Souderton advanced to the PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinals while North Penn saw its season come to an end.
#1-3 SOUDERTON 12, #3-1 CUMBERLAND VALLEY 3
The Indians set goals at the beginning of the season, and they’ve quietly and with no fanfare gone out and accomplished those goals. After capturing the SOL Continental Conference crown and finishing third in the district, the Indians won their state tournament opener on Monday.
“We always said we wanted to make it into the playoffs, and we wanted to go to states,” senior pitcher Erelle Sowers said. “Now that we’re here it’s kind of unbelievable that we’re actually doing this.
“In the beginning of the season, we always had goals, but I never knew we could do this. Now that we’re doing it I have so much faith in all these girls.”
Souderton is the lone SOL team still standing.
“The team is so psyched,” Sowers said. “We get so pumped. It doesn’t look like it after games. Our coach kind of makes fun of us for that and says, ‘You guys aren’t excited after games.’
“We are really excited, but we just don’t show it like that. We are really excited about how well we’re doing this year. It’s kind of crazy because I never knew we could get this far.”
Sowers, who has had a hand in that success, turned in another workmanlike effort in the win over Cumberland Valley. The senior hurler allowed nine hits and three runs while walking one and striking out none.
“Erelle had a great game as usual,” coach Steph Rummel said. “She kept the ball down and had a lot of popups and ground balls.
“They did have a lot of hits, but when we needed an out, she got it - she got a fly ball or a ground ball. We made a lot of good plays. We got the lead runner at second at least two or three times, and Morgan Yoder picked off a girl at first. We had an overall very good defensive game today.”
The Indians actually found themselves on the short end of a 1-0 score after one inning, but they all but put the game out of reach with an eight-run second that included three walks as well as a costly error. Dayna Shelly had a pair of hits in the inning, including a two-run single in her second trip to the plate.
Also contributing singles were Savannah Bostwick (RBI), Angie Carty (RBI), Paige Shelly (RBI) and Missy Wiley. Sowers also had an RBI, and by the time the inning was over, Souderton led 8-1.
“All the girls just started hitting the ball,” Sowers said. “That just gave us all the confidence and so much momentum, and we started hitting throughout the game.
“A couple earlier games during the playoffs, we weren’t scoring many runs, but we were winning games. Now we’re scoring more and more runs, and it’s giving us confidence and a little bit of leeway.”
The Eagles scored two runs in the third inning to make it an 8-3 game, but the Indians added a pair of runs in the fourth and single runs in the sixth and seventh for the 12-3 final.
Playing with a lead, according to Sowers, made all the difference in the world.
“It’s a lot easier, it’s a lot less stressful,” she said. “You have more to play around with, seeing what hitters can do and what they can’t do.
“Morgan (Yoder) calls my game. She likes to see what’s working better with different hitters, and it’s a lot easier to do that when we’re up by a lot.”
Dayna Shelly led the Indians with two hits and three RBIs while Bostwick also had a pair of hits and one RBI. Carty had a pair of RBIs.
“The great thing about our team is they just stay so humble and confident,” Rummel said. “They just want to play their game, and they do what they have to do to win.
“That’s what’s great about our team. They don’t get all in their heads. They just come to play.”
The Indians will face District 6 champion Central Mountain, a 7-6 winner of District Three’s third place team Manheim Township.
“When we played Avon Grove, it gave us a wake-up call of what we’re going to see,” Sowers said. “Then we played Spring-Ford, and we came with our ‘A’ game.
“We knew we had to compete really well, and we did the same thing for Cumberland Valley. We heard they were a really good team, but we didn’t know a lot about them. We kind of went into this game knowing that no matter what team we were playing – they were going to be good. We knew we had to come in playing our best game that we possibly could.”
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Cumberland Valley 102 000 0-3
#12-1 ARCHBISHOP RYAN 6, #1-2 NORTH PENN 0
Endings are never easy, and Monday’s season-ending loss was difficult for players, coaches and fans alike. The appreciative applause from the fans was long and sustained as the Maidens walked off the field and headed to their final postgame meeting in the outfield.
There was no mistaking the prevailing feeling that Monday’s loss to the District 12 champions marked the end of an era.
“Four years – they won a lot of softball games for North Penn,” coach Rick Torresani said of his seven seniors. “It’s sad to see them go.
“They’re all great kids, and they’re all going to be true leaders. It’s just not the way we wanted to go out.”
This year’s senior class was part of the Maidens’ 2012 district title run and last year’s trip to the final four in the state.
“The four years went so quick, and I know everybody says that, but it’s hitting me right now how lucky we were to be able to play with all the girls we did and have all the successes we had,” senior Erin Maher said. “Of course, you try not to take it for granted, but I’ll miss it more than anything.”
When the Maidens fell to Avon Grove in last Thursday’s district title game, it seemed as though it might be little more than a blip on the road to another successful state playoff run.
“It’s real hard,” Torresani said. “They had a goal, and they knew they could compete with anybody.
“We got a tough draw in the first round, but especially after Avon Grove, they felt like they gave that game away, and they were looking forward to facing that kid again. They really felt confident coming in that they could play with this team.”
The Maidens’ confidence took a hit when – after coming up empty in the top of the first – they watched the Ragdolls score three runs in their half of the first.
“I noticed a lot of heads turned down in the dugout, but I think we still had the confidence going up to bat,” Maher said. “I feel like they gritted out all of their runs, and we just couldn’t do the same.”
Maher, who accounted for two her team’s five singles off winning hurler Kerri Dadalski, found herself in scoring position in the first inning after a sacrifice by Becky Christoffers. That’s where she was stranded as Dadalski, who fanned seven, struck out the next two batters she faced.
It turned out to be an omen of things to come. Maher collected a single in the third and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Dadalski coaxed a pair of popups out of the next two batters she faced. No Maiden runner advanced past first after the third inning while the Ragdolls tacked on a single run in the third and two more in the fourth for the 6-0 final.
The Ragdolls played flawless defense and made a pair of spectacular catches in the outfield – the first a diving catch of a sinking line drive by Christoffers to close out the fifth and an over-the-head catch of a shot to right field by Celeste Rosato in the sixth.
“They had a solid defense,” Jackie Bilotti said. “We heard about that, and they really showed it today.
“It’s definitely hard knowing this is our last game with the seniors.”
The Maidens closed out the year with a 17-8 record overall (10-4 SOL).
“It’s obviously the hardest end to a season I’ve ever had because it’s my last one,” Maher said. “It’s hard to know I will never step out on the field or court with Vicky (Tumasz) or those girls again. It’s really hard to put into words to try and get my point across.”
The Ragdolls (22-2), meanwhile, have dedicated this season to their former coach, Andy Hafele, who lost his battle with cancer in February.
“That team is on a mission,” Torresani said. “Obviously that mission is for Andy Hafele, and I understand that mission, plus the fact that they’re a (heck) of a good team.
“That’s a good team one through nine. Sometimes it’s your year, and it looks like it could be their year.”
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Archbishop Ryan 301 200 x 6-10-0
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