Souderton 2, Owen J. Roberts 0
A state playoff berth was not on the Indians’ radar when the season began. A spot in districts was this young team’s goal.
But the Indians – defying the odds - continued their magical postseason run when they downed the regular season PAC-10 champion Wildcats in a tightly-contested affair to earn the district’s fifth and final state berth.
“After we made it into districts, we sat down and reassessed our goals,” junior Mollie Burrell said. “Making states was definitely on the list, and knowing that would be a very high goal to achieve – that’s always in a team’s sights, and we did write that on the board. We were definitely aiming for it. Now we’ve achieved it.”
With Thursday’s win, the Indians have put themselves in some pretty elite company – the district’s top five teams, joining Hatboro-Horsham, Pennsbury, Neshaminy and Spring-Ford.
“It feels great,” Burrell said. “It’s just such a big accomplishment for us.
“We knew we were going to be a strong team. We knew we had all the right pieces. It was just about putting all the right pieces together. Once we had that 11-game winning streak – that was all the pieces coming together. That was the team chemistry taking place. We knew we could do it. It was just performing the way we knew we could. I think that’s why coach Hughes was so happy today. Not just because we made states, but because we played the way we should. We played the way we know how – with confidence, good defense, hitting the ball, executing bunts. We did everything we know how to do, and I think that’s mainly why she was so excited for us and so proud of us.”
The Indians, who graduated their entire infield from last season, start two sophomores and two freshmen. Several of their juniors are also seeing their first varsity action this season.
“It’s a testament to how hard they worked in the offseason,” coach Courtney Hughes said. “We really did put a lot of time in the offseason – not just doing softball stuff, and that’s what you can never underestimate about the team.”
Making the Indians’ accomplishment even more impressive is the way the team rebounded from what could have been a devastating 5-3 loss to Spring-Ford in a contest that saw the Indians commit four errors in one inning that led to four unearned Ram runs.
“Both teams in that Spring-Ford game did not play their strongest,” Burrell said. “It was a bad game.
“It came down to who made more errors, and we had that one rough inning with all those errors. We weren’t hitting the ball the first couple of innings, but like we have in so many games, we came back late in the game. We regrouped, and we focused as a team at practice the day after the game. We focused on what we needed to execute better. We did a lot of bunting, a lot of hitting, and we also focused on our defense because up until that game our defense had never been a struggle for us this season. We’ve never committed more than one or two errors a game.
“Coach also talked to us about our confidence level. We went around, and we expressed how confident we are in each one of our teammates. It was coach just reminding us of how good we are and how good we could be. It reminded us of our skills and our strengths, and I think that’s what got us back on track.”
The Indians followed their loss to Spring-Ford with a no-doubt-about-it 10-5 win over Downingtown West and then capped their district run with Thursday’s must-win over Owen J. Roberts.
On the mound, Liz Parkins was once again magnificent, fanning 12 while walking none and allowing just four hits. The Wildcats’ three and four batters – Lexi Vaszily, the school’s all-time home run leader, and Megan Moore – accounted for all four of their team’s hits. Both finished the day 2-for-3. Take away those two batters, and Parkins was untouchable.
It is the first time the Wildcats have been shut out in 25 games this season.
“We knew they were a very good team,” coach Courtney Hughes said. “We knew the type of hitters they had.
“The team really came behind her today. We played better defense, and we stepped up and scored two runs. The girls see Liz’s face in these games, and they want it for her because she’s playing with such passion for the game. That communicates to her teammates.”
The Indians also had several unlikely heroes. Taylor Schwartz, in her first start in the playoffs, scored both of Souderton’s runs. In the third inning, Schwartz was safe on an error to lead off the inning, and one out later Burrell – who had a pair of base hits – delivered a single that sent Schwartz to third.
“Mollie hit a couple of screamers,” Hughes said. “You could tell they had a lot of respect for her – they were really trying to pitch safely around her, and she still got two hits. Both hits were really big.”
Schwartz crossed the plate when Parkins helped her own cause with an RBI single, spotting the Indians an early 1-0 lead.
In the seventh, Schwartz led off with a single, and she moved all the way to third on Sarah Derstine’s sacrifice bunt. Meghan Weisel, who also had a pair of hits, singled through the drawn-in infield to put the Indians on top 2-0.
That was more than enough for Parkins, who retired the Wildcats in the seventh to put the finishing touches on a win that vaulted the Indians into the state tournament.
“We had high hopes,” Burrell said. “Coach Hughes is a very confident person. She has confidence in us.
“After seeing us through preseason, getting to know our strengths and weaknesses, she wouldn’t let us make a goal that was too low or too high for us. Getting into districts was on our goal list. She thought it was a good goal to reach for, but I don’t think anyone expected such a great season. Everyone wanted a great season, everyone hoped for a great season, everyone was going to play their best, but definitely, to look back – it really was a great season, and it’s still going.”
The Indians will face the number one seed from District 3 in Monday’s opening round state tournament game.
Neshaminy 2, Spring-Ford 0
The Redskins needed a strong performance after their heartbreaking loss to Pennsbury in the district semifinals on Tuesday. They got just that with Thursday’s win over the Rams.
“We’re a team that’s always coming together,” Laura Altenburger said. “We have the heart.
“We had a big talk after Pennsbury about believing in ourselves and playing hard. We came out today, and we got the runs when we needed them and did everything we needed to do.”
A pair of walks and a passed ball set the stage for the Redskins to score a single run in the fourth. They added an insurance run in the sixth. Highlights of the inning included singles by Diana Lapalombara and Lauren Quense and a sacrifice fly by Altenburger, who had a pair of hits for the Redskins.
It was more than enough for senior Sarah McGowan, who allowed six hits while striking out one and walking two.
“She pitched very well,” Chichiletti said. “There weren’t a lot of strikeouts, but there were a lot of nice easy plays for the fielders. We played great defense behind her.”
Rightfielder Jenna Loftus, who had a tough day playing in the sun in Tuesday’s district semifinal, came back to have a superb game in right, collecting seven putouts.
“Talk about bounce-back games, getting up and dusting yourself off– that pretty much sums it up,” Chichilitti said.
Thursday’s win was a bounce-back game for all the Redskins, who three times this season had leads over Pennsbury only to watch the Falcons rally late for the win.
“It was completely heartbreaking,” Altenburger said. “To go up and shut them down, shut them down and to come out all three times with a loss – it definitely brings us down, but at the same time, it makes us stronger.
“We know we have to take it one game at a time, and we know we have to keep coming back and fighting. Yes, we lost to Pennsbury, but we’re still going to states. We’re still in it, and we’re still becoming that stronger team. It was definitely good to come out with the win. It feels so much better. States start next week, and it’s a clean slate. It’s a brand new season.
“In our game against Pennsbury, we had errors, and we were leaving runners on base. Today was different. We made the plays, the pitching was really good, and our defense was good. We had runners on base again, and we actually got them in. We did what we needed to do, and it brought our confidence up. We’re ready to start states.”
Neshaminy will face the District 11 champion in the opening round of states on Monday.
“After playing that game against Pennsbury the other day where we had the lead, losing it in the fashion we did and baking in that weather – it just seemed like we were physically and emotionally drained,” Chichilitti said. “We knew we had to rally and get behind Sarah today, get a win and get the momentum back on our side.”
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