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ROYERSFORD – Val Sadowl clenched her fist in celebration as she reached second base for a stand-up double, a smile spreading from ear to ear.Hatboro-Horsham’s junior shortstop – after fighting off one two-strike pitch after another - had just ripped a no-doubt-about-it shot to the fence in center field. Sadowl’s clutch double, which came with two outs in the first inning, spotted the Hatters an early 2-0 lead in Monday’s PIAA Class AAAA semifinal game against Neshaminy
“I was so excited,” Sadowl said. “We have been working so hard for this, and just to come out in the first inning and jump on them right away is huge.
“Before the game we all said we wanted to get runs early so we wanted to jump on them as soon as soon as we could. She’s a good pitcher, and I just kept fouling them off until I found my pitch.”
Sadowl’s two-run double after an impressive 10-pitch at-bat provided the only run support pitcher Maggie Shaffer would need. The Hatters’ junior mound standout silenced the dangerous Redskins for seven innings as the Hatters held on for a 2-0 win.
The win vaulted the Hatters into Friday’s state title game against Pennsbury at Penn State University.
“It’s really exciting, especially since last year we lost in this game,” Shaffer said.
Just as the first inning – thanks to Sadowl’s clutch two-out double – had its share of drama so did the last.
The game came to a stunning and sudden end when – with Neshaminy runners on first and second and one out – Danielle DiFilippo caught a Redskin bunt that was popped into the air and fired to centerfielder Melissa Spinoso, who was covering second, to double off the Redskin runner who had broken to third.Lauren Quense, who had not been retired all day, was waiting in the on-deck circle.
“If they pitch around Quense, you have the bases loaded for (Sarah) McGowan, and you have a chance to knock the tying run in,” Neshaminy coach Dave Chichilitti said. “You have to give an out away there to have a chance to win or tie the game.”
Courtney Clee – on first base at the time the final outs were recorded – sat down on the bag and watched in silence as the Hatters converged for a jubilant celebration.
“I feel like it’s the same way every year,” Clee said. “Last year, it ended the same way. I was on first, and something happens at second. I can just see it happening.
“Emotion –wise – I’m disappointed that we were so close, but it was a great year. Everyone is all emotional, and sure, I’m upset that we lost, but one more game – I couldn’t really ask for much more.”
The Hatters’ first inning began innocently enough when – with one out – junior Chrissy James hit a bloop single to shallow left.
“It was really exciting because once Melissa (Spinosa) gets on I normally bunt, so it was something different,” James said of having the opportunity to hit. “She (Quense) was throwing them high and outside – her go-to-pitch is high.”
Julie Wambold followed and drew a walk, and after Quense came up with her first of seven strikeouts for the inning’s second out, Sadowl stepped to the plate for the game’s biggest at-bat, delivering a two-run double that turned out to be the game winner.“You know what – she has been on a tear,” Hatter coach Joe DiFilippo said. “Every ball she hits is hard, and you couldn’t ask for a better time to hit that.
“It hit the fence – any other place that ball is out, and it’s 3-0, and I can breathe a little easier.”
As it was, DiFilippo couldn’t breathe easily until the final out had been recorded.
The Redskins answered the Hatters’ two-run outburst with a golden opportunity of their own in the bottom of the first. Clee, who had two of her team’s six hits, got things started when she led off the inning by legging out a chopper down the third base line for an infield single. She moved up to second on Diana Lapalombara’s sacrifice bunt, and Quense followed with a single to left, putting runners on the corners with one out.
Redskin cleanup batter Sarah McGowan was called out on strikes on a nasty Shaffer change-up for the inning’s second out.
“When my changeup works, it’s good,” Shaffer said. “It was good in the beginning of the game today, and that was a really nice one.
“I’m sorry, but I’m glad that she struck out because she’s a big hitter, so that really helped us.”
A walk to Laura Altenburger loaded the bases, but Shaffer came up with her second strikeout of the inning to end that Redskin threat.
“It was a setback now that I look at it because it was an opportunity for us,” Clee said of not scoring in the first. “When it happened, it wasn’t that big of a deal because we knew we would get another chance. We just couldn’t get the hit to push the runs in.”
Quense silenced the Hatters the rest of the way, retiring 19 of 21 batters to close out the game. The only Hatter base runners after the first were James, who reached first on an error to lead off the sixth, and Wambold, who laid down a two-out bunt single in the third. Neither runner advanced past first as Quense was in complete command.“She’s a great pitcher,” DiFilippo said. “For a sophomore – she’s going to be around. She did a heck of a job.”
The Redskins, meanwhile, had their share of base runners.
In the third, Quense drew a two-out walk, and McGowan grounded single up the middle, but the potential rally ended when Hatter leftfielder Kelsey Koelzer snared a hard-hit drive by Altenburger.
In the sixth, Quense drew a leadoff walk, and Shaffer acknowledged that she was especially careful when pitching to the meat of the Redskins’ batting order.
“They’re very good hitters, and you don’t want to make a mistake to them or they’ll make you pay for it,” Shaffer said. “None of them are tiny people, and they’re all really good hitters,”
“I just tried to go in there and treat everyone like they’re a good hitter because they obviously are.”
Altenburger collected a one-out single to put a pair of runners on board, but Shaffer escaped unscathed when she retired the next two batters she faced on fly balls to the outfield. That set the stage for a dramatic seventh inning that had the cruelest of endings for the Redskins, who held a 6-3 advantage in hits but never could push a run across.
“We expected to be able to produce offensively, and we didn’t,” Chichilitti said. “We had a number of chances where we had runners on base, and we couldn’t come through with a hit.
“They took advantage of that early chance and capitalized on it. Quense took command from that point, but we couldn’t capitalize on any of our chances. We never gave up, not for a second.”
The Redskins closed out a successful season with a 20-5 record.“It was an absolutely fantastic season,” Chichilitti said. “It was a pleasure working with such a talented and intelligent group of girls.
“We battled hard and made it further than anyone had in the past. Especially being my first year with them - we set out some high goals. We fell just a little bit short, but I’m sure in a week or two when this wears off, we will be able to see it as a success and use this as a measuring point for next year.”
The Hatters, who improved to 25-2, will travel to Penn State on Friday for a 1 p.m. rematch with district runner-up Pennsbury in an all-SOL state final.
“For these seniors to come in and go out and do this – it’s great for them,” DiFilippo said. “I love this team. They just play the game.”
NOTES: Asked to rate Neshaminy’s hitters on a scale of 1 to 10, Shaffer, without a moment’s hesitation, said, ‘Nine or maybe 10.’…Hatter second baseman Jackie DiPietro made a nice defensive stop in the first base hole and threw out Clee to open the third inning. That play loomed large when – one out later – Quense walked and McGowan singled.
HATBORO-HORSHAM 2, NESHAMINY 0
Hatboro-Horsham 200 000 0 2-3-0
Neshaminy 000 000 0 0-6-1
WP-Maggie Shaffer (7 IP, 6 hits, 0 runs, 5 Ks, 3 BB)
LP-Lauren Quense (7 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 earned runs, 7 Ks, 1 BB)
Multiple hits: Courtney Clee (2-for-4)
Extra-base hits: 2B-Val Sadowl.
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