Karns City #15 Jessica Dunn slides into home plate past Avonworth catcher #19 Abby Brooks in the PIAA 3A softball championship quarterfinal game at Mars Centennial Field in Adams Twp on Thursday June 9, 2022. Karns city lost the game 7-4(Justin Guido/ Special to the Eagle)

Justin Guido

ADAMS TWP — The fight was there. The desired outcome was not.

Karns City’s softball season — arguably the best in school history — ended with a 7-4 loss to WPIAL champion Avonworth in the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal roud Thursday at Mars.

“We all go through ups and downs in life,” KC coach Mike Stitt said. “The important thing is how hard you fight through it. We fought hard today.”

The Gremlins (15-4) fell behind 5-1 in the third inning when Cat Barie delivered a two-out, two-run double to right and Cassie Heinauer followed with a RBI single. Six of Avonworth’s seven runs crossed the plate on two-out hits.

“Timely hitting was everything to us today,” Avonworth coach Jenna Muncie said. “All of those two-out hits were huge, especially the ones by (No. 9 hitter) Layne Shinsky.”

Shinsky had a two-out RBI double in the second inning for the Antelopes (19-5) — who began the frame with a tqwering home run to left by Rylee Gray — and a two-out, two-run single in the fifth.

But trailing 5-1, Karns City went to work.

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