Souderton will face Lower Dauphin in the PIAA Class AAAA state title game at Penn State University on Friday at 12:30 p.m. For regular updates on game, follow us on Twitter a @SOLsports.
Haley DeLany is a dreamer, and the Souderton senior is totally serious when she says that – if asked the best case scenario at the start of the season – she would have said ‘maybe we can win states.’
“I’m more of a dreamer than anyone else,” DeLany said. “I’m not a realist at all.
“I remember my freshman year walking in I was like, ‘Guys, we can win states this year.’ They all looked at me. I always say – ignorance is bliss.”
It turned out DeLany wasn’t all that far off. The Indians advanced to the second round of states in her freshman year.
“When I was a freshman, I didn’t even know what was happening,” she said. “It’s hard to understand the seeding, the brackets at such a young age.”
“It’s hard to understand how much it means as a freshman,” senior Amanda Brush added.
This year, the Indians have improved on their state quarterfinal run in 2011 advancing to Friday’s state title game against Lower Dauphin at Penn State University. It’s a script senior Erelle Sowers began mapping out after the Indians won their quarterfinal state game against Central Mountain.
“We would play Monday, and if we won, we had senior checkout, and we don’t have to go back to school,” the Indians’ senior pitcher said. “We would all graduate on Thursday, and we would win the championship on Friday. It would be the perfect senior year all timed out.
“It’s been crazy – a lot of running around, but it’s also been kind of fun thinking about how this game could actually end. That’s what I’ve actually been visualizing – how this game could end, how everything could come out so perfectly, and we would all be so excited, and it would be the end of the greatest senior year you could ask for.”
Although they will be playing on the biggest stage when they take on the Falcons at Nittany Lion Park, the players are trying not to think of it that way.
“It’s just another game,” DeLany said. “That’s all it is. It’s just like a league game.
“We’re trying to let the team know – it’s important, but we’re not trying to overanalyze the situation. I don’t want to hype it up at all. I’ll hype it up when we win, and then I’ll feel surreal.”
“We’re definitely going in treating this like any other game,” Shelly said. “When we think about it too much, we have a tendency to get tense, and that’s when things go downhill.
“So probably on the way up, we’re going to sleep, have some fun like we normally do – maybe play a couple of games and just relax, and when we get there, we’re going to treat it like (another) game.”
Talk to the players, and it’s a sentiment that is echoed again and again. This despite the fact that – 12 hours after Souderton’s graduation ceremonies on Thursday – the team will have a 6 a.m. departure on Friday for the charter bus trip to Penn State. It’s hardly your typical schedule for any high school team, but the players remain grounded.
“We have to take it one pitch at a time, one at bat at a time, one inning at a time – just like any other game,” Brush said. “We got this far. We might as well win. This is pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“We’re trying not to make it a big deal,” Morgan Yoder said. “We’re just treating it like any other game.
“If we make it a big deal, we’ll just work ourselves up, so we’re staying relaxed and just being the way we were the whole season. That definitely helps us. Being ourselves is how we won before, so that’s how we’re going to try and do it again.”
So far, it’s been a formula for success under coach Steph Rummel, whose first full year at the helm has exceeded all expectations.
“What I try to focus on, no matter what game we’re in, is just that present game,” the Indians’ coach said. “We set our goals at the beginning of the year, and no, this wasn’t part of our goals, but I don’t think that was necessary at that point in time.
“I think that one goal at a time is the way our team works the best. We worked on winning our league. Then we worked on getting as far as we could in the district. It ended up working to our advantage and we did well.
“It’s good to come back from that loss to Avon Grove (in the district semifinals) and come back and really work hard and know that it’s not over because some teams will shut down. I think that’s great about our team. They step up and they never quit. It doesn’t really matter. I don’t really think anybody thought we were going to (the state championship), but we did it and I’m very proud of them.”
Now that the Indians are in the state title game, what will be the key against a hard-hitting Lower Dauphin squad?
“I think hitting, 100 percent,” Rummel said. “I think we have to show up with our bats and get it done that way.
“I just want them to stay relaxed and work on their fundamentals – hit the way we have been all season and just bring it all together for this last game. That’s what we’ve been working on – being better every single game for our last game, and that’s where we’re at right now. I just want to put everything together that we’ve been doing great and make it a great game.”
Whatever the outcome, the Indians have already rewritten the history books,
“No Souderton softball team has ever made it this far,” Sowers said. “Rummel said – even if we lose, we’re still going to celebrate the fact that we got this far.
“When we’re there, we’re going to try to win and we’re going to play our hardest to win, but in the end, we’ll still all be so excited to be there.”
Special connection: A key part of the team’s success has been the performance of Erelle Sowers on the mound. Not to be overlooked is the special relationship she has with her batterymate, catcher Morgan Yoder.
“I’ve been with her since I started travel ball in fifth grade,” Yoder said. “We’ve been together the whole time. We just look at each other, and we know what the other is saying.
“We just work really well together. We know what works and what doesn’t. It’s a relationship we’ve had forever and that we’ve built over the past years.”
Sowers is 16-4 for the Indians with 18 complete games.
“I think people thought we would be good, but I don’t think they thought we would be this far,” Sowers said. “I don’t think they thought we would make it to the championship because there were teams that were very good and competed with us and that we even lost to like Avon Grove and Neshaminy, but we proved to everyone we can do this.”
Sowers credits Rummel for setting the tone.
“I couldn’t ask for a better coach than Steph,” she said. “I remember before an important game she said, ‘Guys, we’re going to have a fun practice because you need to get out of your heads right now.’
“So we played kickball and stuff, and we went into the next game and we won because we were so relaxed. She’s not just our coach. She’s one of our friends even though we know the boundaries. She’s probably the greatest coach a softball player could ask for. All the girls love her. All of the girls can talk to her easily and about everything.”
#1-3 SOUDERTON vs. #3-2 LOWER DAUPHIN at Penn State University (12:30 p.m.)
Souderton
· 20-5 overall
· 11-3 SOL Continental Conference champions
· Program’s first conference title since 2004
· Scored five or more runs in 16 games
· First trip to state final in program history.
· Most wins since 2006 when Erin Holloway-led squad advanced to the state semifinals. Assistant coach Maili Shelly was Holloway’s batterymate on that team.
Players to watch: Seniors: Paige Shelly (32-for-87, .368, 29 runs, 29 RBIs, five doubles, two triples, three home runs), Haley DeLany (26-for-81, .321, 15 runs, 21 RBIs, five doubles, two triples, four home runs), Erelle Sowers (27-for-86, .314, 22 runs, two doubles, two triples), Amanda Brush (22-for-81, .272, 22 runs, 18 RBIs, eight doubles, two triples, three home runs), juniors: Dayna Shelly (29-for-78, .372, 23 runs, 31 RBIs, six doubles, five triples, three home runs), Morgan Yoder (20-for-75, 267), sophomores: Angie Carty (22-for-80, .275), Missy Wiley (21-for-82, .256), Savannah Bostwick (9-for-34, .265).
How they got here: The Indians, who finished third in the District One Class AAAA Tournament, defeated District 9 champion DuBois 2-0 in Monday’s state semifinal. Senior Erelle Sowers threw a four-hit shutout, striking out six and walking one. Amanda Brush delivered the defensive gem of the season with a diving, tumbling catch with two outs in the sixth inning that saved two runs and preserved a 2-0 lead. Angie Carty, who had two of the Indians’ seven hits, scored the game’s first run on an error, and Haley DeLany, who doubled, scored on a sacrifice fly by Missy Wiley. In the Indians’ 6-5 quarterfinal win over Central Mountain, Morgan Yoder had a big day, finishing 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Paige Shelly hit a solo home run to ignite a four-run fifth inning. The Indians led 6-1 when the Lady Wildcats plated four unearned runs in the fifth inning. In their 12-3 win over Cumberland Valley, the Indians used an eight-run second to all but put the game out of reach. Dayna Shelly led the Indians with two hits and three RBIs while Savannah Bostwick and Angie Carty also had two hits each.
Lower Dauphin
· 23-5 overall
· 13-1 Mid-Penn Keystone champions
· District 3 runner-up
· Scored five runs or more in 19 games and boast a team batting average of .359 with 55 stolen bases.
· Freshman pitcher Ava Bottiglia tossed shutouts in first two state games, including a no-hitter against Archbishop Ryan (4-0) and a two-hitter against Hazleton (2-0).
· First trip to state final game
Players to watch (Stats through regular season): Maddie Lillock (35-for-71, .493, 28 runs, 10 RBIs, 7 stolen bases, six doubles, two triples, two home runs), Maddi Kotchey (27-for-62, .435, 20 runs, 32 RBIs, 6 doubles, two triples, three home runs), Shelby Alcorn (21-for-51, .412), Kayla Holl (26-for-64, .406, 13 runs, 13 RBIs), Kaylee Stoner (25-for-65, .385, 26 runs, 12 stolen bases on 13 attempts), Emily Lingle (22-for-60, .367, 21 runs, 17 RBIs, four doubles, one triple, two home runs), Ava Bottiglia (1.85 ERA, 79.2 innings pitched.
How they got here: Lower Dauphin stunned previously undefeated Parkland in a state semifinal game Monday, rallying from a 7-1 deficit after four innings to earn an 8-7 win in eight innings. Kaylee Stoner was 4-for-5 with an RBI. Jamie Knaub, who bats out of the eight hole, was 2-for-4 with three RBIS and delivered a two-run double in the seventh to knot the score. Maddie Kotchey was 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Ruth Chambers was 1-for-2 with a double in a game that saw the Falcons pound out 11 hits. In the Falcons 4-0 win over District 12 champion Archbishop Ryan, freshman pitcher Ava Bottiglia threw a no-hitter, striking out 11. Shelby Alcorn delivered the big blow, a two-run double in the fourth. In an opening round game, the Falcons defeated Hazleton 2-0. Bottiglia, who entered the game with 144 strikeouts in 85 innings, threw a two-hit shutout, fanning three. A pair of Hazleton errors resulted in a pair of Lower Dauphin runs.
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