Four SOL teams will be in action on Monday when the District One AAAA Tournament gets underway.
By Mary Jane Souder
The second season begins on Monday when the District One AAAA Tournament gets underway. Four SOL teams will see opening round action.
Souderton – sparked by an explosive offensive attack - used a late-season burst to earn a district spot, pulling together after the resignation of coach Courtney Hughes to win five of six games down the stretch.
North Penn also saved its best for last, winning five of six games to close out the regular season.
While the Indians and Maidens flourished in the season’s final weeks, Pennridge struggled to find the magic that made it one of the hottest teams in the SOL for the better part of the 2013 season.
William Tennent is the fourth SOL team in action on Monday, and the Panthers sneaked into the tournament as the 23rd seed after recuperating from a 1-6 start.
The SOL – which boasts the last two state champions - was paid the ultimate compliment at Thursday’s district seeding meeting when it earned the top four seeds in Class AAAA with 1) Neshaminy, 2) Hatboro-Horsham, 3) Pennsbury and 4) Central Bucks South earning top billing. A fifth SOL squad, seventh-seeded Central Bucks East, also received a first round bye.
Hunt hits century mark – Harry S Truman senior Bridget Hunt wrote her name in the record books when – in her team’s final game of the season Wednesday – she stroked a pair of singles, the second of which vaulted her to the prestigious 100-hit mark for her career.
“She’s blessed with speed,” coach Gretchen Cammiso said. “She can drop a bunt and drive a ball. She rips the hardest line drives I have seen. She’s a tough out, no matter what.”
Hunt has been a fixture in the starting lineup since she was a freshman and boasts an impressive career batting average in the neighborhood of .400.
“She’s a lefty slapper, and she primarily did that her freshman year,” Cammiso said. “She was a table setter.”
As her career progressed, Hunt showed she could hit for power as well, and after batting at the top of the order for most of her career, she was moved down this season.
“We didn’t have as much power, and that’s what we needed from her,” Cammiso said.
Hunt has accepted a softball scholarship to Binghamton where she is projected to play outfield. She has anchored the Tigers behind the plate this season.
The Tigers ended a tough season with three straight wins. Appropriately, it was Hunt – who singled and stole second – scoring the game winning run in Truman’s 1-0 win over Bensalem in the season finale for both teams on Wednesday.
“Obviously, we had our disappointments this season, but the girls stuck together,” Cammiso said. “This is probably the best group of girls in terms of getting along together.
“Sometimes we didn’t show up game day, but they got along all year long. Even when the losses were racking up, they stuck together. To finish 3-0 and beat two teams we had lost to early in the season – it was a good way to go out for our seniors, especially for Bridget. She was our captain the last two years, and I know she had some high expectations for herself and the team.”
As endings go, it was a good one for Hunt, who reached a milestone few athletes achieve.
Hatters alone atop Continental – The logjam that was the top of the Continental Conference standings cleared up rather quickly the final week of the regular season, and when the dust had settled, Hatboro-Horsham stood alone at the top of the standings.
“I didn’t know where we were going to be this season,” coach Joe DiFilippo said. “I knew the league was tough.
“I knew we’d be good, but I didn’t know how good we would be because the rest of the league was so tough.”
DiFilippo didn’t have to look far to figure out who ignited his team offensively this season. Senior Maria Spinosa, who is now batting leadoff, hit at a dazzling .560 clip for the year.
“She’s so fast,” DiFilippo said. “My team speed this year – I’ve never had team speed like this. My freshman – DeAnna Moyer – she’s like lightening.”
Senior Heather Lutz and junior Daria Edwards have provided a powerful punch out of the three-four spots in the lineup.
“I really didn’t expect to get seven home runs from both Heather and Daria,” DiFilippo said.
For good measure, sophomore Jenn Cader chipped in four home runs.
Also making important contributions has been senior leftfielder Carlie Johnson, who was sidelined all of last season due to complications from a hand injury.
“Getting her back was huge,” DiFilippo said. “She came to all our games last year, but she couldn’t play.”
Stepping into the role of starting pitcher is senior Nicole Casagrand, who bided her time behind Maggie Shaffer.
“The bad part about it for Nicole was timing,” DiFilippo said. “Last year at the banquet I said – she would be the number one pitcher for almost every other team, but it’s just a matter of timing.”
The Hatters are one of six Continental Conference teams to earn berths in the District One AAAA Tournament.
“I think it’s great for the rest of the conference to get all those teams in,” DiFilippo said. “You look at the whole thing – Quakertown probably had the best team it had in years, but it just happened to be a year when everyone else was loaded up as well.”
Vikings make history – Upper Merion turned some heads this season by capturing the SOL American Conference title. It is the first ever softball crown for the program.
“Coach Murphy and myself knew with the freshmen coming up and what we had coming back from last year’s team – we thought we could do something,” coach John Whitney said. “I wasn’t sure how fast we could jell together and if we could find the right positions for everybody.
“I give a lot of credit to the girls - our juniors and seniors and the leadership they gave.”
The Vikings’ coach credited senior captains Sarah Schunder and Anna Blackwood as well as juniors Maddalana Ghanayem and Nikki Ross - both three-year starters - and Gabby Sblorlini for providing veteran leadership to the young squad.
“Gabby Kline also was a senior, and she was captain of the cheerleaders, so she had a great attitude,” Whitney said. “The older kids made it real easy for the freshmen to come up, and everyone felt they were part of the team.
“We only had 12 kids, but they all like each other, they all play hard, and they do things the right way. I give a lot of credit to the kids for coming together and just playing the game the right way.”
Ross did most of the work in the circle, compiling a 9-1 record, but freshman Olivia Sblorlini also saw action.
“They both pitched well for me,” Whitney said.
Freshman Abby Volpe led the Vikings offensively, hitting .481 for the season. Freshman Micaela Ghanayem also was hitting in the neighborhood of .500. Schunder hit. 411, and Dez Kandy hit .389.
“These kids are really hitting the ball,” Whitney said. “It’s been nice with this lineup. My nine kids can all hit the ball. Even at the bottom of the lineup, they start things up. It’s not always the top. That’s the one I’m real happy about.”
Whitney credited the only coaches the program had known until he took over the helm – Bob Crooks and Bob White - for laying the foundation.
“When we won it last week against Wissahickon, I brought coach Crooks and coach White out and let them talk to the kids,” Whitney said. “I thought they should be part of it. I’d always talked to the girls about these coaches.
“They took a lot of good teams to districts and had a lot of good runs. The problem was we had Methacton in our league, and they must have won the league 25 times. Wissahickon also won it a couple of years, but it seemed like Methacton won it every year. It was amazing.”
“This (championship) is validation for all the good teams that came through Upper Merion over the years. I know they didn’t win championships, but Upper Merion has always had some very good ball players over the years.”
The Vikings beat Chichester 2-1 on Thursday night in a warm-up for Friday’s district opener against Villa Maria Academy. Upper Merion is the third-seeded team in Class AAA. The Hurricanes are the sixth seed.
#19 SOUDERTON at #14 UPPER DARBY
Souderton
- 11-8 overall, 7-7 SOL
- Sixth place team in SOL Continental Conference
- Won five of six games to close out regular season, scoring 45 runs in that span.
- Highlights of the season include a win over fourth-seeded Central Bucks South in its season finale and a pair of wins over 12th-seeded Pennridge.
- Scored five or more runs in 14 of 19 games.
Upper Darby
- 17-3 overall
- Central League co-champion with Haverford
- Savannah Nierentz anchors team on mound, boasting a 13-3 record with 167 strikeouts in 117 innings and a 1.32 ERA
- Nierentz is team’s top power hitter, boasting a .385 average with six doubles and a triple and a team-high 22 RBIs
- Junior Olivia Chase is hitting .464 with 15 RBIs while junior Kate Robinson is hitting at a .375 clip.
#20 GARNET VALLEY at #13 NORTH PENN
North Penn
- 13-7 overall, 7-7 overall
- Fifth place team in SOL Continental Conference
- Highlights of season included wins over fourth-seeded Central Bucks South and 12th-seeded Pennridge and a pair of wins over 19th-seeded Souderton
- Won five of six games to close out regular season after upset loss at hands of Quakertown.
- Team only recently had its full lineup back after battling through some injuries.
Garnet Valley
- 11-8 overall
- Second place Central League team behind co-champs Upper Darby and Haverford
- 2009 and 2010 Central League champions
- Lost to Hatboro-Horsham 9-0 in Thursday’s regular season finale
#21 CONESTOGA at #12 PENNRIDGE
Pennridge
- 12-8 overall, 8-6 SOL
- Fourth place team in SOL Continental Conference
- Highlights of season included a pair of wins over fourth-seeded Central Bucks South and a win over second-seeded Hatboro-Horsham
- Endured a tough five-game losing streak to close out regular season
Conestoga
- Fourth place team in Central League
- Split season series with co-champion Haverford
- A young team with freshman Callie Wang in circle
#23 WILLIAM TENNENT at #19 METHACTON
William Tennent
- 9-9 overall, 7-7 SOL
- Tied for third place in SOL National Conference
- Rallied to win eight of last 11 games after losing six of seven to start season.
- Four of its losses at the hands of top-seeded Neshaminy and third-seeded Pennsbury
Methacton
- 15-5 overall, 14-4 PAC-10
- Third place team in PAC-10 behind Owen J Roberts and Spring-Ford
- Split season series with Owen J Roberts, Spring-Ford and 16th-seeded Boyertown
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