BOALSBURG -- All Central York's Meghan Rishel needed to power the Panthers' offense was set her swing free.

Showing bunt almost every at-bat throughout the playoffs, Rishel swung away during the first two innings of Monday's first-round contest of the PIAA Class AAAA softball tournament at Hess Field with successful results.

Leading off with an infield hit and scoring the go-ahead run in the first, the senior center fielder delivered an RBI single to left field in the second inning to help the Panthers take an early lead they would not relinquish.

Freshman pitcher Lauren Walker allowed only one baserunner in a dominant 11-strikeout effort, and Central earned the 4-0 win to advance to

Thursday's quarterfinals for the first time in the program's history.

"We focused a lot on hitting, and we've been able to string some key hits together," said Rishel, who also made an acrobatic catch with no outs in the second inning to rob State College cleanup hitter Kirsten Glantz of an extra-base hit. "That's what's been keeping us in states."

Central coach Dave Marsh believed State College would expect his leadoff hitter to lay down the bunt, so he worked with her in the batting cage on getting her more aggressive with her swing.

It was enough to help Rishel reach first to start the game and get to second on an Allison Burkhart bunt. State College's Ana Ross tried to catch Rishel on second after making the force out at first, but her errant throw went into

After Walker struck out the side in the bottom of the first, Central third baseman Heather Wortman smacked a double into the right-field gap and then scored on a two-out single from Rishel.

Central's freshman hurler continued to keep things in control from there, retiring the first 14 batters she faced. An infield single from designated player Haley Brown in front of the plate in the fifth inning was the only thing keeping Walker from throwing a perfect game.

Central added two more runs in the top of the seventh, and freshman first baseman Kelly Fink made an impressive catch near the side fence on a foul pop for the final out.

Fink was called up from the junior varsity to take the spot of Grace Klauber, who was not listed on Central's roster. Klauber has started in left field and batted ninth for the Panthers throughout the playoffs. Without her, Marsh moved designated player Erin Kissling to left field, put first baseman Kelsie Lehigh in the designated player spot and made Fink the flex player at first base.

Marsh had no comment when asked why Klauber was missing from the game and whether she would rejoin the team.

Rishel finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored for the Panthers. Right fielder Leah Herman also had two hits for the Panthers, going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.

Next up for the Panthers, who qualified for the state tournament by finishing third in District 3, is the winner of Monday's contest between District 3 champ Lower Dauphin and District 1 fourth-place finisher Upper Darby.

"It's a little history for us," Marsh said. "Now we have a couple more games left to achieve our goal, which is to win that last one, bring a state championship back to York County and follow in the footsteps of Susquehannock."
smclernon@ydr.com; 771-2045