and getting batters out. Nothing else mattered."

Bigler, Catholic's catcher, was able to help get Detz locked in.

"We were leaning on changeups and drop balls," said Bigler, who has been catching Detz for the last six years. "She can be a beast when she's like that. Unstoppable. It's like her diamond out there, and she owns it. She's a lot of fun to catch, especially when she gets into a rhythm."

Detz certainly found her groove in the middle innings.

"It made all the difference, because we were able to rally back, take the lead, and keep the lead," said Catholic coach Emily Detz, who is Kailee's older sister. "That helped mentally because you always like to play from ahead. It was nice to hold them down for a little while there. It took the pressure off."

Catholic, the Section 4 champ, took the lead for good with a three-spot in the bottom of the fourth. Detz and Nevaeh Kennedy had RBI triples, and Pisano picked up an RBI with a groundout during the uprising.

The Crusaders tacked on what turned out to be a big insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Maumus.

After Detz got a quick out to open the top of the seventh, E-town, the Section 2 runner-up, put on its rally caps and made the Crusaders sweat it out.

Chloe Wilkinson, Davis and Paige Reigler had RBI singles, as the Bears cut it to 9-8. And E-town had the go-ahead runner on first base.

That's when Detz gave herself some of those positive affirmations.

"I just knew we had to get out of this right now," she said.

Detz ended up punching out Bailey Bresch to end it, sending Catholic to the semifinals. Up next, a date with Donegal, with a spot in the league finals up for grabs. The Crusaders have never hoisted a league gold trophy.

"We're in that playoff mentality at the point," Emily Detz said. "One game at a time. And finding a way to win every game."

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