To view action photos of the Pennsbury/North Penn and Hatboro/Downingtown West games, please visit the photo gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
Five SOL teams started the day in the winner’s bracket of the District One AAAA Tournament. By the time Friday’s action had ended, only Pennsbury, Hatboro-Horsham and Neshaminy remained. Souderton and North Penn, meanwhile, are two of four teams alive in the hunt for the fifth and final state playoff berth.#1 Pennsbury 1, #8 North Penn 0
FAIRLESS HILLS - Savanna Grantham’s final high school softball season didn’t exactly go as planned.
The Pennsbury standout was sidelined for the better part of the season with a partially torn ACL and only recently returned to the lineup.
“It’s nice to be back, that’s for sure,” Grantham said. “I’m slowly getting back to where I was. It’s very frustrating, but I’m getting there.”
The senior outfielder was not an especially welcome sight for North Penn on Friday.
It was Grantham who ignited a struggling Falcon offense when she stepped to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning of a scoreless ball game and ripped a double into the right center field gap. It was the senior outfielder’s second hit in as many trips to the plate.
“We know what Savanna’s capable of, that’s for sure,” coach Frank McSherry said. “We were just waiting for her to hit a gapper.”
Grantham’s gapper couldn’t have come at a better time.
Through five innings, the Falcons had managed just three hits off Maiden ace Kellianna Bradstreet. No Pennsbury base runner had advanced beyond first base until Grantham’s double to lead off the sixth.
D’Anna Devine – who puts opposing defenses on their heels the moment she steps into the batter’s box – followed with a perfectly-placed bunt single toward third.
“I had to do it,” Devine said of moving Grantham to third. “There were no ifs, ands or buts. We needed runners, and we needed to back our pitcher up.”
Stealing second was a foregone conclusion for Devine, who did just that, and after five innings of futility, the Falcons had runners on second and third with none out.
“We had to make adjustments at the plate,” Devine said. “We had to just keep waiting on it and waiting on it.“It was so frustrating because we can kill this pitcher, but we just weren’t doing it. The girl was hitting her spots, which made it hard, but we just weren’t hitting it.”
Jess Greenewald followed with a hard grounder that was fielded by shortstop Jenn Halcovage, and – although her throw to the plate beat a breaking Grantham, the ball was knocked loose when she slid into the tag.
Bradstreet escaped further damage, thanks to a fly ball to shallow right, a strikeout and a runner’s interference call that raised some eyebrows on a ball off the bat of Christina Bascara that appeared to be heading to center field for a base hit.
Not that it mattered.
The Falcons had the only run Val Buehler would need. The sophomore hurler – after walking the first batter in the top of the seventh – fanned the next two and then coaxed a harmless popup to third for the game’s final out.All told, Beuhler struck out eight – six over the last three innings – and allowed just four hits.
“Her screwball was amazing today – it was untouchable,” Devine said.
“All you have to do is jam them,” Buehler said. “And they have such a hard time seeing the ball, and they can’t get their bats around quick enough. Inside pitches were the best (pitches) today.”
As a result of Friday’s win, the Falcons punched their ticket to the state tournament after missing out on a state berth last season when they fell to Coatesville in a second round district game.
“I was hoping we would score a lot more than we did today, but at least we got one, and we won the game,” Grantham said.
The Maidens, meanwhile, would have been more than happy to get just one run. They certainly had their chances. Six times in seven innings, they put their leadoff batter on board, but they couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities, stranding nine base runners over seven innings.
“There were a number of times when they attempted to get some bunts down,” McSherry said. “Val threw some tough pitches in some bunting situations that made it a little tough for them to get it down.“She struggled a little bit in the beginning, but then her pitches started working, and she really started hitting her spots. But that’s a team that battles. They play in a great league, and they’re used to tough pitching.”
The trend of stranding runners began early for the Maidens. In the first inning, Jess Mower drew a leadoff walk and moved up to second on Michelle Holweger’s grounder to the right side. Buehler fanned the next batter she faced and recorded the final out on a fly ball to right field.
In the second, Bradstreet – who had a pair of hits, lined a single to left to open the inning, and Erin Maher followed with a bloop single over third base. After the next batter was retired on a popu
p to short, Juliamae Marger laid down a sacrifice bunt, putting Maiden runners on second and third. A groundout to short brought an end to that potential rally.
p to short, Juliamae Marger laid down a sacrifice bunt, putting Maiden runners on second and third. A groundout to short brought an end to that potential rally.One inning later, Mower drew a leadoff walk, and one out later Stephanie Kulp roped a double to right center. A base running miscue and a fly ball to left killed that threat.
“We had base running mistakes, and we didn’t get our bunts down in crucial situations,” Maiden coach Rick Torresani said. “We didn’t get the bunt down before Steph’s double, and they’re the kind of things that are going to cost you in a game, and it cost us today.”
The Maidens, who were retired in order just once, put their leadoff runner on base in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings but never could push a run across.
“Kellianna was on top of her game, and we got some big hits,” Torresani said. “The kids played their butts off, and Kellianna pitched her butt off.
“I’m just glad we have another game. To end the season like this would have been tough.”
Bradstreet, who struck out three and did not walk a batter, put a positive spin on Friday’s loss.
“I was excited that we were hitting again,” she said. “Our whole team was in such a slump. The fact that we were hitting got me excited, so for me, the next step is to capitalize on it and get it together for the next game, which is Tuesday.”
The Maidens will face Owen J. Roberts on Tuesday as they begin their quest for the fifth and final playoff spot. The Falcons, meanwhile, will face archrival Neshaminy in a district semifinal game on Tuesday.
#2 Hatboro-Horsham 8, #10 Downingtown West 0
While the Hatters might not have been on top of their game in Wednesday’s come-from-behind win over Upper Darby, they certainly brought their ‘A’ game on Friday.
“It was like night and day from what it was like on Wednesday,” coach Joe DiFilippo said. “There was a lot of energy. On Wednesday, we just kind of went through the motions. Today we played softball.”
The Whippets never stood a chance.
The Hatters scored a single run in the first when Melissa Spinosa, who had walked, scored on a wild pitch. In the fourth, they tacked on two more, sparked by an RBI single from Spinosa.
In the sixth, the Hatters blew the game wide open with a five-run explosion. Julie Wambold delivered the inning’s big blow – a three-run triple. Jackie DiPietro had an RBI triple, and Danielle DiFilippo laid down a suicide squeeze to plate a run. Heather Lutz got the whole thing started with a double to lead off the inning.
“Everybody really hit, and they couldn’t hit Maggie,” DiFilippo said of his junior pitcher.
Shaffer allowed just one hit while fanning seven and walking three in seven strong innings.
“I was definitely feeling good,” Shaffer said. “My change-up was working. It’s been a little shaky lately, but it was a lot better today.”
While many had penciled Central Bucks South into Friday’s quarterfinals, the Hatters showed no letdown facing Downingtown West instead.
“It doesn’t matter who we play – we just try and come out ready, no matter what,” Shaffer said. “I definitely think not playing for a while – it seemed like we were in more of a practice mode than a game mode on Wednesday.
“Having a game on Wednesday really helped wake us up for today. We were a lot more focused.”
The Hatters will face Spring-Ford in Tuesday’s semifinal game. Friday’s win ensured the Hatters a spot in states.
“It’s really exciting,” Shaffer said. “This year we hope we can finish it off.
“One of our things is to take it one game at a time, so we just work on the game that’s coming up and don’t look past that.”
#4 Neshaminy 2, #5 Owen J. Roberts 1
Diana Lapalombara certainly had to be feeling some pressure when – with the score deadlocked 1-1 in the fifth inning - coach Dave Chichilitti flashed her the suicide squeeze sign with a runner on the third.
After all, the sophomore centerfielder not only had two strikes on her but earlier had popped up a bunt attempt in the third inning that resulted in a double play.
When it mattered most, Lapalombara delivered a perfectly-executed suicide squeeze, and the Redskins had a lead they would not lose.
“The first time I was up I was a little bit nervous just because it was a playoff game, and I knew the team really wants to do well,” Lapalombara said. “I knew I had to get it down the second time. It was more important than the first, and it worked out.”
The game winner was set up when Dana Knapp doubled to open the fifth and moved up to second on Courtney Clee’s sacrifice bunt, setting the stage for Lapalombara.
The win avenged last year’s district playoff loss to Owen J. Roberts that sent the Redskins home for the season.
“Last year we got knocked out in the (second) round of playoffs,” Lapalombara said. “We were so excited to play this team. We knew we could do it.
“We were all so relieved, and we were so happy to do it.”
The Redskins were actually victimized by Owen J. Roberts twice in the last three years, but last year’s was particularly devastating since the Redskins were the tournament’s top-seeded team.
“Last year it wasn’
t as painful for me because I was only a freshman, but seeing all the seniors’ faces, it sunk in, and this year I knew we had to do it for the seniors too,” Lapalombara said.
t as painful for me because I was only a freshman, but seeing all the seniors’ faces, it sunk in, and this year I knew we had to do it for the seniors too,” Lapalombara said.Things didn’t look promising when – with two outs in the first inning – Lexi Viszily, the school record holder for home runs, smashed a monster blast over the fence, spotting the Wildcats a quick 1-0 lead.
“(Lauren) Quense made a great pitch, and she just crushed it,” Chichilitti said. “She’s just a really good player.”
The Redskins answered with a run in the bottom of the inning, capitalizing on several Wildcat errors as well as a single by Quense. That 1-1 tie held until the fifth when the Redskins were able to push a second run across.
Neshaminy not only earned a spot in the district semifinals but also ensured itself a berth in the state tournament.
“When I got this job, I knew we had an abundance of talent, and that was a goal – to get into the state tournament and then hopefully be playing our best softball and get a little bit lucky,” Chichilitti said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen, but that was a goal. You have to play hard and do the right things to get there.
“I think we’re doing all those things. We’re playing great softball. Our defense has been spectacular, our pitching has been great, and the hitting that we’re accustomed to is not here, but for the second game in a row, we proved that we can play small ball too when we need to, and that’s important in these tight games. I’m just very happy, very excited.”
Quense earned the win on the mound, fanning nine and walking one while allowing one earned run.
The Redskins will take on archrival Pennsbury in Tuesday’s semifinal game. It will be the third meeting between the two teams. The Falcons won the first two.
“We’re excited,” Lapalombara said. “Hopefully, three times is the charm. I feel like this time we’ll have all the jitters out and hopefully can play our best game.”
#14 Spring-Ford 5, #6 Souderton 3
The Rams – benefitting from four Indian miscues – plated four unearned runs in the sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie. That proved to be the difference in the game. The Indians scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth and had a pair of runners on board in the seventh but could not dig themselves out of the hole they’d created.
"The story of the game is that errors cost us," coach Courtney Hughes said. "We didn't play our best game; therefore, we did not win. We needed to play solid defense behind Liz to have a chance, and we did not. We did not get hits when they counted and could not get a leadoff runner on.
"Still, our team never gave up. They never quit trying to come back, and for that, I give them a lot of credit. Even when everything was going wrong, they found a way to get in the batter's box and take some of those runs back."
Souderton will face Downingtown West on Tuesday as the four teams that lost in Friday’s quarterfinals will battle it out for the fifth and final state berth.
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