An extremely successful Susquenita softball season ended a bit prematurely on Wednesday when No. 7 seed Pequea Valley knocked the third-seeded Blackhawks out of the District 3 playoffs with a 3-1 victory.
Susquenita managed seven hits off pitcher Amanda Houck but could manufacture just one run. Pequea Valley scored in the first, third and fourth innings.
Susquenita pitcher Kayla Rhome yielded eight hits to Pequea Valley but only the three runs. A rash of early-game errors hurt the Blackhawks.
"We had (four) errors in the first two innings and we were lucky to escape,'' Susquenita coach Jesse Snyder said.
"They (Pequea Valley) were getting hits and they played very sound defensively.
Kora Zeigler homered in the fourth for Susquenita's lone run. The Blackhawks, winners of the Mid-Penn Capital Division, finished with an 18-4 record and return all of their starters next season.
"I told them they can't base their season off this game,'' Snyder said. "It was a successful season and all of these girls are coming back. We'll have the same team and just being here is going to help us.
"It was a hard game,'' Snyder said. "It was one of those games where we just couldn't get anything going.''