Check out the results for SOL softball teams in action Thursday. To view photos of the William Tennent/Abington game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
National Conference
NESHAMINY 10, PENNSBURY 3
The Redskins got off to a rough start in Thursday’s showdown against the Falcons. They committed three early errors, didn’t get a hit through four innings and found themselves on the short end of a 3-0 score.
“We struck out four times in the first four innings,” coach Dave Chichilitti said. “We were hitting the ball – we were just hitting it at them. That happens sometimes.
“(Casey Boltersdorf) pitched well.”
The game took a dramatic turn in the bottom of the fifth. The Redskins saw their leadoff batter reach base on an error, and after Olivia Zaino followed and broke up Boltersdorf’s no-hit bid, the floodgates were open. Sam Offenback delivered a single that plated the tying run, and freshman Shelby Kishel’s two-run single gave the Redskins a lead they would not lose.
“She came off the bench the inning before and had an 11-pitch at-bat,” Chichilitti said of Kishel. “We batted around the very next inning, and she came up with that huge go-ahead single.”
By the time the inning was over, the ‘Skins led 8-3 and had seized control of the game. Nikki Wild’s two run single in the sixth gave the Redskins their final margin of victory.
“I am very pleased that there was no panic,” Chichilitti said. “At no point were we panicking, at no point were we blaming each other. We knew we were hitting the ball, so we knew it was a matter of time.
“We kept our foot on the pedal and eventually we were able to break through. They helped a little bit, but we helped them get their runs, and that’s what it was.”
Marguerite Salamone accounted for Pennsbury’s two runs in the third when she delivered a home run.
“It was absolutely crushed,” Chichilitti said. “Credit to her – she’s a great player.”
Cailyn Seely threw the first three innings for the Redskins, allowing two hits and two earned runs. Amber Brugger earned the win, allowing just one hit while walking one and fanning two in four scoreless innings of relief.
The two teams combined for eight errors with the Falcons committing five of those.
“Sometimes when you have the big rivalry like this – it brings out the best and you see some of the best games,” Chichilitti said. “Other times, it gets pressure-filled, and sometimes it brings out the worst. I could see how it could go either way.”
Neshaminy (7-0, 4-0 SOL) will travel to Truman on Friday while Pennsbury (2-3, 2-3) will host Little Flower.
Pennsbury 002 100 0 3
Neshaminy 000 082 x 10
ABINGTON 10, WILLIAM TENNENT 0 (5 innings)
The Ghosts turned in another impressive outing and find themselves alone in second place in the conference standings behind only unbeaten Neshaminy.
They set the tone for Wednesday’s win with a four-run first and took any suspense out of the contest with a six-run third, enough to bring an early end to the contest.
Senior Jess Paley had a productive day at the plate, finishing 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Two of those RBIs came in a six-run third when the Ghosts benefitted from a pair of walks.
Nicolette Ray earned the win, allowing three hits in four shutout innings while fanning three. Sophomore Megan Burdziak struck out the side in a one-two-three fifth.
Sara Keeny accounted for two of Tennent’s three hits off Ray.
Abington (6-2, 4-1 SOL) will travel to Council Rock North on Friday while William Tennent (2-4, 1-3) will make the trip to Bensalem on Thursday.
William Tennent 000 00 0
Abington 406 0x 10
BENSALEM 7, HARRY S TRUMAN 0
Jackie Morrell turned in another brilliant outing, fanning 15 in a two-hit masterpiece to lead the Owls to a shutout win over their neighboring rival.
The Owls all but put the game out of reach with a five-run second. They added single runs in both the fourth and fifth innings.
Maddie Sauer and Chrissy Segrest both had a pair of hits to lead the Owls.
“It was a nice team win,” coach Dan Schram said.
Bensalem (5-3, 2-3 SOL) will travel to William Tennent on Thursday. Truman (2-5, 1-4) will host Neshaminy on Friday.
Harry S Truman 000 000 0 0
Bensalem 050 110 x 7
Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1, QUAKERTOWN 0 (10 innings)
The Patriots needed some 10th inning heroics to eke out the hard fought win over the visiting Panthers. It was just their second win in their last six games after notching back-to-back wins to open the season.
“We were getting to a point where we were getting frustrated,” coach Erin Scott said. “We had a heart to heart yesterday because there were times when I felt like – do they want to win because they were tight games, and it was very possible for us to win, but we were making mistakes, and we were letting opportunities slip through our hands.
“You can’t win games with that combination. We had an honest conversation and tried to reflect on what’s going to motivate them to win and pick up the intensity. As a coach, I need to remember we have a lot of young kids, and eight games into our season, we’ve only had three outdoor practices. We have a lot of new people, a couple of them from jayvee, and it’s a different game.
“We’re doing good things, but we’re not going to win games unless we do everything good. It was just trying to reflect, trying to work together as a team and bring the intensity and sense of urgency up. I think they brought that today, and that was the difference for us. This was a close game. Hopefully, we will keep learning from these moments.”
In the top of the 10th with the international tiebreaker in effect, the Panthers sacrificed their runner to third with one out when third baseman Brady Tillotson snared a screaming line drive and turned it into an inning-ending double play.
“Spenser Gray rocked the ball to third base, Brady catches it and tags the runner off third,” Scott said. “Nothing has been going our way, so finally something went our way.”
Tillotson started the bottom of the 10th on second base and moved up to third on Theresa Haug’s sacrifice. Kayla Ventura delivered an RBI triple to win it.
“It was a really clean game,” Scott said. “I have to give them some credit because I was really impressed.
“Defensively, they looked really solid. There were a couple of diving catches in the game.”
Haug received the starting nod and threw six strong innings, allowing three hits while fanning four and walking none. Kayla Ventura came on in the seventh and earned the win, scattering three hits over the final four innings and fanning two and walking one.
Ventura escaped a jam in the ninth when the Panthers put a pair on board with one out. Both runners moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt, but Ventura coaxed a groundout out of the next batter she faced to close out the inning.
“We had an opportunity in the third, but there weren’t many base runners,” Scott said. “
Alyssa Wilkinson, who pitched well enough to win on most days, absorbed the loss, allowing just four hits in 10 innings.
“Honestly, she was getting us to ground out,” Scott said of Wilkinson. “We only had two strikeouts, but I would say two thirds of our outs were groundouts.”
Central Bucks East (4-4, 3-2 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West on Thursday. Quakertown (2-5, 0-5) will host Central Bucks South on Friday.
Quakertown 000 000 000 0 0
Central Bucks East 000 000 000 1 1
SOUDERTON 4, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0
Alex Scheeler looked anything but the part of a rookie on Wednesday. The freshman pitcher tossed a six-hit shutout while fanning two and walking none to lead the Indians to a win over the previously unbeaten Titans.
“She did a phenomenal job again,” coach Steph Rummel said. “She definitely was on compared to the last game she pitched (a loss to Pennridge).
“She moved the ball around. I thought she and Morgan worked very well together and learned from the game before. She was up in every single count, and she kept them guessing, which was great.”
The Indians plated all the runs Scheeler would need in a two-run first, benefitting from a pair of Titan errors as well as a leadoff bunt single and stolen base by Angie Carty as well as singles by Scheeler and Morgan Yoder.
“Getting on top in the first inning and putting pressure on them right away – that’s definitely what set the tone for the entire game,” Rummel said. “We came out hard and forced them to make errors – hitting the ball hard and just putting the ball in play making something happen was definitely great.”
In the second inning, Savannah Bostwick singled and stole second. She advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Carty’s sacrifice fly to put the Indians on top 3-0. In the fourth, Carty delivered an RBI single to make it a 4-0 game.
Scheeler did the rest, keeping the Titans off the scoreboard in the complete game shutout.
The win came on the heels of a disappointing loss to Pennridge on Monday.
“Sometimes the girls do need that little bit of a wake-up call that they need to play hard and they need to come out hard every game,” Rummel said. “They came out, they were focused, they forgot about the game before, and they came out nice and strong.
“That’s what we talk about – forgetting the past and working on this game. They did a great job of doing that.”
Souderton (5-2, 4-1 SOL) will host North Penn in a battle of two of the conference’s top squad on Friday. Central Bucks South (5-1, 4-1) will travel to Quakertown.
Souderton 210 100 0 4
Central Bucks South 000 000 0 0
NORTH PENN 6, PENNRIDGE 3
The Maidens scored two runs in the first and two more in the second before the visiting Lady Rams got on the scoreboard with two in the third. That 4-2 score stood until the bottom of the sixth when the Maidens tacked on a pair of runs.
In the two-run first, the Maidens capitalized on a costly two-out error by the Lady Rams. The second inning was highlighted by a two-run home run off the bat of Jackie Bilotti.
Bilotti earned the win on the mound, scattering five hits and allowing just one earned run. She fanned two and walk one.
Both teams collected six hits in a contest that saw the two teams combine for seven errors.
North Penn (7-1, 4-1) will travel to Souderton on Friday for a key conference battle while Pennridge (4-3, 1-4) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Thursday.
Pennridge 002 000 1 3
North Penn 220 002 x 6
HATBORO-HORSHAM 8, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0
Taylor Sciubba tossed a two-hit gem to lead the Hatters to the shutout win. The sophomore pitcher struck out 12 and walked just two.
The Hatters scored all the runs Sciubba would need in a two-run first. For good measure, they tacked on three in the fourth and three more in the seventh.
Leading the offensive charge for the Hatters was Bryn Griffith, who was 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Bria Cashman was 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Kylie Flagler had a productive day, finishing 1-for-4 with three RBIs.
Hatboro-Horsham (4-4, 2-3 SOL) will host Pennridge on Thursday while Central Bucks West (3-5, 2-3) will host Central Bucks East on Thursday.
Hatboro-Horsham 200 300 3 8
Central Bucks West 000 000 0 0
American Conference
UPPER MERION 13, UPPER DUBLIN 1 (6 innings)
Olivia Sblorlini continued her dominance in conference play, tossing a one-hitter in a game that was halted after six innings. She fanned eight and walked a pair.
The two teams exchanged runs in the first, but the Vikings seized control with a six-run second. They added three more in the fifth and three in the sixth to bring an early end to the contest. Abby Volpe accounted for all of her team’s runs in the sixth with a three-run home run.
Linda Sobek had a big day at the plate for the Vikings, collecting a double and a two-run triple while also scoring a pair of runs. Sborlini helped her own cause with three hits and two runs scored. Riley Kontra had a pair of hits and two RBIs.
Erin Gallagher accounted for Upper Dublin’s lone hit – her RBI single plated Sarah Sharp, who led off the inning with a walk.
Rebecca Matricardi absorbed the loss for the Flying Cardinals.
Upper Dublin (2-5, 2-3 SOL) will travel to Wissahickon on Friday while Upper Merion (5-1, 4-0) will be on the road at Springfield.
Upper Merion 160 033 13
Upper Dublin 100 000 1
NORRISTOWN 9, WISSAHICKON 5
The Eagles picked up their first win of the season on Wednesday.
“We’ve been plugging away, plugging away, plugging away,” coach Jim McCarthy said. “We lost again – like last season – all of our preseason games like a lot of other teams.
“We came out and had a close game with Upper Dublin and went right into the buzz saw. We’ve seen Cheltenham, we’ve seen Upper Merion – both top teams in our division, and we’re still trying to get our feet underneath us.
“We have some players who don’t have a lot of varsity experience but are trying very hard. We have a couple of injuries we’re dealing with. We thought on paper we had a strong lineup, but we’ve yet to coordinate that on all burners.”
The Eagles jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the third inning, forcing coach Mike Borkowski to make a pitching change.
“Our pitcher had a hard time finding the strike one,” the Trojans’ coach said. “Brittany Gelman came in and did a great job shutting them down until the seventh when they got two on us.
“Their pitcher threw very well and kept us off balance except for the sixth when we got four back.”
The Eagles plated a pair of runs in the first inning, benefitting from four walks and an RBI single by Amy Iorio. They added one more in the second on an RBI triple by Allison Taylor and scored four in the third. In the third, the Eagles capitalized on four walks as well as base hits by Iorio, Marissa Mikalonis and Maria Sinni. In the two-run sixth, Sinni delivered a two-run triple.
Iorio and Sinni led the Eagles with three hits each. Leadoff batter Kathleen Watson reached base four times and scored three runs.
"We hit the ball well, we had good pitch selection," McCarthy said. "Kat Watson, Ali Taylor, Amy Iorio and Maria Sinni had real nice games.
"Steph Orman was all around the plate and pitched very well for the team. Dallas Bowe – at first base – has been really coming on strong also."
Norristown (1-4, 1-4 SOL) will travel to Upper Moreland on Friday while Wissahickon (3-4, 2-3) will host Upper Dublin on Friday.
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