Two SOL teams saw action when the PIAA Class AAAA Tournament began on Monday.
Two were still standing at the end of the day.
Hatboro-Horsham didn’t have to work up a sweat in its 11-0 rout of Girls’ High in a contest that was halted after four-and-a-half innings when the mercy rule went into effect.
Central Bucks South scored a first-inning run and Fran Carrullo did the rest, allowing just one hit and facing only 28 batters in yet another stellar outing as the Titans defeated Warwick 4-0.
Hatboro will be facing a familiar foe in Thursday’s second round game when the Hatters take on Bishop Shanahan, the fourth-seeded team out of District One. The Hatters sent Shanahan into the loser’s bracket of the district tournament, thanks to their 3-0 quarterfinal win. In Monday’s state opener, Shanahan defeated District 3 champion Elizabethtown 5-1.
South, meanwhile, will take on District 2 champion Hazleton, which earned a 2-1 win over Emmaus in an opening round game on Monday.
Sites and times have not yet been announced.
(1-1)Central Bucks South 4, (3-3) Warwick 0
Fran Carrullo flirted with perfection, and coach Jennifer Robinson is taking full responsibility for the fact that she did not attain it.
“I always very meticulously study what I can find about the teams we play,” the Titans’ coach said. “I knew their second hitter’s tendency was to hit to the left side, and she was a lefty, and I thought she might be late on the ball.
“I didn’t realize she was a slapper, and I didn’t position my defense the way I would have if I had known. She swung at the first pitch, and blooped it right over (third baseman) Morgan Decker.”
Although it might not have seemed like a big deal at the time, it became a huge deal when Carrullo retired the next 26 batters she faced. She fanned seven and did not walk a batter.
“Fran pitched a perfect game other than that – the second batter of the game, second pitch of the game,” Robinson said. “She was fantastic again today.
“I feel so badly. I just didn’t know she was a slapper, and I didn’t have a chance to adjust because she got the first pitch. If she had fouled it off, I would have changed it, but we were playing straight up defense.”
Carrullo, meanwhile, insists she had no idea she was just one hit away from yet another perfect game.
“Like always, I had no idea,” she said. “Coach Robinson told me after the game.”
Did she mind that she’d lost her bid for another perfect game?
“A little,” Carrullo said with a laugh. “She (Robinson) said she takes pride in her research, but she didn’t know the girl likes to slap. But I’m happy that I did have a one-hitter and only threw 72 pitches. I can’t ask for anything more.
“I feel very good and confident. I knew this was crunch time right here, and I had to get it done.”
Carrullo easily won her personal duel with Warwick’s Sam Derr, the two-time Lancaster-Lebanon co-player of the year who had allowed just 11 runs all season and led her team to a 26-1 mark. Like Carrullo, the Kutztown-bound senior also tossed a perfect game this season – hers was Manheim Central in the third game of the season.
The tone for this one might well have been set when senior Shana Steigerwalt led off the game with a solid single to left.
“That made a statement to everybody as a senior leader,” Robinson said.
“As a leadoff batter, that’s your job,” Steigerwalt said. “We always say – no matter what inning – get the leadoff batter on and score them.
“We just wanted to come out hard because we know when we come out and score in the first inning, we’ll continue to get runs. We knew this was a really good team. We came in with a lot of momentum and confidence.”
One out later, Haileigh Stocks singled to shallow center. Steigerwalt scampered home on Morgan Decker’s groundout to third. Just like that, the Titans led 1-0.
“I was anxious about what was going to happen after looking at this pitcher’s season and what I’d read about her,” Robinson said. “It just seemed like the pitcher was the backbone of that team, and no one was scoring runs off her.
“As soon as we got that, it gave our offense the confidence it needed to relax and settle in and realize – this is more than doable.”
In the fourth inning, the Titans put the game out of reach with a three-run outburst. Decker opened the inning with a hard single to right. Lauren Klepchick’s sacrifice bunt was misplayed, and the Titans had runners on first and third.
Michelle Gessner followed with an RBI single. One out later, Taylre Stocks drew a walk, and the Titans led 3-0 after Tyler Vitelli’s RBI single. A fourth run crossed the plate when Steigerwalt’s hard hit ball to third was misplayed.
A win was in the books, and according to Steigerwalt, the Titans enjoyed their first round test.
“I definitely like the challenge,” she said. “This will only prepare us for the games we have ahead.
“It’s states now, so you have to expect the best competition. When you play teams like this, you know that if you win, you deserve to win. You’re not just going to roll over teams, and we don’t want that. That’s not going to prepare us for the next game.”
Lost in the shuffle of Carrullo’s masterpiece was another superb effort by the Titans’ defense.
“Our defense was completely solid,” Robinson said. “Fran was on her game, but it didn’t matter if they put the ball in play. We had everything taken care of.”
“Our defense has always been strong,” Steigerwalt said. “We’re behind Fran 100 percent. We’re confident in each other, and that’s what makes us so strong.
“We have faith in every single girl that’s on the field and every single girl that’s on the bench ready to come in. I definitely think right now we have the right mindset. We’re here to play our softball, and as long as we play our game, I think we’re the team to beat.”
Carrullo has come to expect excellence from the defense behind her.
“I definitely always have a lot of confidence in them, and they always get it done for me,” she said. “I always go into every game confident with them behind me, and they did a great job today.”
This win – a far cry from last year’s 10-0 rout of Central – was the kind of test that should benefit the Titans down the road.
“I feel like the first one is sometimes the hardest hurdle,” Robinson said. “Sometimes you just have to get past that first game, and say, ‘Okay, we’re in this. We have one under our belt.’
“It really helps build your confidence and get that momentum you need. So we did get a tougher draw – I told the girls, ‘If we’re truly meant to be state champions, we have to beat all of the teams, even the hard ones.’ This was a good test today, and we handled it very well.”
(1-2) Hatboro-Horsham 11, (12-2) Girls’ High 0
Nicole Casagrande wasn’t expecting to see action in Monday’s PIAA Class AAA opener against Girls’ High.
“I started warming up before the game, but I never really expected to go in,” the Hatters’ freshman hurler said.
Casagrande got the nod in the fourth inning when – with minimal effort – her teammates had staked starting pitcher Maggie Shaffer to a 10-0 lead.
“I kind of went in there and knew I had to get something done,” Casagrande said.
The Hatters’ rookie, who is 2-0 on the season, worked two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while fanning three and walking one. According to Casagrande, playing with the varsity has been an enjoyable experience.
“I like the opportunity,” she said. “The girls are really nice, and everyone is there for support.
“I knew most of the girls. It was a little intimidating at first, but I got used to it.”
“She’s one of those kids – you can see she loves being a part of this and being around the older players,” coach Kelly Krier said. “She just loves it, and she’s having fun. It was great to have her go in there and throw and find a little success.”
Shaffer, meanwhile, faced the minimum number of batters in three effortless innings on the mound. The Hatters’ sophomore ace struck out three and walked one, and that runner was erased on a double play.
It was a relaxing afternoon of softball for a Hatter squad that suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Central Bucks South in the district title game four days earlier, but make no mistake about it, the Hatters weren’t taking Girls’ High lightly.
“The last time (we lost to South), we came back against East, and we didn’t do too well,” third baseman Jackie DePietro said. “We knew this team wasn’t going to be up to our level, but we came out hard, ready to go for states.”
DePietro acknowledged that the loss to South had been a devastating blow for the Hatters.
“It was really heartbreaking because we all know each other,” she said. “We all grew up playing against each other, so it was more than just the district title, it was playing against people you always play against.
“It was hard, but we have to keep it in the back of our minds for when it comes up again to fire us up for that. We’re the same exact team (as South), but it’s one call that will break the game every single time. It’s always a close game whenever we play them because there’s really nothing that’s different. It’s always been like that for years.
“We play against them in travel ball, and it’s always been like that too. It’s all the time. It’s crazy. We know the only time we will face them again is if we both make it all the way. We’re just trying to get there, and if it comes to them, we’ll be ready.”
Two years ago, the Hatters lost in the district title game but went on to capture the state crown. The Hatters are hoping for a little déjà vu this time around, and their first state game bore a remarkable similarity to the Hatters’ state opener two years ago – a 14-0 rout over Central.
“It’s a real nice feeling after the heartbreak of last week to come in here and have an opportunity to run the bases and have a little fun and exhale,” said Krier, who used the game as an opportunity to give everyone a chance to see action in a state playoff game.
The Hatters collected 11 hits – many of them bunts. Megan Kelly had a pair of bunt singles while Chrissy James, Chelsea Edwards, Melissa Spinosa and Heather Lutz each had a bunt single.
“If we hadn’t done that, we would have had trouble,” Krier said. “We didn’t know what their pitcher was like, and we didn’t have the pitching machine at this level.
“It was different in almost every way to what we’re used to. We knew if we put the ball in play, we could win a different way. At this point in the season, there will be one-run games where bunts make or break you.”
In addition to Kelly, Lutz, Spinosa and Kelsey Koelzer each also had two hits. Val Sadowl had a team-high three RBIs, delivering a pair of sacrifice flies as well as a single.
The Hatters got on the board with a single run in the first when Kelly, who walked, scored on Sadowl’s sacrifice fly.
In the second, Koelzer led off with a single, and the Hatters followed that with four consecutive bunt singles by Spinosa (RBI), Lutz, Kelly (RBI) and James. Sadowl delivered a sacrifice fly to left that plated a pair, and Edwards followed with a bunt single that scored a run. DePietro’s RBI single made it 6-0 game, and the Hatters led 7-0 after Koelzer reached base on an error.
Spinosa led off the third with a single and scored on Lutz’s RBI single. Kelly reached first on a bunt single, and another run crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by James.
For good measure, the Hatters tacked on an insurance run in the fifth when Koelzer who doubled, scored to make it an 11-0 game.
For the Hatters, it was good to be back in action.
“Practice was tough on Friday,” Krier said. “They were exhausted. It was a hot day to begin with.
“We had a good hour and 15-minute defensive practice, and then we went to Rita’s and drowned our sorrows in water ice. This time of season is tough emotionally, and we gave them an opportunity to get refreshed. I think it paid off in our benefit today.”
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