Check back this weekend to read more about Neshaminy’s historic win.
BRISTOL – It’s a moment they’ll freeze frame in their memories for a lifetime.
Lauren Altenberger cleanly fielded the sharp ground ball to short and fired a strike to first baseman Brianna Guidos. The ball had barely landed safely in Guidos’ glove when the celebration began.
Pitcher Sarah McGowan leaped into the arms of catcher Erin Quense. It was a scene that was replayed all over the diamond at Bristol Memorial Field as the celebration began in earnest.
The Neshaminy Redskins had staged an improbable seventh inning comeback to erase a 2-0 deficit and send the game into extra innings, and later, thanks to Courtney Clee’s second clutch hit in as many at-bats – this time a soft RBI single to left – had eked out a heartstopping 3-2 win in nine innings over their archrival.
It was the Redskins’ first win over the Falcons since 2003, and it was reason to celebrate.
“The curse has been broken,” senior Kelsey Ryan said during her team’s giddy post-game meeting.
“Do we get a banner?” Quense wanted to know.
A whole lot was at stake in Thursday’s game. For starters, there was the not-so-little matter of the National Conference crown. The Falcons came into the game undefeated in league play while the Redskins had one loss.
As a result of Neshaminy’s win, the two teams will be co-champions, but what was exhilarating for the Redskins was a disappointment to the stunned Falcons.
“We’re disappointed, of course,” Falcon coach Frank McSherry said as his players quietly packed their equipment bags. “It’s two evenly matched teams, and you have to hand it to them.
“They had a great comeback. We were one out away.”
One out. One strike.
That’s all that separated the Falcons from sole possession of yet another conference crown and the top seed in the upcoming District One AAAA Tournament. That one out didn’t happen.
Clee saw to that, ripping a two-strike triple to deep left center that plated the tying run and sent the game into extra innings.
So what exactly was going through Clee's mind in the midst of that high drama?
“I was freaking out at that point,” she said. “I couldn’t breathe. I was looking for oxygen from someone.”
Clee wasn’t the only hero in the seventh. Altenberger got things started with a leadoff single, and two outs later, coach Kathleen Houser sent freshman Lauren Quense to the plate to pinch hit.
An unenviable spot for a freshman, or at least so it seemed until Quense roped an RBI triple into the right field corner to make it a 2-1 game, setting the stage for Clee’s heroics.
“For that freshman to step to the plate and hit that triple – that’s unbelievable,” Neshaminy coach Kathleen Houser said.
In the ninth, Alexa Bell took center stage when she laced a leadoff double into the right field corner. Two outs later, she was on third base, and again Clee delivered, this time hitting an RBI single to left that gave the Redskins a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, the Falcons put their first runner on board, thanks to Kelsey Ryan’s two-base throwing error on Jess Greenwalt’s bunt, but by this time, the Redskins were confident.
“I rushed my throw, and I know it was on me, but as soon as I threw it away, I’m like, ‘You know what – my teammates will pick me up, and I know nothing will get through,’” Ryan said.
The senior third baseman – whose bare-handed catch of a bunt earlier was the defensive gem of the game – was right. After coaxing a pair of harmless pop-ups to the infield, winning pitcher Sarah McGowan induced a ground ball to short out of the next batter she faced.
The curse was officially over.
“It’s the most incredible feeling ever,” said senior Samantha Creamer, who – like Ryan – is a four-year starter. “It’s kind of corny, but I have been on the team for four years, played this team seven times and lost all seven times.
“This was my one goal my whole entire high school career – to beat Pennsbury and win states. I’m on the verge of crying.”
“We always knew it would feel good, but we never knew it would feel this good,” Ryan added. “It’s such a rush, such a rush. I’m not sleeping tonight.”
From the outset, it looked as though one run would win it, so when the Falcons got on the scoreboard first in the fourth, they appeared to be in the driver’s seat. Savanna Grantham led off the inning with a double into the left field corner, and Danielle Fox followed with a single to right. With two outs, Mackenzie Obert lined a clutch single to center, plating a run that gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
In the sixth, Taylor Bidling hit a booming triple to deep center, and she scored when pinch hitter Chelsea Reynolds grounded a single up the middle. That 2-0 Falcon lead looked huge, but it wasn’t enough.
Not on this night when the curse was finally broken.
“I can’t say it enough – we are so proud of them,” Houser said. “For as hard as they work – it seems to be a mental thing with Pennsbury. That’s all it is.
“They came out today, and they were very loose. It was like they had that difference in confidence, and that’s what they definitely needed. At this point in the season, this is huge for them.”
A coin toss will determine which of the two teams will be the district’s number one seed. The winner will be the top seed while the loser will be the third seed behind Central Bucks South.
No one on Neshaminy’s sidelines was particularly worried about that when this one ended after midnight. They had better things to do – like celebrate.
“We just might not go to bed,” Creamer said. “I guarantee you – everyone at school tomorrow will be like, ‘How was the game?’ Nobody thinks the softball team is that good.”
That mindset should change real, real soon when word spreads about Thursday night’s electrifying win over a Pennsbury squad that has had the Redskins’ number.
NESHAMINY 3, PENNSBURY 2 (9 INNINGS)
Neshaminy (3) – Christina Udris 2b 1 0 1 0; Courtney Clee 2b 3 0 2 2; Samantha Creamer cf 3 0 0 0; Erin Quense c 5 0 0 0; Kelsey Ryan 3b 3 0 1 0; Sarah McGowan p 4 0 1 0; Laura Altenberger ss 4 0 1 0; Alexa Bell rf 4 2 2 0; Brianna Guidos 1b 3 0 0 0; Dana Lapalambra ph 1 0 0 0; Brittany Guidos lf 3 1 0 0; Lauren Quense 1 0 1 1. TOTALS 35 3 9 3.
Pennsbury (3) – Mackenzie Obert ss 5 0 1 1; Alyssa Shirley 5 0 1 0; D’Anna Devine 2b 4 0 0 0; Kelsey Bunda rf 5 0 1 0; Savanna Grantham 1b 4 0 2 0; Danielle Fox c 3 1 1 0; Taylor Bidling lf 4 1 1 0; Sarah Gosselin cf 3 0 0 0; Chelsea Reynolds ph 1 0 1 1; Jess Greenwalt 3b 3 0 1 0; Kait Schilling p 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 37 2 9 2.
E-Pennsbury 1, Neshaminy 1. DP-Pennsbury 1. LOB-Neshaminy 9, Pennsbury 10. 2B-Lauren Quense, Alexa Bell. 3B-Courtney Clee, Taylor Bidling. SB-Clee, McGowan.
Neshaminy 000 000 201 3-9-1
Pennsbury 000 101 000 2-9-1
IP H R ER BB SO
Neshaminy
Sarah McGowan (W) 9 9 2 2 2 9
Pennsbury
Kait Schilling (L) 9 9 2 2 4 4
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