Three SOL softball teams advanced to Tuesday’s District One AAAA semifinals. To view photos of the Pennsbury/Methacton and Hatboro-Horsham/Bishop Shanahan games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
The SOL came close to making it an all-SOL District One AAAA semifinal, but Ches-Mont champion Bishop Shanahan crashed the party, defeating Hatboro-Horsham 1-0 in a classic pitcher’s duel. Shanahan will meet defending district and state runner-up Pennsbury in a semifinal contest on Tuesday, May 29, 4 p.m., at Norristown High School. The top-seeded Falcons escaped with a 2-1 win in eight innings over an upstart Methacton squad. Central Bucks South will take on Continental Conference rival North Penn in the other semifinal contest at William Tennent High School on Tuesday at 4 p.m. South coasted to an 8-0 win over Spring-Ford while the Maidens eked out a 1-0 win over the Patriots.
Hatboro-Horsham, Methacton, Central Bucks East and Spring-Ford will vie for the fifth and final playoff spot. The Hatters will host Methacton on Tuesday at 4 p.m. while the Patriots will travel to Spring-Ford for a 4 p.m. playback game.
#1 PENNSBURY 2, #9 METHACTON 1 (8 innings)
Suzanne Swanicke has been under the weather for the past week, battling a nasty combination of strepped throat and bronchitis that forced her to miss Wednesday’s second round district game
“I have never been that sick before,” she said. “It was tough (to miss Wednesday’s game), but I knew it was the first round, and I was confident in the team. I knew they would come up big. I just tried to get healthy.”
Swanicke returned to school for the first time on Thursday and went through a light practice.
“I threw a little bit,” she said. “I’m not 100 percent healthy. I still have the cold.”
Swanicke was in uniform for Friday’s game.
“I said, ‘Suz, I have two lineups here, and you’re the only one who’s going to tell me which lineup we use,’” coach Frank McSherry said. “She said, ‘Coach, I can go.’”
What a lift Swanicke provided to the Falcons.
The dangerous cleanup hitter drew a walk in the fourth inning, and to conserve Swanicke’s energy, McSherry immediately inserted pinch runner Emily Kraeck. The Falcons led 1-0 when Kraeck scored on a single by Farryl Groder. The Warriors, however, rallied to knot the score.
The Falcons won the game in the bottom of the eighth. Swanicke got things started when she delivered a two-out double to right center.
“She had walked me twice,” Swanicke said. “I just wanted to get one of her good pitches that were right down the middle.”
Swanicke got the pitch she was looking for and knew exactly what to do with it.
“She hits a gapper, and they called a timeout,” McSherry said. “I said, ‘Suz, you have to tell me – can you score from second if Michelle (George) gets a hit? We can run for you,’ but she said she could do it.”
“I felt fine,” Swanicke said. “I felt confident in my running the bases, and I knew if Michelle got a hit I would be able to score. I told him I was fine.”
A confident George stepped into the batters’ box and delivered the game winner.
“Coach told me to go up and be a hero,” George said. “I was prepared for the pitch she threw me. It was an outside pitch, and I drove it to left field.
“It was awesome. It was a close game, but we were really excited to finally win it.”
George acknowledged that having Swanicke back in the lineup gave the Falcons a lift.
“It was really big,” she said. “She’s been really sick, and it was a little rough for her yeste
rday at practice. We didn’t know if she was going to play, but she did her thing.”
And because Swanicke ‘did her thing,’ the Falcons have earned themselves not only a date against Bishop Shanahan in the district semifinal but also a trip to the state tournament.
“We knew what this game meant,” McSherry said. “They knew what it meant, they knew what they had done, but I said, ‘Do not be satisfied. Let’s go one game at a time.’”
“We’re all really excited to go back to states,” George said.
To read Karen Sangillo’s game story, please click on the following PhillyBurbs.com link: http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/high_school/courier/falcons-soar-to-state-berth/article_83ae1a7a-7c89-58c9-b506-b62a0779a3c2.html
#5 BISHOP SHANAHAN 1, #4 HATBORO-HORSHAM 0
The K’s posted on the outfield fence told the story. All told, there were 17 of them lining the fence by the time Friday’s game was over, and that’s all anyone needs to know about what went wrong for the Hatters.
Kate Poppe was the beginning and the end of the story. The Villanova-bound pitcher forced her fielders to record just five outs. She did the rest, striking out 17 and taking away an opportunity for the Hatters to defend their district crown.
“She’s a great pitcher, and she threw a great game,” coach Joe DiFilippo said.
The Hatter had a pair of runners on board in the second after Maria Espinoso followed a walk to Heather Lutz with a single to right field. It was the Hatters’ only hit of the game.
They threatened in the fifth when – after Poppe fanned the first two batters she faced – the star hurler’s defense failed her, committing back-to-back errors. The bases were loaded after Chrissy James drew a walk, setting the stage for Maggie Shaffer to step to the plate. The Hatters’ standout pitcher was called out on strikes on a high and outside pitch, evoking more than a few raised eyebrows, but when asked about the questionable calls, DiFilippo elected to take the high road.
“The players have to adjust,” the second-year coach said. “The umpire doesn’t win or lose games ever.
“Hey, she pitched a great game. You saw two 
pitchers pitch great games on a hot day. I hope we meet them again.”
Shaffer turned in a stellar outing for the Hatters as well, allowing just five hits while striking out eight and walking none. Take away a first-inning run that saw Poppe’s blooper to right field fall in for a two-out RBI single, and the two teams could still be playing.
Just how dominant was Poppe in Friday’s win?
The senior hurler struck out the side in the second, fifth and sixth innings and fanned at least two batters in every inning. Every batter in the Hatters’ lineup with the exception of leadoff batter Jackie DiPietro fanned at least once. Seven struck out twice or more.
The Hatters will host ninth-seeded Methacton in a playback game on Tuesday.
#6 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 8, #3 SPRING-FORD 0
The Titans are best known for the bats of their ‘big three’ in the top of the batting order, and opposing pitchers work carefully when they face the hard-hitting trio of Haileigh Stocks, Morgan Decker and Lauren Klepchick, all of whom are signed, sealed and delivered to play softball at the Division One level.
For pitchers who think they’ve got a reprieve when they make it through the feared trio, guess again.
Hallie Bilker is rapidly putting herself in the elite company of the Titans’ big bats by consistently coming up with clutch hits. The junior outfielder, who bats out of the five hole, stepped to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth inning and delivered a booming triple into the left center field gap that emptied the bases.
“I thought I popped it up,” Bilker said.
Bilker finished the game with a pair of hits.
“Talk about flying under the radar – she’s just unbelievable,” coach Dan Hayes said.
Klepchick led the Titans’ nine-hit attack with a 3-for-4 effort that included a double. Leadoff batter Jae Epstein also had a pair of hits.
The Rams couldn’t do a thing against Stocks, collecting just two hits – one a bunt single and the other a slap single over the infield. That being said, they had plenty of scoring opportunities, benefitting from eight walks.
“The umpire was a little bit tight in the beginning,” said Klepchick. “ As she kept throwing her pitches, I guess the umpire was getting used to her, and I was just stretching her out a little bit more.”
The Rams put their leadoff batter on board in each of the first five innings.
“I should probably stop doing that,” Stocks deadpanned.
In the end, it didn’t matter how many batters the Rams put on board. When Stocks needed an out, she got it and was in complete command.
“I was hitting my spots,” she said. “I knew where I wanted to throw it. I tried to get ahead in the count, but sometimes it didn’t work out, but I felt I had control.”
The Titans benefitted from a botched play on Morgan Stocks’ slow roller to the right side and plated an unearned run when Klepchick delivered a two-out single.
The Rams’ fielding woes continued in the fourth inning when they committed two more errors. Carly Dudek and Epstein (RBI) both contributed singles as the Titans opened up a 3-0 lead.
In the sixth, the Titans displayed their offensive firepower with a five-run uprising. In addition to Bilker’s three-run triple, Klepchick (RBI), Kristin Marinelli and Epstein each singled (RBI).
The Titans (17-3) will face North Penn in Tuesday’s semifinal. They are less concerned about their opponent than they are about themselves.
“We just don’t want to take anyone lightly,” Stocks said. “We want to come out and play with intensity and just hit the ball.”
#10 NORTH PENN 1, #18 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 0
The Maidens created a bit of history when they earned a spot in the state tournament as a result of Friday’s win. According to coach Rick Torresani, it is the first time since 1985 that North Penn has been to states in softball.
“It’s really an awesome opportunity for us,” junior Melissa Fasick said. “Everyone is really pumped up and excited. It’s just been a great year for us.”
Playing in the district semifinal and state tournament is not a spot anyone would have predicted the Maidens would find themselves in when the season began and Torresani was struggling to find a lineup.
“We lost three of our first five games,” the Maidens’ coach said. “People were down on us, people were saying stuff. I said, ‘It’s a young team, and we’re trying to find out who we are. We’ll see at the end of the year.’
“These kids worked their butts off. They’re extremely young, but they keep working and working and working and never giving up.”
“At the beginning, we just didn’t know who we were as a team,” Fasick added. “Having Jackie (Bilotti) with us as a pitcher and everyone coming together as a team, I think it really worked out well. We all started to bond, and we became a team. That showed in our wins.”
Defense was the story of Friday’s quarterfinal contest between the Continental Conference rivals. The Maidens had the bases loaded with one out in the first inning but came up empty. The Patriots loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth inning, but the Maidens pulled the string on a nifty pitcher to catcher to first double play that was executed to perfection by Jackie Bilotti, Jess Mower and Vicky Tumasz. The next batter grounded out to second for the inning’s final out.
In the third inning, the Patriots had second and third with one out, and the Maidens once again escaped unscathed.
“The girl hit a ground ball to my third baseman (Megan Curley) who looked the girl back to third, threw to first and got the out,” Maidens’ coach Rick Torresani said. “The runner from third tried to score, and our first baseman, Vicky Tumasz, threw her out at the plate.
“There were unbelievable defensive plays on both sides. We thought we had a double in the third inning, and their centerfielder, Allie Chase, threw our girl out at second on an unbelievable throw. It was a great defensive game.”
Neither team got on the scoreboard until the bottom of the seventh. Fasick opened the inning with a double to left center.
“She was a really good pitcher,” Fasick said of Patriot hurler Jayme Ziegler. “She was hitting her spots. I went into the cage in the sixth inning because I was popping up, and I knew I had to fix something.
“When I went up, I told coach McCracken that I was going to get a hit this time. I wanted to have confidence in myself. Coach told me to lay off the high ones. It was an inside pitch, but she had gotten me before on some of the inside and high pitches. I’m happy I was able to drive that one.”
The Maidens had runners on the corner with none out after Tumasz bunted and was safe at first. Fasick raced home with the winning run on a sacrifice fly to left field by freshman Becky Christoffers.
“On Wednesday, she threw a Downingtown West player at the plate in the first inning,” Torresani said of Christoffers. “Those plays we made today with the bases loaded – you’re talking about a sophomore third baseman, a freshman pitcher and a sophomore first baseman making those plays in this kind of pressure situations.
“You just have to get excited and sit back and say, ‘This is unbelievable.’”
With many former players in attendance, the Maidens did what they had not been able to do in more than three decades – they earned a berth in the state tournament.
“They were so excited because they were at the Pennsbury game when we lost on an error at home plate in the quarterfinals,” Torresani said. “It happened 10 of the last 12 years that we made it to the quarterfinals and lost.
“It’s a matter of luck, and it’s a matter of having Shannon (McCracken) and John (Kandrick) as coaches. They were just unbelievable with the young girls.”
Torresani tipped his hat to East coach Erin Scott and her players.
“It was a heartbreaking loss,” he said. “To see her kids who struggled early in the year and then at the end of the year picked it up and are doing so well – they played an unbelievable game today.
“Their shortstop (Jess Haug) made some unbelievable plays. They have great kids, and it was sad to see them lose 1-0, but who thought we would end up on a Friday at home.”
East pitcher Jayme Ziegler allowed five hits while fanning three and walking one. Bilotti’s line was almost identical. The freshman hurler allowed five hits, struck out one and did not walk a batter.
“Definitely our hitting struggled a little bit today,” Fasick said. “A lot of us were popping up – I know I did. We all tried to come together.
“Everybody on the team – even the people who are injured are still coming to every game, so there’s really a lot of support from everyone. I’m really excited to be a part of this team.”
The Maidens will face a familiar foe when they take on CB South in Tuesday’s semifinal. The Patriots will travel to Spring-Ford for a playback contest.
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