Upper Merion was the lone SOL softball team to advance in Friday’s district play. To view photos of the Upper Merion/Pottsgrove game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
DISTRICT ONE AA
#2 UPPER MERION 3, #7 POTTSGROVE 2 (9 innings)
The Vikings won a thriller, allowing a run in the top of the ninth inning but answering with two in the bottom – both with two outs.
“It was a big crowd, it was a great game,” coach John Whitney said. “They gave us all we could handle.
“I warned the kids before we played them. They play in the PAC-10, which is a very good league. They play a lot of good teams. I knew they could play the game. I told the kids – never give up, and they kept working at it.”
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Dez Kandy reached base on an error and moved all the way to third on a stolen base and an errant throw. She was still on third with one out when Abby Volpe – down to her last strike – laced a single to left field to plate the equalizer. Volpe stole second, and that brought Michaela Ghanayem to the plate. She delivered in a big way, lining a single to right center that scored Volpe with the game winner.
“The kids battled all the way,” Whitney said. “It was a tough game.
“A couple of innings – we had kids on. We had opportunities, but we just couldn’t get that hit to give us the runs. It was a struggle.”
The Vikings took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Kandy, who singled and stole second, scored on a RBI single by Sborlini. The Falcons evened the scored with an unearned run in the third.
That 1-1 tie stood until the ninth when the Falcons – thanks to a walk, a single and a two-base error – knotted the score. They had a runner on third with none out, but Sborlini worked her way out of the jam, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
The Vikings, who collected 10 hits, were led by the two-hit efforts of the top four hitters in their lineup – Kandy, Sborlini, Volpe and Ghanayem.
Sborlini earned the win in the circle, allowing just five hits while fanning five.
“She pitched very well,” Whitney said. “We had a couple of errors and gave them a run. That hurt us, but Liv pitched great.
“I’m hoping this can propel us a step further. Our goal at the beginning of the year was to make it to the state tournament. That’s where we want to go.”
The Vikings (17-3, 13-1 SOL) will face second-seeded Villa Maria Academy in a district semifinal game on Tuesday at Harriton High School (4 p.m.). A win would propel the Vikings into the district title game and also give them a coveted berth in the state tournament.
Pottsgrove 001 000 001 2
Upper Merion100 000 002 3
#1 CHICHESTER 9, #9 UPPER MORELAND 1
Things looked promising for the Golden Bears when Jenn Freeman delivered a two-out triple in the top of the first, plating Alexa Wister, who had singled, but the Bears’ 1-0 lead was shortlived as Chichester answered with three in the bottom of the inning. The Eagles never looked back, tacking on three more runs in both the third and sixth innings.
Freeman finished the day 2-for-3 to lead the Bears in her final high school game.
Meghan Wimmer limited the Golden Bears (11-9, 9-5 SOL) to just five hits.
Upper Moreland 100 000 0 1
Chichester 303 003 x 9
DISTRICT ONE AAAA
The SOL boasts a tradition of excellence in Class AAAA softball in both District One and the PIAA. It was never a question of whether the SOL would be represented in the state tournament but rather how many of the league’s teams would advance to the field of 16.
This year, there will be none.
It breaks a remarkable streak of state tournament success that saw teams from the SOL win three of the last four championships and eight of the last 15. The SOL has had a team in 12 of the last 15 state title games.
This year, no team will be in the 16-team field.
To say it was a rough day for the SOL would be an understatement. The league’s only three teams – top-seeded Neshaminy, third-seeded North Penn and fifth-seeded Souderton – were all upset in quarterfinal play on Friday.
#9 OWEN J ROBERTS 4, #1 NESHAMINY 3
The visiting Wildcats put a pair on the scoreboard in the second and appeared to seal the deal when they added two more runs in the top of the seventh. The Redskins didn’t go down quietly, collecting three of their seven hits in the seventh – including an RBI double by Mackensie Compton – and also drawing four walks.
Kylie Glenn earned the win while freshman Amber Brugger absorbed the loss.
Neshaminy closed out a successful season with a 19-3 record (13-1 SOL).
Owen J Roberts 020 000 2 4
Neshaminy 000 000 3 3
#6 AVON GROVE 5, #3 NORTH PENN 3
In a classic battle pitting two of the district’s top squads, it was the defending district champion Red Devils rallying for the come-from-behind-win in a rematch of last year’s district title game,
This is a game many would have penciled in as the district title game, but with the power rankings now determining the fate of teams, it might have been played two games too soon.
“It was such a good game that if it was a championship game, everyone would have walked away and said – ‘Hey, you know what, great game and now let’s see what happens in states,’ but that’s not going to happen,” coach Rick Torresani said.
The Maidens appeared to be in command when they plated three runs in the third inning off junior standout Maggie Balint, who brought a miniscule 0.35 earned run average into Friday’s quarterfinal. The Red Devils trimmed a run off that lead in the fourth and followed that with three runs in the sixth to take a lead they would not lose.
“It just didn’t happen,” Torresani said. “I think we all thought when we jumped out 3-0 that we were going to hold them.
“It wasn’t until a crucial play in the sixth inning that really sent us for a loop. The kids played their hearts out and did everything we wanted to do in our game plan. We held their two big hitters down. We didn’t want that catcher (Alyssa Herion) to hit a home run, so we walked her when we needed to walk her. It was just a couple of their kids that hit balls to the opposite field.”
The loss brings to an end the remarkable career of senior Jackie Bilotti, who burst on the scene as a freshman and led the Maidens to a district title. For four years, the senior captain – the consummate competitor – has been excelling in the circle and at the plate.
“She’s such a great player and such a great kid,” Torresani said. “Jackie pitched her guts out, and she hit a ball in the second inning that went off the fence. I think their pitcher was shocked that anyone hit a ball that hard and that far.
“I told our girls at the end of the game and I told Jackie – I don’t think I’ll ever see another player in Suburban One that will play as hard and with such an even temperament and that everyone liked. Whether we beat them or they beat us, everyone always talked fondly about her. No one ever said a bad word about her.
“I told them, ‘If there’s anyone to look up to as you’re moving on, it’s Jackie.’”
Bilotti, Becky Christoffers, Nicole Yanni, Bri Battavio and Katie Beer each had one hit.
Bilotti was charged with the loss, allowing eight hits and five runs (three earned) while striking out four and walking none.
“It was a heck of a game,” Torresani said. “It was two teams really battling, and it’s a shame. I just don’t know what to say.”
The Maidens closed out the year with a record of 19-3 (13-1 SOL).
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North Penn 003 000 0 3
#20 GREAT VALLEY 8, #5 SOUDERTON 7
The Patriots served notice that the Indians would have their hands full when they plated three runs in the first, and there was definite cause for concern on the Indians’ sidelines when they tacked on three unearned runs in the fourth to go on top 6-0.
The Indians, however, were resilient.
Senior Morgan Yoder opened the fourth inning with a single to right, and then it was Dayna Shelly hitting a bloop double to right. Both runners scored on Katie Kehler’s two-run double to center, and it was a 6-3 game after Missy Wiley delivered an RBI single.
In the fifth, Yoder ignited a two-out rally with a booming double to right center, and Shelly followed with a single. Kehler drove in her third run of the day with a single, and when Wiley roped a two-run double to left, the two teams were deadlocked.
Any momentum the Indians may have had disappeared quickly in the sixth when – with two outs – freshman pitcher Alex Scheeler appeared to be out of the inning when she struck out Sarah Schubert for the third out. Schubert, however, raced to first and was ruled safe, although the Indians contended the third strike had been caught. An RBI double by Morgan Orlowski made it a 7-6 game, and the Patriots led by two after a costly Indian error. All told, the Indians committed five errors, resulting in five unearned runs.
The Indians got one of those runs back in the bottom of the seventh, benefitting from two Patriot errors, but they couldn’t push the tying run across.
Shelly (3-for-4, 2B, three runs), Yoder (2-for-3, 2B, two runs), Kehler (2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBIs, two runs) and Wiley (2-for-4, 2B) all had big days at the plate for the Indians, who pounded out 11 hits.
Scheeler absorbed the loss, allowing seven hits and just three earned runs. She fanned seven.
The Indians closed out the year with a 15-5 record (11-3 SOL).
Great Valley 300 302 0 8
Souderton 000 330 1 7
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