Gaisior notches 300th K, Juniata tops rival EJ

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: April 23, 2022

By Kenny Varner

MIFFLINTOWN – Milestones don’t always wait for good weather.

Juniata softball phenom Liz Gaisior continued her torrid pitching Saturday morning as she collected career strikeout 300 in the Lady Indians 1-hit shut out of Tri-Valley League rival East Juniata.

Playing in the lingering rain for most of the contest, Juniata got a solid overall performance both offensively and defensively to notch the 10-0 five inning win in front of its fans.

“They played really well today. We carried it over from yesterday. We played a good team with a good record but some games you don’t win so they carried it over today and got the win,” said Juniata coach Erin Cressman. “They played great today!”

Gaisior had her A-game going on the mound and at the plate.

Offensively, the lefty lead off hitter went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a home run.

On the mound, Gaisior allowed only one hit and struck out 10. The 10 strikeouts puts the hurler at 307 for her career at Juniata.

The lone hit for the Tigers was Brenna Watts. Watts took the loss for East Juniata, who were missing some of its players.

“We made contact tonight and put the ball in play. I thought the strike zone was very hard to work with today for both teams and that doesn’t help,” said East Juniata coach Lauren Cheran. “We also didn’t have our starting nine today. They didn’t see our full team. There were a lot of deciding factors….But knowing it’s a county rivalry we knew it was going to be a good game today and the top dog was going to come out on top. Unfortunately, it wasn’t us today.”

After striking out three out of four in the first, Gaisior led off the bottom of the first.

Watts roped a single in the first for her team’s only hit of the contest.

She wasted little time giving her team a spark as she blasted a ground rule double.

With two out, Navi Jackson joined Gaisior on base with a walk. Both moved up a base on a wild pitch.

Shalelyn Armstrong brought both teammates home as she blasted a 2-run single into left, making it a 2-0 lead.

Gaisior struck out the side in the second. In that inning that history made its way into the contest.

Facing her first batter of the second, Macy Buskey went down swinging giving Gaisior her 300th K.

In the bottom of the inning Juniata added to its lead.

Savannah Marshall reached on a walk. Mackenzie Lyter singled to put runners on first and second.

Gaisior bounced into a fielders choice, moving Marshall to third.

Marshall scored on a wild pitch.

Two pitches later, Gaisior scored on a wild pitch as well.

Regan Lowery walked and then scored on an RBI single by Frontz, upping the lead to 5-0.

Gaisior made her presence known in the bottom of fourth as she blasted a shot that cleared the fence, cushioning the Juniata lead to 6-0.

Juniata put the game on ice in the bottom of the fifth plating four runs, ending the contest at 10-0.

Juniata 10, East Juniata 0(5 innings)

EJ 000 00x x – 0 1 2

JU 230 14x x – 10 10 0

WP: Liz Gaisior

LP: Brenna Watts

Multiple hitters: East Juniata – None. Juniata – Gaisior 3-for-4, 2 doubles, HR, RBI, 3runs. Lexi Frontz 3-for-4 2RBIs, run, Shalelyn Armstrong 2-for-4 2RBIs.

HR: Juniata Gaisior. East Juniata -None.

3B: None.

2B: Gaisior 2