Upper Merion was the lone SOL softball team still alive after Friday’s District One Tournament action. The Vikings defeated Nazareth Academy 7-0.
Upper Merion was a winner in District One Class AAA play, but the season came to an end for Upper Moreland and the three SOL Class AAAA teams in action Friday.
For the second time in as many years, the SOL did not have a Class AAAA team advance to states, a disappointing showing for a league with a proud tradition. The SOL boasted the state champion in 2011 (Hatboro-Horsham), 2012 (Central Bucks South) and 2014 (Souderton) with Neshaminy a state finalist in 2014.
Quakertown – with four of its starters on a senior trip in Disney World – became the postseason’s most fascinating story, winning its second round game against North Penn before seeing its season come to an end against fourth-seeded Perkiomen Valley.
Souderton – minus sophomore pitcher Alex Scheeler (concussion symptoms) – also had an interesting postseason journey. Senior Melissa Gould tossed a shutout in the Indians’ 10-0 win over Springfield-Delco in Wednesday’s second round, but the Indians weren’t as fortunate in Friday’s quarterfinal game against top-seeded Upper Darby.
Central Bucks East had one of the tournament’s toughest draws, facing Avon Grove in Friday’s quarterfinals. It marked the end of the line for the Patriots and the SOL.
CLASS AAA
#2 UPPER MERION 7, #7 NAZARETH ACADEMY 0
Olivia Sborlini was on a bona fide tear at the plate in Friday’s district quarterfinal game, finishing the day 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs.
“Liv had a day, she had a heck of a day,” coach John Whitney said.
Abby Volpe had a good day as well with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate and one RBI. Dez Kandy was 2-for-4 with a double and three runs scored, and Riley Kontra had an RBI single.
Sborlini smacked a two-run home run in the first inning to spot the Vikings a 2-0 lead. They added three more runs in fourth, an inning highlighted by Sborlini’s two-run double. She capped a dazzling offensive performance with an RBI double in the sixth inning.
Sborlini also earned the win in the circle, allowing four hits, fanning five and walking one in five shutout innings. Nicole Kowalski closed it out with two scoreless frames, allowing one hit and walking one.
Upper Merion (18-2, 14-0 SOL) will face 11th-seeded Bishop Shanahan in the District One AAA semifinal on Tuesday at a neutral site.
“Our goal has been to get to states, and if we win, we’re in states,” Whitney said. “We have a chance for a district championship but at least to punch our ticket, so let’s go for it all right now. This is it.”
Nazareth Academy 000 000 0 0
Upper Merion 200 302 x 7
#11 BISHOP SHANAHAN 7, #3 UPPER MORELAND 0
The Eagles are looking like anything but the part of the tournament’s 11th seed, pulling off their second upset in as many games. Freshman pitcher has been the story of both wins, fanning 13 in a 4-2 upset of sixth-seeded Pottsgrove and topping that with 17 strikeouts in Friday’s two-hit shutout of the Golden Bears.
Shanahan scored two runs in the first and added three more in the third (unearned) on their way to a win that brought an end to the season for Upper Moreland (13-5, 10-4 SOL).
CLASS AAAA
#2 AVON GROVE 7, #7 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 0
Maggie Balint.
Those two words tell the story of Friday’s game. The University of Oregon-bound pitcher was – in a word – untouchable. Only a leadoff triple by Hailey Aspinwall prevented the senior standout from facing the minimum number of batters. Balint struck out the next three batters she faced to effectively end that threat.
All afternoon, Balint made life easy for her teammates – and not especially pleasant for the Patriots, striking out 14 and walking none.
The Red Devils collected 12 hits off the duo of Theresa Haug and Kayla Ventura, four off Haug in the first four innings and the remainder off Ventura in the final three.
The win punched Avon Grove’s ticket to the state tournament while Central Bucks East (10-4 SOL) closed out its season with a 16-6 record and a share of the SOL Continental Conference crown.
Central Bucks East 000 000 0 0-1-1
Avon Grove 002 032 x 7-12-0
#4 PERKIOMEN VALLEY 10, #5 QUAKERTOWN 3
The final out had just been recorded in Friday’s season-ending loss, and the players were preparing for the perfunctory postgame handshakes.
“Keep your heads up, keep your heads up,” coach Rich Scott told his players.
And they did.
It might have been easy for the shorthanded Panthers to have folded their tents when the Vikings – after Jordan Sell’s two-run blast down the left field line – opened up a 10-3 lead with none out in the fifth. That didn’t happen.
Rachel Lopes relieved starter Tori Caputo and allowed only a two-out walk, retiring speedy leadoff batter Ana Bruni to close out the inning. The Vikings put a pair on board with two outs in sixth, but again, Lopes escaped unscathed.
“These girls did not quit, they did not give up at all, and I’m proud of them for that,” Scott said.
Extending the game to seven innings, according to the players, was a moral victory for a Panther squad minus four senior starters.
“I was terrified right off the bat,” said Caputo. “I saw them play the first scrimmage of the year, and I automatically knew they were big hitters, and we had to play defense.”
The Panthers got on the scoreboard first when Spenser Gray, who led off the first with a bunt single and advanced to third on an errant pickoff, scored on Lauren Beal’s groundout to first. The Vikings got two runs in the bottom of the second – the first manufactured by Bruni, who opened the game with a bunt single, and the second on Rachel Helverson’s solo blast to right field. It was the first of four home runs on a field with a 285-foot fence.
“That fence is a killer,” Scott said. “We didn’t get any of those shots, and unfortunately, they did.
“That happens sometimes when the other team gets the breaks and we don’t. We’re capable of hitting those same things in the gap, but we just didn’t tonight.”
Solo home runs by Ashley Bangert and Bruni gave the Vikings a 4-1 lead after two innings, but the pesky Panthers refused to go away. Singles by Ryann Kemmerling, Tara Baglivo (RBI) and Maddie Moyer (RBI) made it a 4-3 game in the top of the third. The Vikings scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to go on top 6-3, and this time, the Panthers had no answer.
“All season long the team bounced back,” Scott said. “We had a tough loss at CB East, and they came back and beat North Penn and CB South. They’re a tough team.
“We’re definitely going to miss the seniors. I told the girls – ‘Here’s Spenser Gray. She’s a senior, and she’s still working hard to get better. She’s not satisfied where she’s at. She’s working to improve her game, and you guys have got to do the same thing,’ and they will.”
This year’s Panther squad made history by capturing a share of its first title since 1989, but this squad’s defining moment came when – against all odds – the Panthers defeated North Penn 2-1 to earn their program’s first district playoff win since 1988.
That moment in history will be tough to top.
“It was amazing,” said Caputo, the winning pitcher in the historic win. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Quakertown (10-4) closed out its season with a 15-6 record and a share of the SOL Continental Conference title.
“I have gotten a chance to play with all of the girls for four years now, and each year I could see the progression,” Gray said. “Even last year I thought we could do what we did this year. Just being a year older and having this season was the peak of my career (at Quakertown).”
Quakertown 102 000 0 3
Perk Valley 222 040 x 10
#1 UPPER DARBY 11, #8 SOUDERTON 0 (5 innings)
Upper Darby used an eight-run fourth inning to blow open Friday’s abbreviated quarterfinal game, which came on the heels of the Indians’ mercy rule win over Springfield-Delco two days earlier.
“It honestly seemed like we weren’t prepared mentally,” coach Steph Rummel said. “We came into that game, and we psyched ourselves out a little bit.
“We weren’t aggressive at the plate, we weren’t working the counts, we weren’t doing things aggressively the way we had been the game before. If we would have brought that same approach to this game, I think we would have been a lot more successful.”
Rummel bids farewell to six seniors – including four-year varsity players Angie Carty, Dayna Shelly, Missy Wiley and Savannah Bostwick. All four were starters on the 2014 state championship squad.
“The seniors have played together for a long time, they knew how to play together,” Rummel said. “I think their leadership as a group was very strong, and they brought the team as far as they could.”
Wiley accounted for two of Souderton’s five hits.
Souderton (9-5 SOL) closed out its season with a 13-7 record.
Souderton 000 00 0
Upper Darby 120 8x 11
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