SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. -- Trish Melvin stood, her arms raised triumphantly, screaming as loud as her voice box would allow.

"I didn't know what else to do," she said. "I mean, how do you react when you just won a state championship?"

When you perform the way Melvin did yesterday, you earn the right to celebrate in whatever manner you please.

Melvin, a senior pitcher, struck out 14 and tossed a two-hitter to lead Vincentian (24-2) to a 2-1 victory against Upper Dauphin (22-3) in the PIAA Class A softball championship at Shippensburg University. It was the first title for Vincentian, and the Royals did it with their hopes resting, largely, on the powerful right arm of Melvin (23-2), a Brown University recruit.

"What can I say? She is our workhorse, she is dominant and has been for a long time," said Vincentian coach Pete Scanga.

Vincentian scored first in the second, when first baseman Caren Seltz drilled a solid single that chased home Melvin, who had earlier been hit by a pitch.

The Royals advanced that to 2-0 in the fourth, when Upper Dauphin lapsed defensively with three errors, the last allowing Seltz to come on an errant throw across the diamond from first as she went from second to third on a groundout.

Melvin carried a no-hitter into the sixth, before Upper Dauphin finally dented her.

She got herself into a bases loaded, one-out jam in that sixth and allowed Upper Dauphin to cut the lead in half to 2-1 when she let a wild pitch sail high of her sister, catcher Nina, allowing Emalie Stroup to race home.

But that would be all the noise the Trojans would make, as Melvin retired the top three batters in the order in succession in the bottom of the seventh on a strikeout and two groundouts.

While Melvin yielded just two hits, the seventh was the only inning she faced the minimum number of batters, as she walked five and the Royals made two errors.

"They weren't going to take this away from us when we got that close," Trish Melvin said. "They say adversity makes character. In that last inning, they were not going to take this away from us."