DUBOIS — DuBois Central Catholic pitcher Rylee Kulbatsky picked up right where she left off last spring, as the junior pitcher tossed a 4-inning perfect game Wednesday against rival Elk County Catholic as the defending PIAA Class A champion Lady Cardinals made a winner out of Jordy Myers in her varsity head coaching debut.
Kulbatsky, who ended last season by tossing a 3-hit shutout in a 2-0 win against Carmichaels in the state finals, opened her junior campaign in dominant fashion against ECC Wednesday at Heindl Field.
Kulbatsky struck out 11 of the 12 Lady Crusaders she faced and took care of that other out as well when she made a nice play on a bunt attempt by Gina Geci with one away in the top of the fourth.
Senior Marina Hanes got Kulbatsky the only run she needed when she ripped a home run off the foul pole in left to lead off the bottom of the first inning. That was far from the only run DCC produced though, as the Lady Cardinals scored their 15 runs on 13 hits while also capitalizing on four ECC errors.
Hanes was at the forefront of that offensive attack, as she went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored while finishing a double shy of the cycle. And, she would have had that (cycle) if not for her ending the game early via the 15-run mercy rule in the bottom of the fourth.
She stepped to the plate in the fourth with the bases loaded and no outs with her team leading 14-0 while needing that double. Her only hope of completing the cycle was really to have a ball bounce over the wall for a book-rule double. Otherwise, the game ended when the runner at third scored.
And, that’s nearly what she did as Hanes belted a liner into the left-center field gap that bounced off the base of the wall. Hanes wound up at second as the play unfolded, but the game technically ended when Kylee Kulbatsky scored from third on what wound up a walk-off single for Hanes.
Rylee Kulbatsky helped her own cause at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a triple and RBI. The only other Lady Cardinal with multiple hits was Maggie Mauthe, who finished 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a pair of runs scored.
“I still I had nerves, don’t get me wrong,” said Myers of getting her first win as DCC coach despite having Kulbatsky in the circle. “You couldn’t ask for a more picture perfect game than what we just had. First off, it started out with Rylee three up and three down from the start. She was dominant from the start and was consistent throughout the whole game.
“But, Marina coming up as the leadoff hitter ... I trust her as my leadoff hitter right now because I know she’ll put a hard ball into play and have a long at-bat if she needs too. But, she smoked that one (homer) and was awesome. No doubt off the bat for sure.
“We had so many hard hits throughout the lineup and they were all consistent and there to hit and swinging at good pitches. Lily Davidson hit a ball hard in that first inning too and just seeing her playing helped fuel us because she is playing through a knee injury. That’s takes resilience. She wants to do whatever she possible can do to help us win.
“I can thank the girls (seniors) from last year because they showed these younger girls what it takes to win. We worked so hard over the winter break and there are so many girls who made so many adjustments and improvements to be where they were for Game 1.”
With Kulbatsky silencing the ECC bats, her offense went to work in building a lead for her before ultimately ending the game early.
Central led just 1-0 after one innings, as ECC starter Bella Dixon got three straight outs in the first after Hanes’ leadoff homer.
Things quickly changed in the second though, as DCC got to Dixon for five runs on three hits and three errors and never looked back from there.
Rylee Kulbatsky reached on a throwing error to open the second and was replaced on the bases by Elizabeth Green. Mauthe followed with an infield single before Dixon got Emma Elensky to pop up on the infield. Lily Sachs then bunted both runners into scoring position with two outs.
That’s when No. 9 hitter Hannah Dehner came through with a clutch two-out single to right to score both runners. The only also turned over the lineup for hanes, who followed with a RBI triple. Back-to-back errors by ECC led to two more runs for the Lady Cardinals, who led 6-0 after two innings.
Central tacked on a seventh run in the third when Rylee Kulbatsky ripped a leadoff triple and her courtesy runner Green scored on a Mauthe sacrifice fly to center.
The Lady Cardinals then put the game away with a huge eight-run bottom of the fourth in which ECC was unable to record an out.
Dehner got things started with a leadoff walk and took second on a wild pitch. Hanes followed with a single before Virginia Myers walked to load the bases. Lily Davidson then stepped in and roped a two-run double to right-center.
The fact Davidson was even in the lineup was a plus for the Lady Cardinals, as the sophomore decided to try to play with a severe knee injury suffered during the winner. That injury has her relegated to only hitting as the designated player (DP) at at this point.
Central scored another run a batter later to make it 10-0 when Kiki Foster reached on ECC’s fourth error of the game. Rylee Kulbatsky followed with a RBI single to right, then Mauthe plated another run with an infield single.
Pinch-hitter Kylee Kulbatsky then drew a walk to reload the bases for Sachs, who smacked a two-run single to left to put DCC on the verge of the mercy-rule victory at 14-0.
Another pinch-hitter, Ellie Gow, then beat out an infield single to once again load the bases and fittingly turn over the lineup to give Hanes a fourth and final at-bat on the day.
While the senior came short in the bid to hit for the cycle, her long and loud single off the wall in left-center did score Kulbatsky to put an exclamation point on DCC’s dominant season-opening victory. It was DCC’s first game without George Heigel —who retired following the state finals last year — as head coach since 2012.
Both teams are back in action on Friday.
The Lady Cardinals (1-0) travel to Punxsutawney, while ECC (0-1) hosts Warren.
DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 15,
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 0, 4 innings
Score by Innings
ECC 000 0 — 0
DCC 151 8 — 15
* There were 0 outs when game ended
ECC—0
Mya Pistner 1b 2000, Gina Geci 2b 2000, Bailey Thorwart ss 2000, Alexa Uhl 3b 1000, Bella Dixon p 1000, Anna Geci c 1000, Jenna Schatz dp 1000, Sofiya Cherry cf 1000, Abby Eagen lf 1000, Delana Duncan lf 0000, Sofia Elmquist rf (flex) 0000, Margaret Toncich rf (flex) 0000. Totals: 12-0-0-0.
DCC—15
Marina Hanes cf 4343, Virginia Myers c 2200, Lily Davidson dp 3012, Dani Perry pr 0100, Kiki Foster rf 3101, Rylee Kulbatsky p 3021, Elizabeth Green cr 0300, Maggie Mauthe 3b 2222, Emma Elensky 1b 2010, Kylee Kulbatsky ph 0100, Lily Sachs ss 2012, Hannah Dehner lf 1212, Ellie Gow ph 1010, Ella Elensky 2b (flex) 0000. Totals: 23-15-13-13.
Errors: ECC 4, DCC 0. LOB: ECC 0, DCC 4. 2B: Davidson. 3B: Hanes, R. Kulbatsky. HR: Hanes. SAC: Sachs. SF: Mauthe.
Pitching
ECC: Bella Dixon-3+ IP, 13 H, 15 R, 9 ER, 3 BB, 0 SO.
DCC: Rylee Kulbatsky-4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 SO.
Winning pitcher: Kulbatsky. Losing pitcher: Dixon.
