MINERSVILLE - Tuesday’s District 11 playoff game served as a reward for what Panther Valley had accomplished. It also served as a reminder for what it still needs to do.

Perennial power Minersville made the Panthers’ first postseason appearance in five years a rough one as it rolled to a 15-0 victory in the quarterfinal round of the Class 2A playoffs.

Panther Valley coach Tara Yuricheck hopes the playoff atmosphere her team experienced serves as an inspiration to return next year, and as motivation to take its game to an even higher level.

“We’re a very young team, and none of these kids has ever played in a playoff game before,” said Yuricheck. “I think it was obvious that we were dealing with some nerves.

“You can’t make the mistakes we made today against good teams, and Minersville is a very good team. But the good news is we showed a lot of improvement from last year to this year, and a lot of improvement during the course of this season. We also have our entire roster returning. So we are looking at this season as a building block for future success.”

Yuricheck isn’t the only one who sees potential in the PV roster.

Minersville coach Jamie Kuehn was extremely complimentary of what he has seen from Panther Valley this season.

“This is the second time we’ve faced them - and although the score today might not indicate it - Panther Valley is a program heading in the right direction. They are well-coached, and have some really nice players.

“It’s a program that is greatly improved over where they’ve been the last few years. I also know they play a lot of young kids, so their future is definitely bright.”

But while the Panthers’ future looks promising, the Miners are very good right now - and it showed from the opening inning.

After Minersville pitcher Kaycee Raczka retired PV in order with two strikeouts in the top of the first, the Miners took advantage of three Panther errors to score five times in the bottom of the inning.

“We talked to our kids about getting off to a strong start, and that’s exactly what we did,” said Kuehn. “Kaycee was hammering the strike zone with her pitches, and our offense got some big hits with runners on base.”

Nobody did that better than Raczka (single, double, triple and six RBIs) and Emily Hart (single, home run, five RBIs).

“Kaycee was not only dominant in the circle, but she was dominant at the plate as well,” said Kuehn. “Her and Emily have been two of our top hitters all season, and they showed why today.”

The Miners (13-8) scored multiple runs in each of their first three at-bats, before Hart’s three-run bomb to left in the home fourth ended the game via the mercy rule.

“We need to learn from this,” said Yuricheck. “This is a great indication of the level that the top teams are on - and what we need to do to get there.

“It starts with our girls getting into the weight room in the offseason, and also playing as much softball as they can. We’re happy with the progress we made from only winning three games last year to winning eight this year. But we can’t be satisfied. We have a lot of work to do to get to the level that Minersville is at.”

MISCUES ... Panther Valley (8-13) committed five errors, that led to seven unearned runs.

THE HIT ... Raczka struck out five and allowed just one hit - a fourth-inning bunt single by Morgan O’Brien. The Panthers had three other base runners. Caroline Breslin worked a walk in the third, Kyla McQuillen reached on an error in the third, and Morgan Orsulak was hit by a pitch in the fourth.

UP NEXT ... Minersville will face Williams Valley in Thursday’s semifinal round.

Panther Vy. 000 0 - 0 1 5

Minersville 534 3 - 15 8 2

Ruczka and Horoschak; Alabovitz and Yuricheck. W - Raczka. L - Alabovitz. HR: Minersville - Hart (4th, two on).