Harrisburg upsets defending champs to win RBI World Series

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- If the Michael Stepp RBI softball team from Harrisburg, Pa., was intimidated by powerhouse Houston in the World Series earlier in the week, it certainly overcame that uncertainty Saturday.

Molly Whitmyer and Katelyn Strawser combined for five hits and four RBIs to help Harrisburg hold on and stun the previously undefeated Astros, 5-4, earning the championship at Jackie Robinson Training Complex.

“Our goal was to get 21 outs any way we could,” said Harrisburg coach Taylor Weisman, whose club dropped a 9-4 decision to Houston on Thursday. “We played more loose -- our game, not their game.”

The team celebrated by hoisting the first-ever Natasha Watley Trophy, named after the former UCLA four-time All-American and two-time Olympic medal winner and awarded to the victorious side.

Harrisburg’s win prevented Houston from claiming its fourth consecutive World Series title -- an elusive four-peat.

Harrisburg (7-2) completely found the momentum in the first inning by notching three unearned runs after Houston first baseman Sarah Salas dropped a throw from third on the game’s opening play.

Whitmyer and Mikaela Francois (2-for-3, double, run, RBI) had run-scoring doubles, then Strawser singled off the third-base bag to drive in the third tally.

Holding the 3-0 edge, Harrisburg turned to stellar defensive play to close out the first. Shortstop Rachel Seneca made a brilliant diving stop of Elizabeth Baylor’s hard grounder, tagged second and fired to first to easily double up Baylor and bring the visiting stands and dugout to life for a second time.

Seneca’s defense was also key in the bottom of the fifth, when she laid out on Lesly Gonzalez’s grounder in the hole. She regained her balance and fired a strike from her knees to record the first out in an inning in which Houston cut the lead to 5-3 but left the bases loaded.

“I was kind of on the base, honestly, on the double play. I feel like it set the tone in the first inning after we had scored a bunch of runs. That got the energy going,” said Seneca, who is entering her junior year at Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg.

In her first World Series, Seneca said her team was intimidated and looking up to the Astros in their first meeting.

She said her teammates put it all on the line in the title tilt.

“We definitely were a little scared in that [first] game,” she said. “But coming in to this one, we knew they had everything to lose and we had everything to gain.”

Added Weisman of the rematch: “The first time we [played] them, we got tense by what was on the front of their jersey. This time around, it was about what was on the front of our jersey.

“We represented our community and played simple softball.”

Whitmyer, who employs a deliberate approach as she steps into the batter’s box, went 3-for-4 with three doubles, two runs and two RBIs. Her RBI doubles in the opening three innings paved the way to a 5-0 lead.

“It’s amazing,” Whitmyer said of the big hits. “Jennie Finch said at the banquet last night that pressure is a privilege. I really did feel privileged today to play on this field. This is nothing like I’ve ever felt.”

Strawser, who manned third base, finished 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, one coming on a sacrifice fly that plated her team’s final run.

“It feels amazing to win with this team. You couldn’t ask for better teammates,” Strawser said.

Houston (6-1) cut a vicious path to the title game. It excelled in every area of the game and outscored the opposition 63-10 before Saturday.

However, the three-time champs were unable to get timely hits and stranded nine runners in Saturday’s defeat.

In a pivotal bottom of the fifth, the Astros loaded the bases with one out, but they scored only once, on a walk to Salas. A pair of popouts ended any chance to add on.

Jada Cooper led Houston with a 3-for-3 game, including a solo homer, a double, a walk and two runs. Baylor and Karisma Garcia added two hits apiece.

“Getting the big hit in key situations was what did us in,” said Houston coach Megan Hays. “We left a lot of runners on base. We needed that one solid hit and it never just fell for us.

“We’ll be back.”