Check out the recaps for SOL softball teams in action Thursday.
SOL American Conference
HATBORO-HORSHAM 6, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 1
In a winner take all contest on the final day of the regular season, it was the Hatters – behind the strong arm of freshman Kendal Leitner – earning the win to clinch sole possession of the SOL American Conference title.
The Hatters are 10-1 in their last 11 games after a 5-4 start.
“It was very nice seeing these kids come together to play as a team, especially after the way we started,” coach Joe DiFilippo said. “They’re light-hearted right now and they’re having fun. They really are, and it’s fun to watch.”
The Hatters were 2-3 after an early season non-league loss to Central Bucks South, a game the Hatters’ coach points to as a turning point.
“I told Brittany Hubler to stop worrying about everything and just enjoy her senior year – she’s the nucleus of this team,” DiFilippo said of his senior captain who anchors the infield behind the plate.
Hubler and Leitner have formed a formidable battery. Leitner allowed just five hits while striking out 11 and walking just two.
“Kendal’s done a phenomenal job,” DiFilippo said. “I think she’s 7-0 or 8-0 in the league. She kept us in the North Penn game, she beat Pennsbury.
“She’s getting more and more confident as the season’s gone on. Who knows what the future holds for her? She could really be special.”
The Hatters put a run on the board in the top of the first when Marissa Rapino hit an RBI single, but the Colonials evened the scored in the third when Kamryn Kropinski, who was hit by a pitch, scored on Lauryn Kane’s two-out triple.
In the fourth inning, the Hatters took a lead they would not lose. Mikayla Fedele legged out a bunt single, and she scored on Hubler’s two-out double. A second run crossed the plate on Rapino’s RBI double, and the Hatters led 3-1.
Fedele’s two-run single with two outs in the fifth put the Hatters on top 5-1, and an RBI double by Megan Mills in the seventh gave the Hatters their final margin of victory.
Fedele (3-for-5, 2 RBIs, run), Rapino (3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBIs) and Mills (3-for-4, 2B, RBI, run) led the Hatters at the plate. Kayla Tauber (2-for-5), Hubler (2-for-4, RBI) and Kristen Myers (2-for-4) also had multi-hit days. Alicia Tauber tripled and scored a run and Joyce Bloome doubled and scored a pair of runs.
“We had the bases loaded three times and didn’t score – one time with no outs, and we hit three ground balls,” DiFilippo said. “Even though we had all those hits, their pitcher (Alison Beausoleil) did a nice job to get out of trouble a few times.
“They battled the whole game. I give them credit. It’s not the Plymouth Whitemarsh of old. They did a nice job. They battled to the end. In the bottom of the seventh inning, we were up 6-1, and they were still battling at the plate. I give them a lot of credit.”
For the Colonials, Kropinski was 2-for-3 with a double and run scored out of the leadoff spot.
Hatboro-Horsham (15-5, 12-2 SOL) is seeded 10th in the upcoming District 1 6A Tournament and will host Perkiomen Valley, the tournament’s 23rd seed, in Monday’s opening round. Plymouth Whitemarsh (13-4, 11-3) – the 18th seed – will travel to 15th-seeded Upper Darby for an opening round game.
Hatboro-Horsham 100 220 1 6-17-0
Plymouth Whitemarsh 001 000 0 1-5-2
SOL National Conference
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 13, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3
John Engelhardt and his players knew that a win on Thursday probably wouldn’t be enough, recognizing that their loss to Bensalem one day earlier had taken away their chance of earning a district berth.
Still, as endings go, it could have been a lot worse.
“When you have a smaller program such as mine – we don’t have cuts, so everyone makes the team,” Engelhardt said. “With the way that showcase softball, travel softball is, if you’re not a starter, you leave and go to a different team, so you don’t see that many kids that are willing to sit in the dugout and cheer on their team and truly mean it.
“I have one of those kids, and her name is Chloe Weissman. We had our Senior Day scheduled for Calvary Christian two weeks ago, and they had to cancel on us. I planned to play all my seniors that day, but it got rained out, so now it’s against Bensalem and basically yesterday was a playoff. I had a conversation with her, and she said, ‘Coach, I completely understand.’”
Engelhardt made sure Weissman was in the varsity’s starting lineup for Thursday’s finale.
“There’s no way she has 10 at-bats her entire career at the varsity level – she might have five,” the Indians’ coach said. “We put her in a tough spot, starting in the DP (designated player) today, and her first at-bat she laid down a sacrifice bunt, did a really nice job. The second time up we had her bunt, and she popped up, but the third time – we had bases loaded with none out.
“She had two strikes on her, and she has a very unique swing. She swings with her entire body, and she was trying so hard. She hit a long fly ball for a sacrifice to drive a run in. It was her first RBI, and it was really, really cool.”
Weissman made her final trip to the plate in the top of the seventh.
“She had two strikes and ripped the ball into left field,” Engelhardt said. “The girls in the dugout, my hands flew up – we were just so happy for her because everyone loves this kid. They know that she’s a team-first kid, and she’s willing to support the team. It was really neat to see that happen.”
Weissman wasn’t the only player to have a big day for the Indians. Abby Seiple was 3-for-5 with a three-run home run to highlight a seven-run fifth inning. She finished with a team high five RBIs.
“It was nice to see her hit a three-run home run – it was her first home run of the year,” Engelhardt said. “But the story of today is Chloe.
“What I said to Chloe before the game was – ‘I’m going to use your name for many years down the road because in any successful program you need kids that are willing to play certain roles even if you prefer to do a different role, but you’re willing to do it because that’s what the team needs you to do.’
“Chloe did it as a senior. In the springtime, as a senior, when you’re starting to think about college in the summer and senior skip day, Chloe is the first one to pick up the balls at practice. She’s the first person to pick up equipment. It was just really cool to see her have success today. That was the highlight of our day.”
The Golden Hawks were without two of their top players – pitcher Danielle Walters and Karley Despirito.
“We both knew that we weren’t going to make the playoffs,” Engelhardt said. “Rock South came out with a tremendous amount of energy – kudos to him (coach Frank Marino). It was impressive.
“They came out and battled. They’re a good team. They had the injury bug bite them, but a credit to him for having his team ready to go. It was a good win.”
The Golden Hawks led 3-2 after four innings, but the Indians erupted for seven runs in the fifth to take a lead they would not lose. Seiple’s three-run blast was the big hit, but Lauren Begg had a pair of singles in the frame while Julianna Shields, Katheryn Hastings, Jenna Khantizian and Rachel Lorence each had a single.
For good measure, the Indians added four runs in the seventh.
Begg finished the day 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Shields was 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs while Hastings was 2-for-5 with a run scored.
Khantzian earned the win in the circle, tossing three-and-two-thirds innings of no-hit softball. She did not allow a run and struck out 10. Begg threw three-and-a-third innings, allowing six hits and three runs (two earned) while striking out two.
“This is my first year of us not making the playoffs,” Engelhardt said. “We’ve caught fire the past two years. I would have loved an opportunity, but it wasn’t meant to be this year. The seniors were (freshmen) my first year, and the one thing I said to them, ‘At the end of the day, the wins and losses go away. It’s the character you show and the person you are that will be carried with you for the rest of your life.’
“I guess we’re going to have to live with those words. We came in with really high expectations. I think some of that’s on me. I believe in every one of my kids. We were very thin and young, we had the injury bug, and we weren’t able to come through in key spots. It was pretty neat – for that two-and-a-half mile bus ride home, the girls were up and they were having fun. They knew the odds of getting in the playoffs were slim to none. The last bus ride, the kids are having fun – that’s good enough for me.”
Council Rock North (3-9 SOL) closed out its season with a 9-10 record while Council Rock South (3-9 SOL) finished its season with a 6-13 mark.
Council Rock North 020 070 4 13-15-3
Council Rock South 102 000 0 3-6-3
Non-league
PENNSBURY 2, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 1
Kylie Kenney and Ainsley McClure found themselves locked in a classic pitcher’s duel in Thursday’s non-league contest. It was the Falcons earning the walk-off win in the seventh to make McClure a winner.
“It was a very good game,” Pennsbury coach Frank McSherry said.
McClure allowed four hits and one run, striking out nine and walking one. Kenney fanned 10 – seven looking – and allowed three hits and two runs.
“She’s really tough – she really pitched a good game,” McSherry said of Kenney.
The Falcons got on the scoreboard in the fifth. Carley Parsons led off with a single and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Casey Glynn hit a fly ball to deep right field that was misplayed, allowing Parsons to score.
That 1-0 lead held up until the seventh. Rebecca Brennan collected a base hit, advanced to second on a fielder’s choice and scored on a double by Katie Hines – who had two of her team’s four hits.
In the bottom of the seventh, Sierra Daly, who was hit by a pitch, scored when Karli Haines hit a ground ball to the right side of the infield.
It is not out of the realm of possibility that the two teams could meet again. Pennsbury (16-2, 12-0 SOL) – the third seed in the District 1 6A Tournament -will face the winner of Monday’s Pennridge-CB South game in Wednesday’s second round.
Central Bucks South 000 000 1 1
Pennsbury 000 010 x 2
UPPER DUBLIN 6, GWYNEDD MERCY 5 (10 innings)
It took 10 innings to determine a winner in Thursday’s marathon non-league contest, and in the bottom of the 10th – with the international tiebreaker in effect and Ally McDaid on second, Korynn Bischoff singled to center to plate McDaid and give the Cardinals the walk-off win.
The Cardinals dodged a bullet in the top of the 10th. GMA had runners on first and second, and both advanced on a wild pitch, but with one out, the next batter lined out to right field. Outfielder Jayme Rubenstein gunned down the runner trying to score from third at home for an inning-ending double play.
Taylor Avery led the Cardinals at the plate, finishing 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI double. Meghan Muth was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three stolen bases, and Bella Soriano was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two stolen bases.
Liz Baginski earned the win for the Cardinals, allowing six hits and two earned runs while striking out one and walking one.
Upper Dublin (13-6, 8-6 SOL) is seeded fifth in District 1 5A and will host 12th-seeded Phoenixville in Monday’s opening round.
Gwynedd Mercy 000 122 000 0 5
Upper Dublin 100 030 100 1 6
WISSAHICKON 2, SAINT BASIL 0
ABINGTON 5, CHELTENHAM 1
NAZARETH AREA 9, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3
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