District 3 softball: Kutztown advances to 3A championship game with 10-inning win

Kutztown’s 2026 softball season continues after what may have been the most exciting, and nerve-racking, game of the spring for coach Kevin Conrad’s ballclub.

Friday night at Kutztown Park, second-seeded Kutztown defeated third-seeded Littlestown 6-5 in a thrilling extra innings Class 3A semifinal matchup to advance back to the district championship game.

In the bottom of the 10th inning, with the game tied at 5-5, freshman Gabriella Parker drove in the winning run on a walk-off single to cap off an exciting game from start to finish.

After the contest was postponed a day because of storms that swept across Pennsylvania ahead of the holiday weekend, the Cougars took advantage of the extra day of rest.

Now, Kutztown, the BCIAA champion, is one win away from capturing its 12th district championship. The Cougars have already won two district titles over the past four seasons, claiming championships in 2022 and 2024.

“We’re feeling great. We’re feeling supported, awesome, and ready to keep going,” Jade Fitzgerald said of the Cougars’ mindset.

Last season, Kutztown fell 2-0 to Susquenita in the championship game, and the Cougars will now get a rematch with the top-seeded Blackhawks (21-1) at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Millersville University.

Savannah Follweiler took the mound for Kutztown and struck out eight batters without issuing a walk.

Parker went 3-for-5 with the game-winning RBI, while Fitzgerald also finished 3-for-5, including a double. Felicia Oldt and Jayden Gehris each added two hits for the Cougars.

For Littlestown, Alexis Stonesifer was given the ball in the hard-fought loss. Stonesifer also went 2-for-5 at the plate, including a triple, while Ashlynn Gorsuch and Reese Rucker each added two hits.

Kutztown (18-4) struck first with two outs in the opening inning when Riley Nawrocki delivered a two-run single.

In the third inning, Littlestown (18-4) answered with a run of its own, but Oldt quickly responded with an RBI in the bottom half of the inning to extend the Cougars’ lead back to two.

Both teams showcased their pitching and defensive talent throughout a scoreless fourth inning.

In the fifth, freshman Kya Barrell, one of five regular freshman starters for Kutztown, knocked in another run before Klara Schnore added an RBI single in the sixth inning to provide the Cougars with valuable insurance runs as they moved within three outs of another championship appearance.

But the Thunderbolts refused to go away quietly.

Littlestown’s offense erupted late as the visitors rallied for four runs in the seventh inning to tie the game at 5-5.

“We always have a really challenging early schedule, and I do that on purpose to get us ready for the postseason,” Conrad said. “This year, it was a little rough because we had a lot of newcomers, and we really had to throw them into the fire early. We lost a couple tough games against some really good competition, but it got them ready for moments like this.”

In the bottom of the seventh, Kutztown had an opportunity to walk it off but stranded the potential winning run, sending the game into extra innings.

After a quick 1-2-3 top of the eighth inning, the Cougars had another opportunity to walk it off in the bottom half.

Kutztown appeared poised to win the game on a sacrifice fly, but the runner failed to tag up and was thrown out, sending the game into the ninth inning.

In crunch time, neither the Thunderbolts nor the Cougars could find the spark needed to pull ahead in the ninth inning as the game continued into extras.

Finally, in the bottom of the 10th inning the Cougars found some magic when Parker drove in the game-winning run.