SOL-BAL compiled a 2-1 record in Tuesday’s Carpenter Cup softball action and qualified for Wednesday’s playoffs. (Photos provided by Chris Ripper & SOL-BAL softball)
It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Julia Scannapieco.
The rising senior was a key piece of Council Rock South’s magical run to the PIAA 6A state title game, and just four days after that emotional journey ended at Penn State University, Scannapieco found herself back on the softball diamond with a new team – most complete strangers.
It didn’t take her long to adjust.
“It’s a really cool environment to play with the best of the best of each team in the SOL,” Scannapieco said. “I know girls from (CR) North, they knew me because I go to South. They’re our sister school, so we know each other from that.
“It took a second (to adjust to playing together). I would say after the first game, we definitely started talking more, and it’s just really cool to experience it with (new) people.”
That sentiment was a recurring theme among the players representing 10 different schools.
“It’s obviously such a great experience,” said rising PW senior Joslyn Perez. “During school ball, you see all these girls, and you play against them, and you see them as your rivals.
“Then you come to Carpenter Cup, and you come together and you’re working to achieve the same goal together. You obviously meet those people, you become friends with them, and you see a whole different side of them which is really cool.”
“It was really cool,” New Hope-Solebury rising sophomore Mabel Klossner said. “It was such a great experience to play with some of these girls that I’ve played against throughout my first year of school ball.
“Just meeting them in person – all the stars of the other school teams – was really awesome. All the coaches were great. It was awesome to be on such a great team with such a great group of girls.”
The SOL-BAL dropped its first game of the day to Olympic Colonial 4-0, managing just three hits off a pair of pitchers who combined for the seven-inning shutout.
“The hard thing about the whole process is – it’s hard to get the girls together,” said PW head coach Mike Perez, who is the head coach of this year’s squad. “We
had a couple of practices that a couple girls here, a couple girls there had to miss because they were still in playoffs or travel restrictions and things like that.
“We did practice yesterday morning real briefly just to get everyone together, and even then, we were still missing a couple of girls. I think that first game it was a matter of the girls coming together, the coaches figuring out what we have and kind of putting the pieces together. We knew we had a ton of talent – it was just a matter of where we can fit it all in and what combinations we were going to use together.”
In Tuesday’s opener, Springfield Twp rising senior Ashley Schulz doubled while CR North rising junior Kayla Ripper and MaST Charter rising senior Jordan Jennings each had a single.
“The first game was a tough opponent,” Perez said. “They were very, very good. We didn’t hit very good, and even our defense was not at its best. We had a couple of missed plays that led to runs. Whatever the reason – it took us a game to get it together.”
Things started to come together in the SOL-BAL’s 9-2 win over Chester County. The SOL-BAL led 1-0 after plating an unearned run in the first.
William Tennent rising senior Morgan Kocher led off the second with a single, and PW rising senior Kalina Childers followed with a single. A walk to PW rising senior Madison Moran loaded the bases. Two runs scored on an error, and the SOL-BAL led 3-0.
Chester County made it a 3-1 game in the bottom of the third and then added a run in the fourth to pull to within one. But not for long.
Quakertown rising senior Leah Schwalm led off the inning with a line single to left, and two outs later, CR North rising junior Zoe Hardy singled to center, plating
Schwalm. Joslyn Perez followed with a single that loaded the bases for Klossner, whose single plated a pair of runs.
An error allowed Klossner to score, and that was followed by an RBI single by North Penn rising senior Mady Archer. By the time the inning was over, the SOL-BAL led 9-2, a score that held the rest of the way.
Klossner – the lone rising sophomore on the roster - had a big game at the plate and in the circle, finishing with one hit and a team-high four RBIs. She also started and earned the win in the circle, allowing two hits and one run while striking out five and walking one in four innings.
“It was eye opening to get on this team and recognize all these girls from their respective teams and see that, ‘Oh, that girl got a hit off me’ or ‘I remember that girl making a great play,’ and now - wow, I get to play with these players,” Klossner ssaid.
Perez credited Klossner for coming up big in game two.
“She really hit the ball well, she pitched for us and pitched a great game,” the PW coach said. “I don’t think we got her in at all in the first game. In the second game, we led her off and pitched her.
“That kid is an absolute gamer. She gives 110 percent. She just plays the game with youthful exuberance and goes all out in everything she does. Whether it’s swinging or chasing a ball down in the gap or pitching or running the bases, she’s a fun kid to watch. She’s got a really bright future.”
Pennsbury rising junior Liv Czerniak closed out the game in the circle, allowing four hits and one run in three innings.
At the plate Joslyn Perez led the SOL with a 3-for-4 effort and one run scored.
“The first game – we didn’t really know each other that well, and as the day went on and as we got to know each other and spend more time with each other, we clicked more as a team, and we were able to connect and produce,” Perez said, acknowledging that joining forces with rivals is one of the best parts of the Carpenter Cup experience. “Personally, from school, Quakertown is one of our biggest rivals, and getting to now meet Leah Schwalm is something crazy because you go from ‘Oh my god, beat Quakertown’ and then it’s like teammates. It’s great getting to know her - a different side of her that way, for sure.”
The third game was a must-win if the SOL-BAL entertained any thoughts of advancing to Wednesday’s playoffs, and they erupted for 15 hits and 11 runs in an 11-3 rout of Mercer County. The SOL-BAL trailed 1-0 entering the fourth inning when they put four runs on the board.
A pair of errors set the stage for the big inning. Pennsbury rising junior Jaylynn Rodweller singled home the tying run, and a walk to CR North rising junior Kayla Ripper loaded the bases for Perez, who singled home the go-ahead run. A two-run single by Jennings gave the SOL-BAL a 4-1 lead.
“Jordan Jennings was someone I remembered well from our game against MaST Charter because she was pitching for that team, and she’s actually not a pitcher,” Klossner said. “To see her play middle infield, she played really well today.”
Mercer County answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to make it a 4-3 game, but the SOL-BAL blew the game wide open with a six-run fifth to go on top 10-3. The inning opened with five straight singles by Schwalm, Childers, Czerniak, Scannapieco (RBI) and Rodweller (RBI). A run scored on an error, and then Jennings delivered a two-out, two-run triple that put the SOL-BAL on top 9-2. A single by Schulz plated Jennings.
The SOL-BAL was led at the plate by Pennsbury’s Czerniak (3-for-4, 2R) and Rodweller (3-for-3, 3RBIs, R). Jennings was 2-for-3 with a triple, four RBIs and a run scored while Schulz was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Bristol rising junior Brianna Slack notched the win with one inning of work. Moran started and allowed three hits and one run in three solid innings, striking out one and walking two. Scannapieco struck out three and did not allow a hit in 1.2 shutout innings. She threw just 20 pitches – 17 for strikes.
Perez also credited North Penn rising senior Mady Archer for her contributions in the SOL-BAL’s successful day.
“Mady Archer is a leader,” the PW coach said. “She the first one in and out of the dugout for warmups. She’s up the entire game, staying positive, staying involved. Those are things you don’t see in the box score but definitely made a difference in the result.
“This is her second year with us on Carpenter Cup, and she’s just an awesome kid, a hard worker with great leadership that changes the complexion of the dugout and the attitude of the team.”
The SOL-BAL returns to action Wednesday with an early morning matchup against East Penn.
“It’s definitely exciting,” Scannapieco said. “I’m glad I get to play at least one more game with them because they’re a fun group of people.”
EXTRA INNINGS: Scannapieco reflected on her high school team’s trip to the state title game where the Golden Hawks fell to North Penn 1-0 in a class All-SOL battle, acknowledging it was bittersweet. “It was very emotional, I’ll definitely say that,” she said. “It’s hard to bounce back after that, but I’m taking it one day at a time and just trying to get the most out of it. It was very cool. We set a milestone for our school that’s never been done before. Yes, it was an emotional loss, but we all need to realize – hopefully, it will get done again next year, but this could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing in our history. If you would have asked me (if we would advance to the state title game), I would have said, ‘There’s no way.’ It’s crazy.”
Game 1
Olympic-Colonial 112 000 0. 4-10-3
SOL-BAL 000 000 0. 0-3-0
Game 2
SOL-BAL 120 006 0. 9-11-2
Chester County 001 010 0. 2-6-3
Game 3
SOL-BAL 000 461. 11-15-1
Mercer County 010 200. 3-5-3
- Log in to post comments
