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ROYERSFORD – D’Anna Devine called it a perfect throw.
Pennsbury’s senior catcher certainly should know. Devine was on the receiving end of Kelsi Bunda’s strike from center field that turned a potential sacrifice fly into a dramatic inning-ending double play in the second inning of Thursday’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal contest against Souderton. The play came with the Falcons on top 1-0.
“She threw it hard too – I could feel it as soon as it hit me,” Devine said.
While the play was a back breaker for the underdog Indians, it had the exact opposite effect on the Falcons, swinging momentum clearly on their side.“I made sure I stayed back and came through on it,” Bunda said. “When it’s hit like that, you have to go deep and come through on it.”“That was huge for our team,” Bunda said. “It brought us up. We were pumped – we just stopped them.”
“After a play like that, everyone gets pumped,” Devine added.
The Falcons scored three runs in the top of the third and never looked back on their way to a 5-0 win over the Indians. The win vaulted Pennsbury into the state semifinals where they will face District 7 champion Latrobe. They are one of four Class AAAA teams still standing in the state.
How exactly does that feel?
“This is all we wanted since we have been playing on this team – to make it this far,” Devine said. “I just got goose bumps.”
“It’s an amazing feeling, especially for us as seniors,” Bunda said.
Val Buehler was ice on the mound for the Falcons. After surviving a rough start that saw her walk three in the first two innings and escape a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the second, the sophomore standout allowed just one hit the rest of the way – a one-out double to Brittany Beebe in the fourth. “I know they’re a good-hitting team,” Buehler said. “They made it this far, and they want it just as much as us. You couldn’t throw anything down the middle.
“I was just hitting my corners, and my defense was solid.”
While Bunda was perfect with four putouts and one assist, third baseman Christina Bascara was golden as well. The freshman standout had four putouts/assists, but two of them were of the spectacular variety, robbing Mollie Burrell of a base hit with a backhand stop of a wicked ground ball to close out the third.
Bascara came back with another huge play on a hard-hit grounder by Parkins to lead off the fourth. That play loomed large when Beebe followed with a double to left center.
“Christina Bascara – I thanked her from the first inning to the last,” Buehler said. “She did a great job of keeping everything in front.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything better. They could have gotten so many more hits, and my defense wasn’t letting anything by them. I appreciate it 100 percent. I thank them all the time.”
On the other side of the diamond, Souderton ace Liz Parkins fanned 11 and walked just one in her final high school game, but the Falcons managed nine hits off Souderton’s mound ace – five in the second and third innings when they scored four of their runs.
“She is good,” said Devine, who led the Falcons with three hits and also stole four bases. “Our coaches do a great job (scouting). They told us she throws everything high, so it was basically just waiting for (the ball) and moving back in the box so we could see the ball rise.”
Devine led off the first inning with a single off the third baseman’s glove. She stole second and third but was stranded there as Parkins fanned the next three batters she faced.
The Falcons got on the scoreboard in the second after Mackenzie Obert circled the bases with a solo home run after ripping a shot into the right field corner on a Parkins 0-2 pitch.
“I believe it was a drop curve,” Obert said. “I’m just looking for my pitch.“I went with the pitch and just kept running. It felt great. Coach always says, ‘Early and often,’ and that’s what we did.”
“You put a run or two on (the board), and it puts some pressure on the defense,”Pennsbury coach Frank McSherry said. “When we lost the flip of the coin, we said, ‘Let’s score first.’
“Coach Murphy and I kind of like being visitors because it’s cool to score first.”
The Indians responded by loading the bases in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Lauren Urbanski reached base when her fly ball to right popped out of the glove of the charging outfielder. Back-to-back walks to Haley DeLany and Emily Groves loaded the bases, setting the stage for Bunda’s clutch double play.
“That was huge,” Buehler said. “She wanted that girl. She has the strongest arm in our outfield, and she knew she was going to get her.”
“It was 1-0 at the time,” McSherry said. “Bund really wanted it.
“I think Bund was upset with her play in the Hatboro (district title) game. We talked about it. She had that determined look – that’s never going to happen again. Nothing is falling between us. She took charge. She was talking to our rightfielder and leftfielder the whole game. She was big.”
Souderton coach Courtney Hughes pointed to Bunda’s twin killing as the game’s defining moment.
“That was a (back) breaker,” the second-year coach said. “Their defense was incredible, and that was a huge play. That set the tone.”
The Falcons responded to the inning-ending double play with a three-run uprising in the top of the third. Devine got things started with a single down the left field line, and Jess Greenewald followed and drew a walk. Suzanne Swanicke’s single to center plated Devine, and a Greenewald scored on Bunda’s groundout. An error on Bascara’s infield grounder allowed Swanicke to score, and the Falcons led 4-0.
“They strung their hits together, and we couldn’t really help that,” Parkins said. “Coach said we were a little tense defensively, and I believe that.
“We play best when we’re relaxed. It didn’t help that we had the bases loaded and didn’t get anyone in. That was tough. We hit (Buehler), but they made some really nice plays on the balls we did hit.”
In the seventh, Devine once again got things started with a ground single to left. She immediately stole second and third and scored when Swanicke delivered a single over third, putting the Falcons on top 5-0.
“I think D set the tone,” McSherry said of Devine. “We asked her to.
“The kid was (sick) all day yesterday, and then to get behind the plate in this weather – she’s receiving every pitch with 10 pounds of gear on. She was on base three out of four times and to run the bases like she did with (four) stolen bases – she really got us going, no doubt about it.“We had some real big hits. Swanicke had a couple of big hits and so did Obert. We were looking for that first pitch strike to hit.”
Buehler retired the Indians in order in the seventh. She mowed down 11 in a row to close out the game and 16 of 17 after Bunda’s double play.
“They hit some balls really hard, but our kids played great defense,” McSherry said. “They’re to be credited, especially on a hot day like this.
“Both teams are. Souderton is a great team. They had a great season. Their kid threw a great game. They ripped some balls but just right at us.”
“We hit the ball, but we were just unlucky,” Beebe said. “I was not expecting to get this far, but it was really nice my senior year to make it to states.
“It was incredible after not making districts last year. I’m sad that it’s over.”
The Indians closed out a storybook season with an 18-6 record and their program’s first trip to states since 2006.
“Being a high school athlete that is your main goal – going to states,” Parkins said. “It’s just great that happened our senior year – going out with a bang.
“It’s kind of bittersweet. Now I’m going on to college, but we’re a family. It stinks because I have been here for four years, and having it come to an end is just hard.”
Hughes had nothing but praise for her squd.
“It’s a huge thrill for this team and also for our program as a whole,” Hughes said. “We set a goal in the beginning of the season we were not going to get snubbed from districts this year.
“Our number one priority was to make districts this year. When we made districts and the way we made it with our 11-game winning streak - then they wanted to set higher goals. They set those higher goals and then achieved them. I’m not unhappy. I wish we could have found ways to score and get momentum, but their defense was standout.”
PENNSBURY 5, SOUDERTON 0
Pennsbury 013 000 1 5-9-1
Souderton 000 000 0 0-1-2
WP-Val Buehler (7 IP, 1 hit, 2 Ks, 3 BB)
LP-Liz Parkins (7 IP, 9 hits, 5 runs, 5 earned runs, 11 Ks, 1 BB)
Multiple hits: Pennsbury – D’Anna Devine (3-for-4), Suzanne Swanicke (2-for-4), Mackenzie Obert (2-for-3)
Extra-base hits: HR-Mackenzie Obert.
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