Dame Fortune has a funny way of taking sides sometimes.

On Friday evening, she seemed to be toying with the Jim Thorpe softball team. The Olympians looked in control before Panther Valley surged late, blowing through the stop sign with a pair of rallies to hand Jim Thorpe a 10-7 loss in a non-league game.

Panther Valley grabbed a 1-0 lead after one inning, manufacturing a run in simple fashion. Senior Caroline Breslin reached on a catcher’s interference call and moved to third on Danika Blazosky’s first of three hits. Janessa Prudente then lifted a fly ball to center, allowing Breslin to tag and score.

Jim Thorpe answered in the second with four runs, taking advantage of two Panther Valley errors and sending eight batters to the plate. Gloria Strohl, who finished with three hits including a double and an RBI, along with Julianna Frantz and Kelly Sullivan, each singled to spark the rally. Two fielding errors helped the Olympians take a 4-1 lead.

The Olympians held that lead until the fourth, when Panther Valley turned things around. The Panthers rallied with two outs to take a 5-4 lead.

Brooklyn Mika singled, and one out later, freshman Kathryn Breslin followed with a hit. Blazosky delivered an RBI single and Prudente tripled to plate two more runs. D’Ancona doubled to score Prudente before being thrown out at third.

“We got some clutch hits under pressure when we fell behind,” Panther Valley manager Tara Yuricheck said. “(What) I liked is they maintained their composure, they kept battling back, That’s what I liked.”

Jim Thorpe responded again, tying the game at 5-5 and then moving ahead 6-5. Hannah Zacharias singled, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on Strohl’s two-out double. In the sixth, Sullivan reached on an error, moved to second, and scored on Anderseon’s RBI hit, though the Olympians missed a chance to add more.

“We’ve got to be better at running the bases, being aware of the situation. That is something we need to work on,” Thorpe mentor Kathy Levins said.

That missed opportunity proved costly.

Panther Valley erupted for five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Caroline Breslin singled, Blazosky followed with a hit, and Prudente’s infield hit plated Breslin. D’Ancona then tripled to drive in two runs. A Mika sacrifice fly brought home another run, and J Breiner added an RBI double as the Panthers built a 10-6 lead.

Jim Thorpe made one last push in its final at-bat. Madison Swartz scored on Isabella Sully’s double, but Alabovitz closed the game by retiring the next three batters.

QUOTABLE I ... “We’ve got a couple big games down the road… we’re 8-8 and we want to qualify for districts, which is everyone’s goal,” Yuricheck said.

QUOTABLE II ... “We need to have better discipline on the bases… it (haunts) you,” Levins said.

HITTING AWAY ... Panther Valley had 18 hits. Blazosky, Prudente and D’Ancona led the way with three hits. Kathryn Breslin, Megan O’Brien and B Mika each had two. Strohl led Jim Thorpe with three hits and Sullivan added two. MAINSTAY ... Donna Malaska, longtime coach and former manager for the Panthers, is still a strong supporter of the program.

Jim Thorpe 040 011 1 - 7 10 1

Panther Valley 100 405 x - 10 18 3

Schwartz and Sully; Alabevitz and K. Breslin. W - Alabovitz. L - Schwartz.

Records: Jim Thorpe (4-12); Panther Valley (8-8).