Six SOL softball teams advanced to Friday’s District One AAAA quarterfinal round. To view photos of the CB East/Methacton game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
#1 NESHAMINY 3, #16 BOYERTOWN 1
Julia McGovern doesn’t remember the last time she found herself behind the plate, but the Redskins’ senior third baseman is certainly no stranger to the position. McGovern was the ‘Skins everyday catcher her sophomore year.
On Wednesday, in the absence of catcher and cleanup batter Sam Offenback (illness), McGovern found herself behind the plate.
“I haven’t caught this season, but I’ve caught a couple of scrimmages for my travel team,” she said. “I was a catcher first, but I moved to third base. I love catching. I caught Lauren (Quense) my sophomore year. It’s so much fun.”
McGovern neglected to mention that she had been dealing with some nagging back issues of her own, making her performance even more impressive.
“That was pure guts,” coach Dave Chichilitti said. “That was big. She was left with no choice, and she gutted it out.
“I sent her a text this morning and said, ‘You know what I’m about to ask you,’ and she responded, ‘I’ll do it.’ That was the end of the conversation.”
McGovern and her teammates had not forgotten last year’s second round exit from districts when the Redskins, then the second-seeded team, fell to Central Bucks East 3-1.
“That definitely fuels the fire,” McGovern said. “In my freshman year, we lost the first round (of districts) and in my sophomore year, we lost in the semifinals of states, and then last year we lost in the first round.
“It fuels the fire that you never want to feel that way again, but we’re just focused on one game at a time. We have a lot of heart, and we really want it.”
The Redskins showed their heart when –after the Bears took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first – they answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.
According to McGovern, the Redskins were not unnerved when they fell behind.
“I knew our team was strong enough to come through and we proved that,” she said.
Diana LaPalombara got things started with a leadoff single, and with one swing of her bat, McGovern gave the Redskins a 2-1 lead when she smacked a two-run home run.
“I wasn’t even thinking home run,” McGovern said. “I always go up thinking – make contact, have a good at-bat, but it was nice to have that happen.
“It felt good. It shows that your hard work pays off in big spots.”
Quense doubled, and the Redskins led 3-1 when Jen Walker delivered a sacrifice fly.
“Once again the person who needs to respond in the big game, Diana, comes out and gets a single and takes the pressure right back off us, and Julia crushed a ball over the fence,” Chichilitti said. “We’re the number one seed, and in our minds, we thought we were the better team.
“For them to come out and score that run first, it took a little bit of our intensity and the home field advantage out of the game, and we were able to get that back on our side rather quickly and keep it moving in the right direction.”
The Redskins, who managed just five hits but stranded seven runners, had opportunities to add to their lead.
“It seemed like every time we got runners in scoring position, we couldn’t get a big hit that would have made it a lot easier on ourselves,” Chichilitti said.
Quense – who allowed a pair of bloop singles in the first – did not allow a hit over the final six innings in yet another stellar outing. She fanned eight in a winning effort.
The Redskins (18-1) will host eighth-seeded Downington East in Friday’s quarterfinal round. The Cougars defeated Spring-Ford 3-2 in second round action Wednesday.
#2 PENNSBURY 3, #14 UPPER DARBY 1
Christina Bascara has spent her career delivering big hits for the Falcons, and she was back at it again on Wednesday. It was Bascara’s clutch two-run single in the fourth inning that broke a 1-1 tie and propelled the Falcons to the second round win.
Coach Frank McSherry was just happy to escape with the win after an opening round bye.
“It’s nice having a bye because you have a win under your belts and you move into the second round,” he said. “But it’s so long between games.
“Our kids were into it, but we just didn’t hit as well as we normally hit. I have to give their pitcher credit. She did a nice job.”
The Falcons took a 1-0 lead in the third inning only to watch Upper Darby rally to knot the score in the fourth, thanks to a solo home run.
In the bottom of the inning, the Falcons answered with an impressive two-out rally. Farryl Groder got things started with a single, and the Falcons had a pair of runners on board when freshman Fiona Link was safe on an error.
“She hit a spinner down the first base line, and for a freshman, she had the presence of mind to avoid the first baseman, and it just rolled up the first baseman’s glove so she got on,” McSherry said.
The bases were loaded after Taylor Boltersdorf legged out a bunt single, setting the stage for Bascara’s heroics.
“She had two tough at-bats,” McSherry said. “The kid pitched her really tough the first two times up.
“We talked about an adjustment she had to make, and she made it. She just crushed one to center field and two runs scored.”
Neither team scored the rest of the way as the Falcons, who managed just six singles, held on for the win.
Val Buehler turned in a strong showing on the mound, allowing just three hits.
“She pitched really well,” McSherry aid. “They’re a good team. They came out swinging the bats.”
The Falcons (17-3) will take on sixth-seeded West Chester Henderson in a quarterfinal game on Friday. Henderson needed eight innings to defeat Avon Grove 1-0 on Wednesday.
#3 HATBORO-HORSHAM 6, #18 PERKIOMEN VALLEY 5
It looked like the Hatters – who scored three runs in the third inning - were on their way to an easy win. Nicole Casagrand was cruising on the mound. The UMBC-bound pitcher took a perfect game into the fifth inning when the bottom fell out for the Hatters.
The inning featured two misplayed popups to the infield as well as a three-run home run, and just like that, the Vikings led 5-3.
“We were shocked,” senior Carlie Johnson admitted. “No one knew that was going to happen. We thought we were going to cruise on through. That was a big wake-up call.
“When that happened, we all just pulled together as a team, and we knew we couldn’t let it affect us. We knew we were the stronger team, and we knew we couldn’t let one little inning ruin the whole game for us. We used it as motivation to come back even stronger than we were the previous innings.”
The Hatters scored a single run in the bottom of the fifth and knotted the score in the sixth. In the seventh, it was Johnson who got things started with a leadoff double.
“I just knew I had to get the ball in play,” Johnson said. “We had to get base runners on, and it was basically going to determine the rest of the inning.
“If I got on, it was going to start a rally, and we were going to pull together, get the run in and win the game.”
That’s exactly what happened.
Johnson moved up to third on a groundout by Jenn Cader and scored the game winner on a ground ball to second by Casagrand.
“They didn’t even make the play at home,” DiFilippo said. “It was unbelievable. They didn’t go home. They threw to first.
“I sent Carlie on the play. If it was a ground ball on the right side, she was going. There’s no way they would have had her.”
“I was expecting to have to slide or do a slide by,” Johnson said. “But they went to first, so it was a pretty easy run into home. I was actually really shocked by that play. It was very strange.”
The Hatters managed just five hits in the win – Maria Spinosa had two of those. The Vikings, meanwhile, had just four hits off Casagrand.
“This was a typical game after a bye,” DiFilippo said. “The team we played beat a team that was seeded higher than them, so they got all the momentum. We sat Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. It just wasn’t good today, but hopefully the flop is out of the way.”
Johnson agreed that having a bye isn’t necessarily an advantage.
“I definitely think it has an impact,” she said. “All these teams that didn’t have a bye are ready to go.
“They had their first playoff game. All the nerves are out, so they’re ready to fight. We still had some of the nerves today, and we basically took the team too lightly. Now the nerves are out. We’re ready to go.”
The Hatters (17-3) will face seventh-seeded and Continental Conference rival Central Bucks East in Friday’s quarterfinal game at 1 p.m.
#13 NORTH PENN 14, #4 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3 (5 innings)
The Maidens are hot. Very hot.
“We’ve been scoring some runs, but did I think we would do this against South – no,” coach Rick Torresani said. “They’re well-coached. (Kristyn) Marinelli is a good pitcher.
“Like I said before – when I finally get a healthy team with everybody back, let’s see how we look then. In the last six games, we’ve been healthy, and hopefully, we’ll continue that.”
Everyone in North Penn’s lineup got a hit. Five players got two hits. Jackie Bilotti (2-for-4, two runs scored, two RBIs), Michelle Holweger (2-for-4, two runs, three RBIs), Alexa Gable (2-for-3, one run, one RBI), Melissa Fasick (2-for-3, one RBI) and Becky Christoffers (2-for-3, double, one run, one RBI) led the Maidens’ high-powered attack. Meghan Curley had a double.
“We got girls on base, and we just hit the ball hard,” Torresani said. “It was hit after hit after hit.”
The Maidens brought an end to the suspense in this one early, plating eight runs in the second. They added six more in the third in the abbreviated five-inning game.
“You dream about a team when one through nine on one given day hits the crap out of the ball, and for some reason, this was the day,” Torresani said.
The Maidens are suddenly looking very much like the team that last year captured the district title.
“After we won last year and had everybody coming back, everyone was saying, ‘You only lost one player,’ and ‘You guys should be the team to beat,’” Toressani said. “Having gone through the whole basketball thing and the whole injury factor, to finally get the team back for the last six or seven games – the kids were feeling it.
“They knew they were supposed to be one of the top teams in the conference, and they ended up in fifth, but they also knew that some of them hadn’t played softball throughout the winter, and it would take time.
“They hung in there, and now they’re showing what kind of team they are.”
Bilotti allowed just four hits and one earned run in a winning effort on the mound.
The Maidens (15-7) will face Pennridge in Friday’s quarterfinal game at Druckenmiller Park.
#12 PENNRIDGE 3, #5 OWEN J ROBERTS 0
With the outcome of Wednesday’s game hanging in the balance, Paige DeCew repeatedly shook off coach Paul Koehler’s sign for a drop curve, opting instead for her pitch of choice – the screwball.
DeCew’s confidence in her screwball was well founded. With the bases loaded and two outs, the senior pitcher fanned Sydney Schnarrs for the game’s final out.
“She shook it off three times, and she was only thinking screwball,” Koehler said. “She made it happen. That was all Paige.”
DeCew was the undisputed star of Wednesday’s upset of the PAC-10 champion Wildcats, allowing just four hits while fanning five. Two of those strikeouts came with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh.
It was the lone jam DeCew faced all day, and the Lady Rams’ senior ace threw her second gem of the week, erasing memories of the struggles that plagued DeCew and the Rams during a five-game losing streak to close out the regular season.
“It was definitely mental,” DeCew said. “I got down on myself, and it continued throughout the last few games.
“I had a pitching lesson with my pitching coach, and we went through things both mentally and physically, and that definitely helped.”
Alison Horne, one of the heroes in Monday’s come-from-behind win, once again jumpstarted the Rams’ offense, this time breaking a string of six straight outs by pitcher Shannon Clemens with a leadoff single to right field in the third inning.
Horne closed out the regular season in the throes of a hitting slump that is nothing but a distant memory now that districts are underway.
“I was hitting at the beginning of the year, and then it was one game after another I was 0-for-3 or 0-for-2,” Horne said. “It was a big loss of confidence.”
Horne’s hit set the stage for a two-run inning that included a pair of costly Wildcat errors – the second on Emily Mayhew’s grounder to short allowed Horne to score. A single by Brooke Labs pushed the second run across.
The Lady Rams added another unearned run in the fifth when – after another costly error – Hayley Taylor doubled to center.
The Rams managed just four hits off Clemens, whose speed kept the players off-balance.
“Since they were the fifth seed, I thought she’d be a little faster,” Horne said. “We always do better with faster pitchers.
“A lot of us have fast hands and we’re used to that. When it’s a slower pitcher, we get ahead of it and ground out to the left side of the field.”
Pennridge (14-8) will face a familiar foe in Friday’s quarterfinal round when they take on archrival North Penn at Druckenmiller Park at 4 p.m.
#7 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1, #10 METHACTON 0 (8 innings)
A pair of freshmen – Theresa Haug and Kayla Ventura – outdueled Villanova-bound senior Jordan Pruzter in a classic district battle Wednesday.
“Methacton is a phenomen
al team,” coach Erin Scott said. “I saw them play against Tennent. I knew if we didn’t play our best game, they could beat us.
“Their pitcher is extremely good, and they have a lot of really good hitters. They’re been producing a lot of runs and tend to score runs early in the game. They have a lot of speed, and the fact that they didn’t score any runs against us – I can’t say enough about my freshman pitchers. They got the job done. The girls won as a team.”
Haug threw the first five innings, allowing just three hits while fanning six. Ventura, who earned the win, did not allow a hit in her three-inning stint on the mound. She fanned a pair.
“Defensively, we played amazing,” Scott said. “We had four diving catches. (Second baseman) Caroline Shoenewald had one where she just laid out. (Shortstop) Jess Haug had one where she was pretty much laid out on the ground.
“Allie Chase and Carla Ruscio both had catches in the outfield where they were coming in on the ball. I was so happy with our defense.”
The Patriots certainly had their chances to get on the scoreboard. In the second, Caroline Schoenewald drew a walk, and Brady Tillotson singled with one out. The Patriots came up empty. One inning later, Jess Haug walked and Kerry Schulz legged out a bunt single, and the Patriots had a pair on base with one out. Again, they could not capitalize. In the fifth, the Patriots had a runner on third with one out but came up empty.
“I have to say, their pitcher did a great job of keeping us off balance,” Scott said. “Some of our best hitters struggled a little bit.”
Finally, in the eighth inning, the Patriots hit pay dirt.
With one out, Schulz and Chase collected back-to-back singles. Julia Schoenewald fell behind 1-2 but drew a walk to load the bases in a tough at-bat.
“She was really disciplined, and she fought pitches off,” Scott said. “That was huge because we only had one out with the bases loaded.”
That brought Caroline Schoenewald to the plate.
“She kept fouling balls off, and then she hit a hard ball to second base,” Scott said. “The second baseman tried to throw it before she had it. Obviously, she would have had to get Kerry Schulz out at home, and Kerry’s pretty fast. 
It was an error, Kerry scored, and that was it.”
The Patriots managed just five hits off Prutzer, who fanned five.
“I’m just really excited for the girls,” Scott said. “I couldn’t be happier for them or more proud of the way they played.
“We talk about it all season long – in these playoff games, you have to play strong defense. These are the kind of games you’re going to be in. The kids handled the pressure well. They hung in there together, they stayed positive, they were confident. We had a lot of close games during the regular season, and I think that helped. The seniors really stepped up.
“I can’t imagine our season ending because they’re having so much fun, and they enjoy one another so much. I can’t even imagine if our season had ended today what that would have felt like.”
In Friday’s quarterfinal round, the Patriots (15-4) will face a familiar opponent in conference rival Hatboro in a 1 p.m. game.
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