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SHIPPENSBURG – As Kelly Krier was wrapping up her final post-game interview in the now deserted dugout after Monday’s 2-1 season-ending loss to Mt.Lebanon, the Hatboro-Horsham coach was approached by a parent offering congratulations on the remarkable season just completed.
“Wouldn’t you buy this now, looking at the beginning of the season?” he asked.
Of course Krier would have.
And then the parent was asked - could he have imagined a season that saw a young Hatter squad with just two seniors on its roster advance to the state semifinals?
“Knowing Kelly and the way she coaches, yes, because Kelly touches them,” he said.
And these players also touched Krier, who had a difficult time trying to figure out how to say farewell to her two seniors – Megan Kelly and Chelsea Edwards.
“I don’t know what it will be like without them,” the Hatters’ coach said of her senior co-captains. “I know they have done a great job teaching the younger players what it means to never quit, work hard, how to lead.
“Those are things you can’t coach - they just have as part of them.”
The tears, the hugs, and the intense emotion that was written on the faces of all the players had as much to do with the fact that something special had ended as the fact that the Hatters would not be advancing to Friday’s state title game.
“It was really special,” Danielle DiFilippo said. “We were a family.”
“It was really special,” Kelly added. “I’m really glad I was part of this. I love each and every one of these girls. It’s really special.”
Krier echoed similar sentiments.
“One of the reasons it was the most special is because it was so unexpected,” the Hatters’ coach said. “When you have expectations going into a season like we did two years ago, there’s a lot of pressure, and it’s special in a different way because you’re doing what you’re supposed to do. This year we didn’t have that pressure from the outside.
“They love playing softball, and they love being around each other, but they also love to win. They’re just kids who want to be successful, and although we’re walking away with a loss, we still had a lot of success, and in my heart, they’re champions.”
The Hatters saw their season end because they could not solve the mystery of Lebo pitcher Geena Badolato. They managed just two hits off the Robert Morris-bound lefty, and both of those came in the seventh inning.
“I’m not really sure what the problem was,” said sophomore Jackie DiPietro, who accounted for one of her team’s hits. “She was a good pitcher, and we just couldn’t track (the ball) well because we’re not used to lefties.”
The Hatters actually managed a pair of two-out base runners in the first when Val Sadowl and Edwards drew back-to-back walks, but that’s where the rally ended.
In the bottom of the inning, leadoff batter Ashley Darabant hit the first pitch she saw into left field for a single, and then freshman Kaitlin Klinchock – after failing to get the bunt down on two attempts – lined a one-two pitch into center for a base hit.
Both runners moved up on Jen Bahm’s sacrifice, and it looked as though the Hatters might escape unscathed after clean-up batter Bre Tongel popped out to second on a nasty Maggie Shaffer change-up.
Then came shortstop Tess Apke’s at-bat of the game – it not only featured 12 pitches but also included a pair of meetings at the mound before she drew a base on balls to load the bases.
Kathleen Mathison’s bloop single to right plated a pair, and Mt. Lebanon had all the runs it would need.
“It was an uncharacteristic first inning,” Krier said. “It’s tough because although we didn’t score, we did a real nice job with two outs getting runners on base.
“They got a first-pitch hit, and I don’t know if our youth just got to us today, but to Mt. Lebanon’s credit, they were aggressive, and they hit the pitches that were there. Take that first inning out, and it’s a whole different game.”
The players were equally puzzled by the first inning.
“I feel we just weren’t as excited as every other game,” DiFilippo said. “I don’t know. We should have come out as fired up as we normally are, but we didn’t.”
“I’m not sure what happened there,” DiPietro said. “I don’t think we were ready for this game. We wanted to win, but I felt that we weren’t that focused, and then we just couldn’t bounce back.”
Armed with a 2-0 lead, Badolato mowed the Hatters down with relative ease, retiring 17 of 18 batters she faced until DiPietro broke up her no-hit bit when she lined a one-out single off the lefty pitcher’s glove.
DiFilippo followed with a line single to right, and DiPietro raced home while DiFilippo wound up on second when the throw to third sailed to the fence.
“I thought we were going to come back,” DiFilippo said.
Carli Johnson, who pinch ran for DiFilippo, moved up to third on a groundout to first, but any thoughts of a comeback ended when Badolato coaxed a harmless ground ball to second out of the next batter she faced for the game’s final out.
“Give them credit – there was never an error, there was never a let up, there was no finger pointing,” Krier said of her players. “They stuck together as a team, and they didn’t quit. They didn’t quit at all.”
The Hatters closed out a remarkable season with a 23-4 record.
“I’m upset, but I knew it was going to end soon,” Kelly said. “I’m not worried about this team. They have a lot of (good) things ahead of them.”
NOTES: The Hatters were missing freshman designated player Kelsey Koelzer because of the death of her grandmother…Shaffer was all but untouchable after a rocky first, allowing just three hits and fanning 10 over the final five frames.
MT LEBANON 2, HATBORO-HORSHAM 1
Hatboro-Horsham (1) – Megan Kelly cf 3 0 0 0; Chrissy James 2 0 0 0; Val Sadowl ss 2 0 0 0; Chelsea Edwards c 2 0 0 0; Jackie DiPietro 3b 3 1 1 0; Danielle DiFilippo 1b 3 0 1 0; Carli Johnson pr 0 0 0 0; Melissa Spinosa rf 3 0 0 0; Maria Spinosa dp 3 0 0 0; Heather Lutz lf 2 0 0 0. TOTALS 23 1 2 0.
Mt. Lebanon (2) - Darabant cr 3 1 2 0; Klinchock 2b 3 1 1 0; Bahm c 2 0 0 0; Tongel 1b 3 0 0 0; Apke ss 2 0 1 0; Mathison 3b 3 0 1 2; Badolato p 3 0 1 0; Brandy pr 0 0 0 0; Trindall dp 2 0 0 0; Casieri lf 2 0 0 0; Hagenbrok rf 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 23 2 6 2.
Hatboro-Horsham 000 000 1 1-2-0
Mt. Lebanon 200 000 x 2-6-1
E-Mt. Lebanon 1, Hatboro 0. LOB-Hatboro 4, Mt Lebanon 5. 2B-Darabant. SAC-Bahm.
IP H R ER BB SO
Hatboro-Horsham
Shaffer (L) 6 6 2 2 1 10
Mt. Lebanon
Bedolato (W) 7 2 1 0 2 4
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