COLUMBIA TWP. — It took one of the most tradition-rich softball programs in the state to figure out how to beat Columbia.
Keystone finally turned the trick, 2-0, on Monday, stopping the Raiders at Cole Reed Field after 10 straight victories.
The Wildcats’ streak-ending approach was to conjure up an unearned run, then pull a gutsy delayed squeeze in the seventh inning to manufacture the clincher.
It was a classic battle between two top Patriot Athletic Conference sophomore pitchers, Keystone’s Lauren Wagner and Columbia’s Jen Solanics. Neither walked a batter.
It also answered a question some softball fans have been asking: Is Columbia for real?
“That’s a great team,” Keystone coach Jim Piazza said. “I wasn’t surprised at all. That’s a solid team and I knew we were in for a game today. They’re one of the top teams in the conference. If people take them lightly, they’re going to have a problem.”    
The Wildcats had plenty of problems. Solanics struck out just three, but of the remaining 18 outs, only two came on balls hit to the outfield. Two outs were provided by the right arm of Raiders catcher Emily Nagle, who threw out Keystone runners trying to steal second base in the third and fourth innings.
And Columbia threatened three times. The Raiders had a runner — freshman Jenny Kus — at second with one out in the first inning. They had runners at second and third — freshman Danielle Riolo and sophomore Courtney Traut – in the second, and junior Christa Wodarczyk was on third with two out in the fourth.
It just wasn’t to be.
Keystone scored in the fourth after senior Clare Sullivan reached on an error, was sacrificed to second by senior Kate Yeo, then ran home on junior Taylor Bell’s sharp single to center. It was the first of Bell’s two RBIs.
“I was stealing anyway, and Taylor hit it up the middle,” Sullivan said. “It was a really nice hit. It cleared the way for me to come in.”
With one out in the seventh inning, Yeo was hit by a pitch and moved to third on two wild pitches. With Bell facing a full count, Piazza flashed the bunt sign, a surprise move that paid off.
“We figure with a runner on third with one out, we’re going to get one of two situations, either the out at first and the run scores, or they’re going to hold the runner and we get two people on,” Piazza said. “Then we can put a little more pressure on them. Our batters do a good job of disguising when they get the bunt sign.”
That would be Bell, whose bunt was well-placed. The Raiders made an effort to fake Yeo back to third, then nailed Bell at first. Yeo took off for home with the throw.
“We’re always aggressive on the bases, always looking to get what we can get,” Yeo said. “I was a little surprised when (Piazza) called for the bunt, but we’ve done it in the past.”
Junior shortstop Kara Dill had two of Keystone’s four hits, Sullivan and Bell the others. Wodarczyk had three of the Raiders’ six hits, with Nagle, Kus and freshman Danielle Riolo stroking the others.
“I try to just forget about everything and just hit away,” Wodarczyk said.
“They (Wildcats) executed their two scoring opportunities in an outstanding way,” said Columbia coach Ken Richardson. “They were outstanding with that. I was very pleased with Jen (Solanics). I told her it doesn’t make any difference who we’re playing, she’s in control.
“I went out and talked to her in the second inning,” he said, “and after that she got that (the opponent) out of her head. She started taking control of the game and saying, ‘OK, here it is. If you can hit it, it’s yours.’”
Solanics thought the Raiders did well.
“I was really proud of us, because we fought hard,” Solanics said. “We showed them what Columbia softball is.”
Contact Bob Daniels at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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