North Penn and Pennridge earned wins in Monday’s District One AAAA opening round. To view photos of the Pennridge/Conestoga game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
#12 PENNRIDGE 2, #21 CONESTOGA 1
Nothing has come easily for the Pennridge softball team in recent weeks, and Monday’s win in the Lady Rams’ District One opener against Conestoga was no different.
The Lady Rams needed a gutsy seventh-inning comeback to make a winner out of pitcher Paige DeCew, who scattered three hits in a stellar outing, and senior Brooke Labs, for one, admits she was more than a little concerned when her team went into its final at-bat trailing 1-0.
“I was pacing in the dugout – I was very nervous,” Labs said.
Her case of the nerves subsided considerably when teammate Alison Horne led off the bottom of the seventh by ripping a double down the left field line.
“I knew she was throwing inside a lot, and I was jamming myself,” Horne said. “I just tried to swing a little earlier, and it worked out I guess.”
Horne moved up to third on Julia Helbling’s sacrifice bunt, and when Bridget Casey drew a four-pitch walk, Pennridge had the winning run on board. A pick-off attempt gone bad at third base allowed Horne to score the tying run, and the Lady Rams weren’t finished yet.
Casey moved up to third on Emily Mayhew’s sacrifice fly to right field, and she scored the game winner when Labs delivered a clutch two-out, two-strike hit to right field.
“I’m thinking - I just need a single,” Labs said. “I don’t need any big extravagant thing. I don’t need a home run. I just needed a single to score Bridget. I just wanted contact, and luckily, that’s what I got.”
Early on, there was nothing to suggest Monday’s game against the district’s 21st seed would come down to the wire. The Lady Rams had a pair of one-out base runners in the first after Labs singled and Haley Taylor drew a walk, but back-to-back popups ended that threat.
In the second inning, Horne and Helbling collected consecutive one-out singles, but that potential rally ended when Callie Wang retired the next two batters she faced. The Pioneers’ freshman hurler – who was spotted a 1-0 lead after Monica Hood homered in the fourth - went on to retire 14 of 16 batters, holding the Lady Rams hitless for four straight innings before Horne got things started with her leadoff double in the seventh, saving the day for the Lady Rams.
“We have a great hitting team,” coach Paul Koehler said. “We talk a lot about our hitters hitting their pitch, looking for good pitches to hit.
“We overthink it, and now when we try and get kids up there to free swing, it’s tough for them to do that because they still want to look for a good pitch. When you have a pitcher like that who’s hittable, you’re either looking for a better pitch to hit or you’re overanxious and hitting ground balls to shortstop.”
The Lady Rams managed just five hits – two each from Labs and Horne, but with DeCew in command on the mound, it was enough to eke out the big win.
”It was awesome,” Horne said. “I was getting a little nervous. We’ve been trying so hard. This is the best team we’ve ever had, and everyone deserves to move on.
“We’re just going to take every game like it’s our last and never back down.”
“This feels so good,” Labs added. “As a senior, that’s all you want, and it was awesome that some of the underclassmen could come up big for us.
Monday’s win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Rams.
“I think we were in our heads too much,” Labs said. “We know we’re a good team, but we weren’t really executing.
“We were too busy trying to show people what we could do instead of just working within ourselves. Thank god we won this one.”
The Rams (13-8) will face seventh-seeded Owen J. Roberts in Wednesday’s second round game at 4 p.m.
#13 NORTH PENN 7, #20 GARNET VALLEY 4
Sophomores Becky Christoffers and Jackie Bilotti have been a winning combination as batterymates for the Maidens this season.
“Our brothers grew up together, so we have known each other for a long time,” Christoffers said. “I actually just started catching her this winter, but we’re really good friends, so that helps a lot.”
Christoffers was asked to fill the not-so-little shoes of Jess Mower behind the plate, and according to coach Rick Torresani, the sophomore has been a natural fit.
“For a sophomore, Becky is fundamentally sound,” the Maidens’ coach said. “She really plays more like a senior.”
It was Christoffers delivering a clutch two-run, two-out single in the sixth to give the Maidens some breathing room after the Jaguars cut their lead to 5-4 in the top of the inning.
“I know that getting runs always helps,” Christoffers said. “Those two runs at the end just sealed the game.
“Our team came together today and has been coming together.”
Christoffers had a big day at the plate, going 2-for-2 with three RBIs. The sophomore catcher has made her presence felt after a two-and-a-half week absence with a concussion. Alyssa Shoulberg just returned to the lineup as well.
“Even with us out, we came together as a team,” Christoffers said.
The Maidens struck first, plating three runs in the second. Senior Jenn Halcovage had the inning’s big blow with a two-run single.
“Getting the first runs of the game helped us a lot,” Kristoffers said. “We had a lot of confidence going into the game.”
Alexa Gable had a big day for the Maidens, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Melissa Fasick was 2-for-3 with a run scored and RBI, and Michelle Holweger was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
“The bottom of the order from six through nine hit really well,” Torresani said. “Michelle (Holweger) hit well in the four spot, but six through nine came up with some clutch hits, and Jackie pitched a good game.”
The Maidens will travel to Central Bucks South for their third matchup of the season against the fourth-seeded Titans, who had an opening round bye.
“That’s why I don’t like the bye because you get to play that first game, you get the nerves out of you, you go out and play,” Torresani said. “You don’t have to sit around and wait until Wednesday to play a game.
“The girls played like they played last year in the playoffs. They played great defense, and they got some timely hitting. That’s what it’s going to take.”
CB South and North Penn split their two regular season meetings.
#10 METHACTON 5, #23 WILLIAM TENNENT 0
The Panthers never could solve the mystery of Methacton lefty Jordan Prutzer in Monday’s opening round district loss, collecting just four hits.
“She was definitely a good pitcher,” coach Lisa Marie Ramagli said. “A lefthanded pitcher threw the girls off a bit.”
The Warriors scored two runs in the first inning and never looked back on their way to the win, but nothing could detract from the accomplishments of a Tennent team that had made the program’s first playoff appearance in close to two decades.
“This was a huge accomplishment,” Ramagli said. “According to the people we have been talking to, this is the first time in 19 years that William Tennent softball has made the playoffs.
“That’s a huge accomplishment in itself. These girls are so dedicated, hard working, and they really want to make a difference. They want to prove themselves in the league, and they want to prove to themselves that they deserve to be on the field. They proved to all the coaches and myself that they definitely deserve it.”
Making Tennent’s playoff berth even more impressive was the fact that it came in a season that saw the Panthers get off to a 1-6 start.
“One thing we talked about as we were saying our good byes – the girls have worked so hard,” Ramagli said. “Even though we didn’t win, we basically have been working for this exact moment since December 2011.
“Last year we lost one senior, so we basically had the same team coming back. They continued to work hard. They built confidence in themselves on and off the field.”
Ramagli bids farewell to seniors Elise Wood, Rachel Raczak, Nicole Clark, Amber O’Toole and Sierra Isaac.
“The five seniors are stronger women because of their hard work and dedication,” the Panthers’ coach said. “Even though some of them didn’t have such an impact on the field – off the field and in the dugout, they were the heart and soul of the team. They were at every game, they were always cheering, and they always wanted their teammates to be successful.
“They’re going to school to be doctors, lawyers, and veterinarians. This is just a small piece of the puzzle to their careers. I’m so proud of them.”
The Panthers closed out their year with a 9-10 record (7-7 SOL).
“People could see in the league that we were a good team,” Ramagli said. “You couldn’t take us lightly anymore, and that’s all we really wanted was to gain some respect.”
#14 UPPER DARBY 10, #19 SOUDERTON 0 (5 innings)
The Indians closed out the regular season one of the SOL’s hottest teams. They not only were winning games, they were scoring runs in bunches. In Monday’s district opener, the magic the Indians had captured during their late season run was nowhere to be found.
“The girls looked so unbalanced in the box,” coach Steph Rummel said. “They weren’t sure if they were swinging too early or swinging too late.
“They weren’t putting hard swings on the ball. It was just an off day. You could just see it. They seemed uncomfortable, and they weren’t really sure how to attack the pitcher.“
Upper Darby ace Savannah Nierentz allowed just two hits.
“She was throwing some rise balls, and it was all upper strikes,” Rummel said. “They were swinging at balls in their power zone.”
Upper Darby jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and sealed the Indians’ fate with a seven-run third inning.
“That’s the problem we have been fighting all season – taking the other team’s hits and making sure that we are not letting it overcome us,” Rummel said. “If they hit a single, you need to make sure you hit the bag that’s appropriate and you keep that runner from moving up, just doing the little things to make sure they’re not getting more bases than they need to.
“Today we just weren’t doing that. We weren’t going to the right bases, we weren’t communicating. We weren’t on. It just wasn’t our day unfortunately.”
Despite the ending, Rummel had nothing but praise for her team’s response to circumstances that could have buried the squad when coach Courtney Hughes resigned with seven games remaining.
“I said to them after the game, ‘You have nothing to hang your heads about,’” Rummel said. “We came together as team, and we worked through this together. We were all on the same playing field, and we had to get through it.
“We did great. It stinks to end on this kind of game, but I told them, ‘If it helps, go back to CB South and remember how great we did against CB South. Don’t ever think we weren’t a good team.’
“It’s all about positive reinforcement. They need to know they did well, and this one game does not define their season.”
The Indians closed out the year with an 11-9 record (7-7 SOL).
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