Check out the recaps for SOL softball teams in action Saturday. Pennsbury/HH photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL National Conference
HARRY S TRUMAN 6, BENSALEM 5
With no outs in the seventh, Mara McKeon smashed a triple to center that scored Hannah Smith from first, giving the Tigers the dramatic walk-off win. Smith reached base on a walk to lead off the seventh.
Earlier, the Tigers opened up a 3-0 lead. Teyana Towner and Hannah Smith led off the first with back-to-back singles. A walk to McKeon loaded the bases. An error allowed Towner to score, and Jada Moran’s RBI double spotted the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
They added a run in the third when McKeon, who had doubled, scored on Moran’s clutch two-out single.
The Owls got one of those runs back in the fourth, sparked by a walk as well as singles by Maggie Formichelli and Destiny Howard (RBI). They knotted the score with two runs in the fifth. Emma Lostracco delivered an RBI double and later in the inning stole home to knot the score.
In the top of the sixth, the Owls used an RBI double by Howard and an RBI single by Jess Klein to go on top 5-3. The Tigers wasted no time before getting those runs back. Emily Merrigan led off the bottom of the inning with a single, and Emily Kuvulic followed with a two-run blast to left field, knotting the score 5-5.
Lostracco singled with one out in the seventh, but the Owls couldn’t bring her around, and the stage was set for McKeon’s seventh inning heroics.
Towner (2-for-4, 1 run), McKeon (2-for-3, 2B, 3B, RBI, 1 run), Moran (2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBIs) and Kuvulic (2-for-3, HR, 2 RBIs, 1 run) led the Tigers 10-hit attack.
For the Owls, Jess Klein was 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored. Lostracco was 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and run, and Howard was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIS and a run scored.
Kylee Thomas earned the win in relief, allowing two hits in two shutout innings while striking out one. Jalecia Blackston threw the first five innings.
Harry S Truman (6-3, 3-2 SOL) will host Central Bucks South on Monday, and Bensalem (4-6, 1-5) will travel to Central Bucks West on Monday.
Bensalem 000 122 0 5-8-1
Harry S Truman 201 002 1 6-10-2
Non-league
HATBORO-HORSHAM 6, PENNSBURY 2
The visiting Hatters knocked the Falcons from the ranks of the undefeated with an impressive win that displayed the team’s resiliency.
“Team-wise, we again responded,” HH coach Kelly Krier said. “We went up 2-0, Pennsbury came back big time, tied it up, we got out of bases loaded, and the next inning we showed up and we scored four.
“There’s a lot of energy in the game, fans on both sides. It could have easily been a situation where we packed it up and said, ‘We fought hard for six innings, let’s move on to next week,’ but we did what we needed to do.”
Also drawing high praise from the Hatters’ coach was the standout performance of junior Kendal Leitner, who – on the heels of a 1-0 shutout win over Souderton less than 24 hours earlier – was once again in command, allowing just two hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out 10 and walking five.
“Kendal pitched a gem yesterday, and she matched it again today,” Krier said. “Pennsbury’s lineup is tough. Each batter can bring multiple things, and she just settled in. She was able to keep out all the noise, focus in, and she did a really good job.
“And we got the hits when we needed to. In yesterday’s game, we had a couple of girls who didn’t get hits, and I said to them after yesterday’s game, ‘Your time will come,’ and today it did. Abby Waeltz stepping up and getting two RBIs in the sixth inning is just big time. Tess Kearney, another sophomore, hit the ball well.”
The Hatters put a pair of runs on the board in the second. Amya Lundy singled to open the inning, and one out later Abby Waeltz singled. Both runners advanced on a groundout, and both scored when Alyssa Tooley delivered a clutch single.
The Falcons erased that lead in the fifth. Jess Rowe’s solo blast to center field to lead off the inning made it a 2-1 game, and a pair of errors set the stage for Rowan Mulholland’s sacrifice fly that knotted the score.
The Hatters’ six-run sixth was highlighted by the two-run double to center field by Abby Waeltz. The Hatters, who also received singles from Kristin Myers and Tess Kearney, benefitted from two walks, a hit batter and an RBI groundout.
Caitlyn Martell collected a one-out double in the seventh, but Leitner retired the next two batters she faced to close it out.
“Their kid pitched a real nice game, and they got the hits when they needed to, and we did not,” Pennsbury coach Frank McSherry said. “That was the difference. I said that to Krier after the game, ‘You got the big hits and we didn’t.’
“We had base runners in particular innings – if we get one or two base hits, it breaks the game open, but we didn’t, so you have to give their kid credit. She pitched a nice game.”
The Hatters were led by the two-hit performances of Myers (2-for-4, 1 run) and Lundy (2-for-2, 2 runs). Tooley’s three RBIs led the Hatters.
“I said to the girls at the end of the game – I was kind of tongue-tied in saying how proud I am of them and also how happy I am for them to experience two great games in a row,” Krier said. “This is why they play and why we coach. It’s just special to be around this group of fine young women.
“I was away from coaching for a long time, and I thanked them today because I didn’t realize how much I missed this. It’s great for them, it’s great for the fans. You see spectators happy, you see coaches happy, and after the craziness of the past 13 months, it’s been wonderful. This was another fun one.
“I said to our team, ‘You girls practice hundreds of times for these kinds of games. It was just a really great day. It was two hardworking strong softball teams who had a good day. There was a lot of respect for each other and the game, and that’s what it should be about.”
In the loss, McGonigle – filling in for Ainsley McClure (injury) – allowed eight hits while striking out six and walking two.
“I said to the kids after the game – ‘Good team have to learn how to lose, and good teams have to bounce back the next game,’” McSherry said. “We don’t have any pansies – we go against Souderton who just lost to them 1-0 yesterday. We have to dig deep and see what we’re made of.”
Hatboro-Horsham (7-0, 4-0 SOL) will travel to Cheltenham on Monday, and Pennsbury (7-1, 4-0) will host Souderton on Monday.
Hatboro-Horsham 020 004 0 6-8-4
Pennsbury 000 020 0 2-2-0
NORTH PENN 4, HAVERFORD 1
Mady Volpe turned in a dazzling one-hit, 15-strikeout complete game performance to lead the Knights to the non-league win. The senior standout also had a pair of hits.
“That was Mady being Mady – that’s what (coach) Rick (Torresani) says,” assistant coach Ellie White said. “She’s a gamer. She puts it all out on the line. She wants to win and do right by her team. She gets out there and she wants to be the horse, and she wants to get it done for everybody else.”
With one out in the fourth, Volpe and Bri Wilmot collected back-to-back singles to break the streak of eight straight retired by Haverford pitcher Emma Taylor. One day earlier in the Knights’ 5-2 win over Neshaminy, Wilmot hit a grand slam in in her team’s five-run first inning.
“That was huge – I think that carried us,” White said. “They’re thinking, ‘Let’s do this, let’s make sure this game ends the way we want it to end.’ Neshaminy is a good team. They’re going to do a lot of things this season.
“Bri has settled in at the plate where she’s feeling a little more confident now and she’s choosing her own pitches rather than chasing pitches, and that’s always good to see.”
An error on Carley DiGiuseppe’s sharp grounder to short plated a pair, and Sophia Collins followed with an RBI single to put the Knights on top 3-1. They tacked on an insurance run in the fifth when Julia Shearer, who singled and stole second, scored on Annabelle Smink’s single to left for the 4-1 final.
The win was the Knights’ second since dropping their first game of the season to Pennsbury on Tuesday.
“The thing about this group is they want to get better, they want to work hard, they want to do the right things and they want to take care of the details,” White said. “Just like (coach) Rick (Torresani) told them – we didn’t take care of the basic fundamentals in that (Pennsbury) game. We didn’t do the things we’re supposed to do, and that happens, but they’ll learn from that. They responded well. Those kids are resilient kids. They move on. Coach (Torresani) gets them ready for each game, mentally prepares them. He’s very good at what he does.”
Shearer (2-for-3, 1 run) and Volpe (2-for-3) led the Knights.
“I think the girls are out to prove something to everybody,” White said. “They really enjoy playing with each other, and since we didn’t have a season last year, they’re ready to go out and prove to people what we have and we’re on a mission.”
North Penn (8-1, 5-0 SOL) will travel to Council Rock South on Monday.
Haverford 000 000 1 1-1-1
North Penn 000 310 x 4-8-0
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