At the heart of this year’s North Penn squad are four seniors - Marissa Palumbo, Carley DiGiuseppe, Rachel Lowry & Mady Volpe, who will be playing for a PIAA 6A title at Penn State University on Thursday.
What a difference a year makes.
Last spring, the entire country was in lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With their team’s softball season cancelled because of the pandemic, the North Penn Knights - ready to make a run at the state title after a heartbreaking loss to Central Dauphin in the quarterfinals the preceding year – could do little more than wonder what might have been.
“I just remember sitting in my room every day,” senior Rachel Lowry said.
“Wishing we could have our season back,” senior Carley DiGiuseppe said. “Last year we were expecting to go far, and not being able to play with last year’s seniors also was bad because that group was really good.”
For Mady Volpe, it was an especially hard pill to swallow. As a sophomore, the Knights’ outstanding pitcher struck out 18 in that season-ending 2-0 loss in 11 innings to Central Dauphin.
“I remember after that loss – it hurt me a lot,” Volpe said. “Not only, ‘Oh, I have to wait another year,’ but then having to wait another year to play – I just remember sitting in my room during quarantine re-watching all the games. Especially that Central Dauphin game – ‘Oh, why did I throw that pitch?’”
“That pitch” was an 0-2 fastball that Taylor White hit for a two-run double in the 11th that turned out to be the game-winner.
“All four of us were really close with the seniors last year,” senior Marissa Palumbo said. “We thought we had a good shot at (the state title) with the team we had.
“We felt bad for them, and I think that’s why we came out harder this season. (Coach Rick Torresani) said from the beginning, we’re doing it for the seniors from last year.”
Just one win separates the Knights from giving the Class of 2020 the state title they never got. On Wednesday afternoon, the Knights boarded a charter bus for Penn State University and Thursday’s PIAA 6A state title game against Haverford.
A lot of young players in the Knights’ lineup have no memory of that heartbreaking quarterfinal loss to Central Dauphin in 2019.
“This year we figured that chemistry would be a big thing, but everyone gets along,” Palumbo said. “We’re all one big group this year, which is something that’s even stronger this year than years before.”
Losing the 2020 season has given new meaning not only to the season but every single game.
“Last year we did have a good shot of getting to (the state title game) too, but the fact that it got taken away from us – it made us want it even more this year, and it made us strive harder and work harder and enjoy it more too,” Lowry said.
“It made us want to play every game like it was our last,” Volpe said. “And just keep the energy going and just being there for each other.”
There is no mistaking the Knights’ urgency to ensure there would be no COVID-related shutdowns this spring.
“What’s really special about this team is we didn’t have to tell them – they just know,” Volpe said. “Even though they’re young, they understand the concept that we need to be safe and we need to play every game like it’s our last.”
“We’re all playing for each other,” Palumbo said. “We know these seasons are important for each other, and we don’t want that to be taken away from anybody.
“(The underclassmen) don’t want us to lose our senior year like happened last year.”
“The team this year just jelled really well,” Lowry said. “We all get along so well which makes it so much easier to play with each other and to win with each other.”
“It’s also easier to stay in the bubble,” Palumbo said. “The people I go out with are my teammates.”
Breaking the ‘Quarterfinal Curse’
The 2019 loss to Central Dauphin wasn’t the Knights’ first heartbreaking loss in the state quarterfinals. In 2018, North Penn fell to Parkland 6-3 in the state quarterfinals.
“Going back to when the seniors were freshmen, Mady’s pitching and we lose in the quarterfinals,” Torresani said. “As a sophomore, the same thing – an 11-inning game and they lost in the quarterfinals again.
“Then they’re all excited for their junior year because we had a great team – they’re going to go far, they’re going to make it to the state championship, and then the season ends and they’re just devastated.”
The Knights broke that curse with a 4-0 win over Penn Manor in last Thursday’s quarterfinal contest.
“When we broke that the other game, we were so happy we were moving forward,” Lowry said. “It was so exciting.
The win over Penn Manor was one of five straight shutout wins for the Knights, who have been on a tear since falling to Haverford 5-0 in the district quarterfinals.
That loss – which included five errors by the Knights - came just hours after a 10-0 mercy rule win over Owen J Roberts in the completion of a suspended second round district contest.
“It was kind of like a wake-up call,” Lowry said. “We didn’t play our best that game, and ever since then we’ve been playing the best we can.”
“We didn’t want our season to end,” Palumbo said.
The loss to Haverford not only sent the Knights on a mission, it also brought an end to their pre-game meal of hoagies and cookies.
“(Torresani) never lets us eat it before the games,” Palumbo said with a laugh. “Our hoagies sit in the bus for two hours. The cheese melts, and they’re soggy. The cookies are still good, but no more hoagies before games.”
Leaders of the pack
The team’s four seniors are the undeniable leaders of a young Knights squad.
“They’re coming into this year and saying, ‘There’s four of us, and we’ve got a bunch of sophomores and freshmen – where are we going, what are we doing?’” Torresani said. “All of a sudden in the workouts, it clicked with them – ‘Hey, wait a minute, these kids are good, and with Mady pitching, who knows?’ And they bought into it.
“You can see they love the underclassmen, they brought them along, and they’ve been great leaders.”
Volpe – signed to continue her career at Coastal Carolina – leads the young squad.
“Mady, of course, steps up, she always does,” Torresani said. “Carley has really stepped up as a leader. She has taken the outfield, which is really young and just worked with them.
“Rachel at second base plays really well, is quiet but plays hard. Marissa is in the dugout, and she is leading the cheers and making sure everyone is cheering. A lot of them are freshmen and sophomores, so she’s leading them.”
For Volpe, a four-year starter in the circle, pressure goes with the territory.
“(On Monday), I was warming up and the whole other team was just staring, and I was like, ‘Okay, I guess this is how it’s going to be,’” Volpe said. “To be honest, when I was younger, it did get to me, but they say pressure makes diamonds, so it’s like I can take that pressure one of two ways, and I take what’s good – it makes diamonds.”
Volpe’s classmates have also embraced their roles.
“The starters always go out and do their job, but it’s very important for the bench to keep energy,” Palumbo said. “In the Haverford game, somebody came in when we had our meeting and said we were faking energy.
“I think it’s important to know that the games are not over until the last out. We’re one of the only sports that’s not timed, so you always have another chance until it’s the last out or the last strike.”
Both Lowry and DiGiuseppe, according to Torresani, are quiet leaders.
“I always try to keep everyone excited and together because I know if we’re not together we won’t do as good as we can if we’re a unit,” Lowry said. “I just try to have everyone be happy and play happy. I know if I don’t play happy I don’t do as good.”
“People have told me in previous years that I was always quiet and I didn’t talk to people that much,” DiGiuseppe said. “I always just stayed back.
“The team now is just so good, and we all get along. Even when someone messes up or they do bad, they come in – you always go to them and tell them, ‘It’s okay, put it behind you and do what you need to do the next time.’”
Enjoying the ride
There’s no mistaking that this team is enjoying every minute of its magical postseason run. Their trip to Penn State is another memorable leg on their journey.
“Every year we usually go on a spring break trip, and we didn’t have that, so this is kind of our spring break trip you can say,” Lowry said. “We’re super excited to have team bonding moments and then on Thursday just play our hearts out because it is our last game, no matter what.”
“It’s just so cool to experience going up there with teammates and the group of girls we have now,” DiGiuseppe said. “It feels so good - especially as a senior, this is our last year.”
Playing for a state title is the end game the Knights have been striving for.
“Before every season, we say, ‘We’re going to end this year at Penn State,’” Palumbo said. “So now we’re here.”
Ask any of the four seniors what they’ll remember most about their final high school season and they don’t mention the wins and losses.
“The unity – we’re truly a family this year,” Palumbo said.
“The friendships,” Lowry said. “Every year we say ‘Family on three,’ but this year we truly are a family. I’m genuinely going to miss everybody. I can’t believe it’s almost over.”
This year’s Knight squad has re-written the record books with underclassmen playing key roles.
“Julia (Shearer) is a sophomore, and she has the best batting average,” Volpe said. “All the sophomores and juniors have the best stats.
“The freshman, Gianna Cimino, has stepped up immensely. It will be awesome to look back and see how much this program has grown.”
“You can’t even tell the difference between freshmen, sophomores, juniors – we’re all just together,” Lowry said.
At the Knights’ final practice on Tuesday, the players savored every minute, laughing, talking and then gathering for a team selfie. It was hard to tell the seniors from the underclassmen, but there’s no mistaking they represent the heart of this young team.
“This is for them,” Torresani said of the seniors. “They’ve been through a lot. I told them – ‘We’re going to go up (to Penn State), we’re not going to practice here and practice there. We’re going to go up and have a good old-fashioned party and enjoy ourselves.’ What is it going to do if they hit for a half hour or an hour on the field? Nothing.
“They earned the right to enjoy this. With the COVID this year and the bubble – the seniors made sure these kids stayed in the bubble. They made sure they didn’t go to places they shouldn’t have been. They’ve been great leaders in that regard too. Now that it seems like it’s broken they feel more comfortable and they’re just having a great time.”
North Penn will face Haverford in the PIAA 6A title game at Penn State on Thursday at 4 p.m.
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