Check out the recaps for SOL softball teams in action Friday. Winners were Quakertown CB South and Pennridge.
Non-league
QUAKERTOWN 5, NORTH PENN 3
The smile that never faded from Tori Caputo’s face told the story – this win was special. The Panthers hadn’t forgotten it was the Knights – as a result of their 5-1 win – that brought Quakertown’s season to a disappointing end in a District One 6A playback game on May 31 of last year.
The Panthers were also still stinging from Tuesday’s 10-7 loss to Hatboro-Horsham in conference play.
“This means so much,” Caputo said. “After our game on Tuesday, we needed to pick ourselves up, and this was our way of picking ourselves up. It means the world to us.”
Making the win even more impressive was the fact that the Knights – sparked by a Courtney Neal two-run home run` – opened up a 3-0 lead in the second inning, and Caputo and company did not allow a run the rest of the way.
“We just knew we had to step on them and step on them hard and not let up anything after that,” Caputo said. “In the second inning, we just let down, and we needed to pick ourselves back up.
“We knew we had to scream and yell and be as loud as we could, get the energy up. You can’t get down on yourselves, and you can’t sit there quiet on the bench because you have to put the pressure on the other team.”
Caputo did not allow a run after the second, giving her team a chance to get back into the game, and that’s exactly what they did, erupting for five runs in the fourth inning.
Maddie Moyer led off the frame with a double, and a one-out walk put a pair on board. Jenna Blair’s single loaded the bases with one out, but it looked as though North Penn was going to escape unscathed when freshman hurler Mady Volpe struck out the next batter she faced for the inning’s second out.
The inning, however, was far from over. Brianna Lefkoski put the Panthers on the board with an RBI single, and Abby Schwartz followed with an RBI single. Nikki Vanelli’s two-run single was followed by a Sarah Stofik single that plated a run, and just like that, the Panthers led 5-3.
Both teams had their opportunities.
In the seventh, the Knights had a pair on board with two outs, but the Panthers never flinched. Caputo coaxed a grounder to Vanelli at third, and the veteran infielder tug the bag for the game’s final out, setting off a celebration.
“I think (the key) was the communication between plays,” Caputo said. “We were talking to each other, calming each other down, getting each other excited.”
Vanelli was the lone Panther with more than one hit, finishing 2-for-4 with two RBIs. For the Knights, Jamie Beer was 2-for-3 with a run scored.
“There’s no letting up at all against North Penn,” Caputo said. “You know every batter can hit the ball, so there’s no relaxation point at all.
“The pressure is on the whole time. You just have to hit your spots.”
And that, according to her coach, was the key.
“Here’s what Tori did that I wish she did all the time – she moved her pitches,” coach Ray Fox said. “She stayed on the corners, she didn’t put anything down the middle of the plate, and she changed her speeds up a little bit.
“That’s a great hitting team. My pitcher and my catcher (Halle Frederick) called the game themselves. She called a really good game, but the key was moving the ball around and mixing her pitches.”
Fox also had high praise for outfielders Lefkoski, Morgan Thrush and Becca Hall.
“Our outfield had its best game of the season – we caught everything,” the Panthers’ coach said. “I don’t think we missed a ball in the outfield, and that’s been a problem.”
Caputo scattered six hits, struck out two and walked one. She allowed three runs – two earned.
Freshman Mady Volpe suffered the first loss of her varsity career, allowing eight hits and five runs while striking out five and walking three.
“In the fifth inning, everything she threw they hit,” coach Rick Torresani said. “She just didn’t hit her spots that one inning. Everything else she was fine.
“Maybe they needed a wake-up call, and I think they got their wake-up call.”
Quakertown (5-2, 3-1 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Monday, and North Penn (5-1, 3-0) will host Souderton on Monday.
Quakertown 000 050 0 5
North Penn 030 000 0 3
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 9, HATBORO-HORSHAM 1
The Titans rebounded from a 2-0 loss at William Tennent 24 hours earlier – their first loss of the season – to upend a Hatter squad that won four straight games this week to open its season.
“We just played better all around today,” South coach Kevin Rosini said. “We had a much better idea coming up to the plate what our game plan was.
“We looked to drive the ball up the middle, we moved runners around, we took the extra base, and we had some aggressive base running, which was good. We just played a much cleaner brand of softball – the way we need to play to win.”
The Titans scored two in the first, and after the Hatters made it a 2-1 game, they added two more in the second and then put the game out of reach with five more in the final two innings.
Maddie McShane continued her torrid offensive production. The senior catcher was 3-for-3 with a double, RBI and run scored.
“Maddie McShane is ridiculous,” Rosini said. “She’s batting .539. It’s just sick.”
Maddie Rowley was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and Katie Hines had a double, sacrifice fly and two RBIs.
In the circle, Olivia Zoolalian tossed a five-hit gem in her varsity debut. The Hatters only run in the third inning was unearned. She walked only one batter.
“I threw a pitcher out there, and this was her first varsity game ever,” Rosini said. “For her to go out there and throw strikes and do that, it’s a good, good win.
“We played really good defense. She had no strikeouts, so they put the ball in play. We had 14 assists, we had three double plays. We made all the plays we had to, and Liv only threw 78 pitches in seven innings.”
Hatters’ coach Joe DiFilippo – who was without his starting shortstop and third baseman (funeral) – had to shuffle his lineup, but that did not diminish the luster of the win for the Titans.
“This is a big win for us because in the point system they don’t look at who’s there and who’s not,” Rosini said. “I was happy with everybody’s go-get-‘em-ness. We bounced back from yesterday, we forgot about yesterday, and we played a good, solid, hard game. Everybody played well, and I’m happy with that. That’s the way we need to play to win our games. This is a good win.”
Central Bucks South (4-1, 2-1 SOL) will host Boyertown in a non-league game Saturday morning, and Hatboro-Horsham (4-1, 4-0) will travel to Archbishop Wood on Monday for a non-league contest.
Hatboro-Horsham 001 000 0 1
Central Bucks South 202 023 x 9
PENNRIDGE 11, DOCK MENNONITE 0 (5 innings)
The Rams upped early season winning streak to five games with a no-doubt-about-it win over their neighboring rival. They scored all the runs Makenna Patterson would need in a four-run fourth, and they were just getting started.
Patterson allowed just one hit in the five-inning contest, striking out seven and walking five.
Victoria Moscariello had a big day for the Rams, finishing the game 2-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and a run scored. Emily Hegen was 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored, and Gianna Iadonisi was 2-for-2 with a double and two runs scored. Kiley Watson was 1-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot. Skylar Hengeveld and Patterson each added an RBI for the Rams.
Pennridge (5-1, 2-1 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West on Monday.
Dock Mennonite 000 00 0
Pennridge 042 14 11-10-0
ABINGTON 16, CHELTENHAM 1 (4 innings)
Morgan Gianelle ripped a solo home run in the top of the first inning to put the Lady Panthers on the board. It turned out to be their last hurrah. The Ghosts scored three runs in their half of the first and put the game out of reach with 11 in the second.
Julie Burkhardt was perfect at the plate with a 4-for-4 effort that included two doubles, two RBIs and four runs scored. Jess O’Neill was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Tori Brandenburger earned the win, allowing one hit and one run with four strikeouts in three innings. Olivia Bernstein threw a scoreless fourth, allowing one hit – to Giannelle, who finished the game 2-for 2.
Abington (2-2, 0-2 SOL) will host Harry S Truman on Tuesday, and Cheltenham (0-6, 0-4) will host Wissahickon on Monday.
Cheltenham 100 0 1
Abington 3112 x 16
LANSDALE CATHOLIC 4, BENSALEM 2
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