Pennsbury was a winner in SOL baseball and Souderton earned a non-league win in softball.
Baseball
SOL National Conference
PENNSBURY 5, HARRY S TRUMAN 4
Ethan Karel’s hard grounder off a drawn-in Tiger infielder in the bottom of the seventh plated the game-winner and gave the Falcons – who trailed by two heading into the bottom of the seventh – the dramatic walk-off win.
“Ethan Karel wasn’t our starter in right field this year until maybe four or five games ago, and he’s just consistently putting the ball in play,” coach Joe Pesci said. “He had two hits, and he comes up to be the hero today for us.”
Earlier in the inning, Sam Spadea hit a line drive off the left field fence for a double that plated a pair and knotted the score. Setting the stage for Spadea’s double were walks to Shane Marlin and Justin Massielo.
“Sam Spadea was really the spark plug,” Pesci said. “Off the bat, I thought it was out, but it never got high enough. It hit the left field fence pretty hard, and Massielo was able to score from first on it.
“I’m a pretty demonstrative person, but I was pretty calm in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings just telling them – we need to take advantage of opportunities, we need to have a little pride here. Good teams win close games. Truman doesn’t have a great record, but they beat (Council Rock) North, they played Neshaminy tough, and they played us tough today. Hopefully, this gives us a little momentum going into our game Wednesday against Neshaminy.”
Earlier in the game, a Falcon error set the stage for Michael Finsel’s two-out, two-run double in the third that spotted the Tigers a 2-1 lead. They tacked on two more runs in the fourth and led 4-1.
The Falcons plated single runs in the second and fifth innings, but it could have been more.
“In the third inning, we had the bases loaded and one out and only scored one on a sac fly,” Pesci said. “In the fifth inning, we had bases loaded one out, and we only scored one on a walk.
“Truman beat us twice last year 3-2, and both times it was in the seventh inning. We come out this year, and Tyler Chew pitched really, really well for them and just kept us off-balance. We didn’t have a lot of strikeouts, but we had a lot of weak flyouts and ground balls.”
Justin Fogel’s 2-for-3 effort led the Falcons, who managed just five hits off a pair of Tigers hurlers. Spadea was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. For the Tigers, Finsel was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Christian Buchler threw 5.1 innings for the Falcons but was not involved in the decision. He allowed only three hits while striking out eight and walking two. All four of the Tigers’ runs were unearned. Sean Hochausler, who threw 1.2 scoreless innings in relief, earned the win. He did not allow a hit and struck out two.
Pennsbury (8-2, 5-0 SOL) will travel to Neshaminy for a key conference battle Wednesday, and Harry S Truman (2-6, 1-3) will be on the road at William Tennent on Wednesday.
Harry S Truman 002 200 0 4-3-2
Pennsbury 010 010 3 5-6-3
Softball (Non-league)
SOUDERTON 4, NESHAMINY 1
A pair of promising freshmen squared off in what was a classic pitcher’s duel for the better part of Monday’s non-league contest. Neshaminy freshman Kennedie Ruth struck out five in three perfect innings and took a no-hitter into the fifth. Souderton’s Abby Burns had just one strikeout through four innings but had allowed just one hit in that span.
Something had to give.
In the top of the fifth, Souderton’s Riley York drew a leadoff walk and moved up to second on Jen Klepfer’s sacrifice bunt. A single by Sam Nuneviller put Indian runners on the corners for Katie Huber, whose single plated York.
“One thing I constantly stress during game is – it’s all about adjustments, whether it’s adjusting to a specific strike zone or adjusting to a pitcher,” Souderton coach Liz Parkins said. “Today our girls were talking to each other the whole time. After every single at-bat, they were communicating with one another and letting everybody know what was going on, and that definitely paid off.
“The adjustments were made late, but they made them. We had a couple of girls come up clutch and get those hits.”
The Redskins evened the score in the bottom of the fifth. It was a leadoff walk to Rachel Kohler and a sacrifice by Ruth that set the stage for an RBI single by Kiley Gurysh that knotted the score 1-1.
In the top of the sixth, the Indians mounted a two-out rally that began when Burns collected a two-out single. Courtesy runner Sierra Ripka stole second and raced home when York singled, putting the Indians on top 2-1.
If Burns needed insurance, she got it in the seventh when the Indians added a pair. Nuneviller drew a one-out walk, and she scored when Huber delivered a double. A two-out error allowed a second run to cross the plate, and the Indians led 4-1.
“Today was one of those days were everyone played well in all areas of the game – hitting, pitching defense,” said Parkins, whose team played flawless defense behind Burns. “This was probably one of their best defensive games. That’s what we’ve been trying to tell them – when we’re on, we can beat anybody.
“We told them on Friday that today was going to be a big game. Our league is challenging in and of itself, but when you get some of those tougher non-league games, it becomes that much more important.”
Burns notched the impressive win, allowing just three hits while striking out four and walking one. Ruth allowed five hits and four runs (three earned) while striking out seven and walking three.
Huber’s 2-for-3 effort with a double and two RBIs led the Indians. Kylee Jones collected the Redskins’ lone extra base hit, a leadoff double in the second.
Souderton (5-3, 2-3 SOL) will host Quakertown on Wednesday, and Neshaminy (8-2, 5-1) will be on the road at Quakertown on Thursday.
Souderton 000 011 2 4-5-0
Neshaminy 000 010 0 1-3-2
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