Seven SOL games highlighted Wednesday’s softball schedule. Check out the recaps below.
National Conference
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 7, ABINGTON 2
The Golden Hawks picked up their third win in as many games, scoring two runs in both the second and third innings to go on top 4-0. The Ghosts cut that lead in half in the bottom of the third but would get no closer.
In the two-run second, coach Greg Heydet called for a hit-and-run with Danielle Walters on first and one out. Karley DeSpirito executed the hit-and-run to perfection, ripping a 1-0 pitch to the fence for a double that plated Walters.
The Golden Hawks added a pair in the third. Makenna Diamond led off the frame with a double, and Melanie Wilkinson followed with a bunt single. Diamond scored on Phylicia Wilkov’s sacrifice fly, and Sabrina Dobron’s RBI single put the Golden Hawks on top 4-0.
In the sixth inning, the Ghosts tacked on three more runs. DeSpirito drew a leadoff walk, and Devon Bradley followed with a single. A Marissa Thompson single loaded the bases for Stephanie Andreoli, who delivered a sacrifice fly. Wilkinson’s two-run double gave the Hawks their final margin of victory.
Wilkinson and Diamond both were 2-for-3 with a walk to lead the Hawks.
Walters threw 116 pitches in notching the complete game win – her third win of the season. She fanned eight and walked three.
Council Rock South (3-0, 1-0 SOL) will face Council Rock North on Saturday night in Ewing, N.J. Abington (2-1, 0-1) is scheduled to travel to Pennsbury on Thursday.
Council Rock South 022 003 0 7
Abington 002 000 0 2
NESHAMINY 4, BENSALEM 1
The Redskins scored four runs in the first inning, and that was more than enough for Amber Brugger, who allowed just three hits and one run while improving to 3-1 on the young season. Brugger – who struck out 10 – retired 13 in a row to close out the game
After striking out the side in the top of the first, Brugger led off the bottom of the inning by drawing a walk and immediately stole second. One out later, Natalie Rios delivered a two-run home run to spot the Redskins an early 2-0 lead. Hunter Hart followed with a double, and she scored when Rebecca Dixon singled. Liana Jones also singled in an inning that saw the Redskins score four runs.
The Owls plated their only run of the game in the third inning when they bunched all three of their hits.
Neshaminy (3-1, 1-0 SOL) is scheduled to go on the road for a non-league game at Chichester on Friday. Bensalem (3-2, 0-2) will travel to Nottingham High School for a non-league game on Saturday.
Bensalem 001 000 0 1-3-3
Neshaminy 400 000 x 4-9-1
Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 9, SOUDERTON 5
East coach Karl Knapp opted to shuffle his lineup after back-to-back losses to open the season. The move paid immediate dividends.
“We were getting hits but not with people in scoring position,” the Patriots’ coach said. “We used the same people but just moved them in different spots.
“We put Hailey Aspinwall back in one where she was last year, and we took Darien Dempsey, who was our number one, and moved her to the bottom. I think that made her more comfortable. Hailey went from four hitter to the one hitter. She’d never been a four hitter, and we just put her back in a more familiar spot.”
Aspinwall was 2-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and a run scored out of the leadoff spot. Alyssa Catron moved into the four spot vacated by Aspinwall, and she also did serious damage, finishing the day a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Audrey Labouliere was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored out of the three hole.
“Audrey’s just lights-out right now – I think she’s batting .700-something,” Knapp said. “She’s crushing everything, but she has no RBIs to show for it because nobody has been on.
“We put Alyssa Catron in four, and she really came through nice today. That was a big difference, mostly just changing the batting order, and Tara (Harper) was just on today.”
Harper, who notched the win, also added a pair of hits, but it was her performance in the circle that kept the Patriots in it after the Indians – sparked by Alex Scheeler’s three-run home run – opened up a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Harper retired 12 of 13 batters after giving up four runs with a two-out intentional walk to Scheeler in the third the only Souderton base runner in that span.
After giving up a home run of Scheeler with no one out in the first, Harper faced 24 batters, retiring 21 of them. The Indians managed just one hit after the first inning.
“She had a great recovery because she got shelled for those runs in the first inning and was able to mentally stay tough and hang in there and come back,” Knapp said. “She pitched a really good game.”
Knapp had split pitching duties in his team’s first two games with Harper and Giuliana Ruscio both seeing time, but he deferred to his catcher on Wednesday.
“I kept checking with Catron, and she said, ‘She’s doing great. You don’t have to take her out. She’s got everything,’” Knapp said.
The Patriots scored two runs in the second and took a lead they would not lose with three runs in the third. They led by just a 6-5 score after the Indians scored a single run in the fifth but plated three insurance runs in the sixth.
“We hit a good pitcher – Scheeler is a good pitcher,” Knapp said. “It was nice to be able to produce against a quality pitcher like her.
“That was the big difference between our first two games with Nazareth and Bensalem. We actually outhit Nazareth, but they hit with people in scoring position where we didn’t. It was the same thing with Bensalem. We were just getting solo hits.”
Also for the Patriots, Sam Beagleman contributed a double, two RBIs and a run score while Ruscio was 1-for-3 with an RBI and run scored. Steph Kuhns also contributed one RBI.
“We needed the win,” Knapp said. “It was a good confidence booster after the first two games of really not doing what we thought we could do.
“We knew pitching would be different not having Kay (Kayla Ventura) and Theresa (Haug), but we always felt we could play good defense and hit. The first two games were kind of disappointing, not getting the run production we thought we could. Switching the battling lineup we finally started getting production out of the bats we were hoping to get.”
In addition to Scheeler, who also drew a pair of walks, Mya Pritchard was 2-for-3 with an RBI triple and bunt single. Jenny Klepfer was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Central Bucks East (1-2, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Hazleton on Friday for a non-league game, and Souderton (1-1, 0-1) will host Pennsbury in a non-league game on Monday.
Central Bucks East 023 103 0 9-13-1
Souderton 400 010 0 5-6-1
WILLIAM TENNENT 4, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 2
After dropping their first two league games, the Panthers picked up a much-needed win in Wednesday’s SOL opener.
“This was very important because being 0-2 to start the season – it’s easy to get down, but I think having this win today really boosted everyone’s confidence,” coach Deanna Myers said. “Everyone played as a team, everyone was smiling and having fun.
“I just think this win was huge for us being a young team. It was a confidence booster that we can compete with these teams we’re going to be facing.”
Devon Fithian was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs to lead the Panthers. Hannah Reimel also was 2-for-4.
“Our offense was aggressive at the plate,” Myers said.
The two teams exchanged runs in the first inning, and the Panthers took a 2-1 lead with a run in the third and added single runs in both the fifth and sixth innings before the Bucks plated a single run in the bottom of the seventh.
The Panthers received a lift defensively from several players.
“Reilly Dougherty had some good plays in the outfield,” Myers said. “Emily Curtis stepped up big time.
“She was catching today, and she’s normally not our catcher. She had solid defense behind the plate and she hit too. Our catcher has been really sick, and Emily came to us and said, ‘I’ll catch if you need me to.’ That was really big.”
Kate Clark earned her first win of the season, scattering seven hits. The Panthers defense did not commit an error.
William Tennent (1-2, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Harry S Truman on Thursday, and Central Bucks West (0-2, 0-1) will be on the road at North Penn Thursday.
William Tennent 101 011 0 4-8-0
Central Bucks West 100 000 1 2-7-3
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 12, PENNRIDGE 0 (5 innings)
Scoring doesn’t figure to be a problem for a South squad with its share of dangerous bats in the lineup. The Titans have put 25 runs on the board in three games, but they entered Wednesday’s SOL opener 0-2.
“We didn’t have an error today, and that’s been our sticking point so far,” coach Kevin Rosini said. “We’ve had a bunch of errors the first two games, and today we played really clean.
“I’m not worried about us scoring. I know we’ll score runs. We have to play defense, and we have to pitch the ball, and if we can do those two things, which we did today, we’re going to be in every game we play.”
The Titans’ big bats were once again in top form. Taylor Marinelli led the hit parade with a perfect 3-for-3 day that included a pair of home runs, four RBIs and three runs scored. Pitcher Alexis McConomy helped her own cause at the plate, finishing 3-for-3 with three doubles, one RBI and a run scored.
In the abbreviated shutout, McConomy scattered five hits in five innings.
“Alexis pitched great,” Rosini said. “Her pace was quick.
“She only struck out one batter, but she kept the ball down, and she kept our fielders on their toes. She pitched to contact, and when she keeps the ball down, she’s tough to hit, and today she did. Our defense was on their toes the whole game, and I think that was a big factor.”
The visiting Titans put three runs on the board in the top of the first. Marinelli and Maddi Bieber each contributed a sacrifice fly, and Meghan Bradley added an RBI single.
Marinelli’s solo home run in the third inning put the Titans on top 4-0, and they brought an early end to the game with an eight-run fifth that was highlighted by Marinelli’s two-run home run. Also included in the Titans’ seven hits in the frame were a two-run single by Alex Deleon, a two-run double by Bieber and an RBI double by McConomy. Seven of the Titans’ eight runs came with two outs.
Central Bucks South (1-2, 1-0 SOL) is scheduled to travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Friday for a non-league contest, and Pennridge (0-3, 0-1) will host Harry S Truman in a non-league game on Friday.
Central Bucks South 301 08 12-13-0
Pennridge 000 000 0-5-2
American Conference
UPPER DUBLIN 17, CHELTENHAM 7
The Flying Cardinals exploded for 17 runs en route to their first win of the young season. Leading the offensive charge were four players with three hits each. Bela Soriano was a perfect 3-for-3 with a triple and three runs scored, and Korynn Bischoff also was 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Erin Gallagher was 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored, and Jackie McMenamin was 3-for-5 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored.
Also finishing the day with multi-hit performances were Ellie Kelcy, who had a two-run triple in a 2-for-4 effort that included two runs scored. Sarah Sharp was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, and Meghan Muth was 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
Sarah Tannenbaum was 1-for-2 with four RBIs and one run scored, and Becca Matricardi was 1-for-2 with a two-run double.
Gallager picked up the win in the circle, allowing four hits and seven runs (three earned) while walking six and striking out four.
Upper Dublin (1-3, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Quakertown on Thursday, and Cheltenham (0-2) will be on the road at Springfield Township Thursday.
HATBORO-HORSHAM 15, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 0 (4 innings)
The Hatters scored early and often on their way to the decisive win. The game came to an early end when they plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Hatters scored three runs in the first, third and fourth innings and blew the game wide open with a six-run second to go on top 9-0.
Four Hatters finished the day with three hits. Kyleigh Dinnien was 3-for-4 with a double, RBI and four runs scored. Kylie Flagler was 3-for-4 with a game-high five RBIs. Brynn Griffith was 3-for-3 with four RBIs, and Maddie Yerger was 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs.
Mikayla Fidele earned the win, allowing one hit and no runs in three innings. She walked one.
Hatboro-Horsham (3-1, 1-1 SOL) will travel to Upper Moreland on Thursday, and Plymouth Whitemarsh (2-2, 1-1) will be on the road at Wissahickon.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 000 0 0
Hatboro-Horsham 363 3 15
QUAKERTOWN 14, WISSAHICKON 1 (5 innings)
The Panthers may have lost some big bats from last year’s SOL Continental co-championship squad, but they’ve had no drop off in offensive production, upping their run total to 38 in three early season games.
In Wednesday’s abbreviated contest, the Panthers scored four runs in each of the first three innings and tacked on two more runs in the fourth. They needed just eight hits to do all of their damage.
Abbey Schwartz was the only player with a multi-hit game, finishing the day 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot. Lauren Beal was 1-for-2 with three RBIs and a home run. Nikki Vanelli was 1-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Maddie Moyer was 1-for-2 with two RBIs, and Halle Frederick was 1-for-2 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored.
Freshman Ashley Radell had the Trojans only extra base hit – a double. The Trojans are without starting pitcher Halle Segal, who was lost for the entire season after sustaining injuries in an auto accident.
Tori Caputo scattered four hits in the five-inning shutout to earn the win.
Quakertown (3-0, 2-0 SOL) will host Upper Dublin on Thursday, weather permitting, and Wissahickon (0-3, 0-1) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Wissahickon 000 01 1-4-3
Quakertown 444 2x 14-8-1
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