Neshaminy earned a spot in the state tournament with its quarterfinal win on Thursday. Quakertown won its second round game. (Neshaminy photo provided courtesy of Jesse Garber https://JSGarber.zenfolio.com/p541464372)
District One 6A
Quarterfinals
#11 NESHAMINY 3, #3 HATBORO-HORSHAM 1
“Hold the rope.”
That might not mean a whole lot to many people, but to the Redskins, those are words to live by. ‘Hold the rope’ became their motto somewhere in a season that saw the Redskins go from a 5-3 record after eight games to winning 12 of their last 14, including Thursday’s upset of the third-seeded Hatters.
“Basically, we sat down and we were like, ‘Girls, we have to do this together,’ and we found our ‘why’ and our reason why we wanted to do it,” senior Danielle Monaco said. “We tackled exactly what we were going to have to do, and we figured it out together.
“Our coach sent us a podcast and said ‘We want you guys to listen to it.’ She talked about what your ‘why’ is. We always talk about – it’s not where you start in the beginning, it’s about where you finish, and if you finish together, that’s all that really matters.
“Another thing that was really big – we held the rope. No matter what, we held the rope with each other. Our motto is ‘hold the rope.’”
Kylee Jones explained
“I think a big thing about holding the rope is that we’re doing it for each other,” the Redskins’ senior shortstop said. “If one girl goes down, then there’s always going to be another person there to hold the rope and pick them up.”
Darby Brandt didn’t pick up a bat or put on a glove in a win that propelled the Redskins into Tuesday’s semifinals and also punched their ticket into the state tournament. The Neshaminy senior catcher, however, can attest to the fact that the ‘hold the rope’ motto is not just lip service.
“It’s my senior year and I broke my hand in the middle of the season, and it’s really hard for me, but I’m so grateful for this team,” said Brandt, her voice breaking. “They give me something to look forward to every single day after school.
“Honestly, I have never been this close to a team, and every single person has their part and has their role, and that’s why I enjoy and love going to every single game and helping with all the pitchers and being basically another coach. I love every single minute of it, and we definitely hold the rope for each other.”
The Redskins travelled to Hatboro-Horsham unfazed by the fact that they were the 11th seed and the Hatters were seeded third.
“I think our whole big thing through the season was just get better every single game, and we are definitely not the same team we were in the beginning,” senior Kylie Siwek said. “I think we know how good we are, and our big thing was we need to respect these teams, but we don’t fear them.
“We respect that – yes, they are good, but we know that we’re just as good, and we focus on ourselves and what we can do and what we can control and not anything else. We use the underdog mentality as motivation.”
The Redskins got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning. Mia Barone roped a one-out double to left field and moved up to third on a groundout. Kennedie Ruth drew a walk and was replaced by courtesy runner Peyton Tierney. Barone scored on a passed ball, and then junior Amanda Slabicki stepped to the plate and hit a double to left field that plated Tierney.
“Amanda Slabicki is probably playing the best center field I’ve seen in a long time,” coach Tim Quense said.
The Hatters got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning when Kayla Tauber, who singled to lead off the inning, scored on Amya Lundy’s double to center field.
In the top of the fifth, Jones tacked on an insurance run when she smashed a two-out solo shot over the right field fence to give the Redskins a 3-1 lead that held the rest of the way.
“The secret for us has been having good team chemistry, having energy and coming out with a bang every game,” Barone said. “Everyone on this team is best friends, so we really play together and put up a good fight.
“While we’re in the game, I think we always have the mentality that we’re losing. Even if we’re up, we’ll be like, ‘We’re down by five runs, let’s go.’ We always try to act like the game’s not over.”
Kennedie Ruth – who allowed five hits and struck out five in the complete game win – retired 11 of 12 batters to close out the game. Lundy’s two-out double in the sixth was the Hatters’ lone base runner in that span.
“She was throwing darts all day,” Quense said. “She was fighting, she was competing.”
Not to be overlooked was the defensive highlight of the game in the bottom of the second when – with a Hatter runner on first and one out – Jones went airborne to snag a line drive up the middle and completed the double play from her knees.
“Kylee Jones is playing a high level ball and turned an unbelievable double play today and then hit another moon rocket over the scoreboard at Hatboro-Horsham,” Quense said. “I think she’s the best shortstop in the whole entire area.”
Jones and Slabicki were both 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Redskins.
“We’re playing our best softball at the best time,” Quense said. “Team chemistry is just unbelievable.”
“Like anything else, players have to learn to trust you and you have to learn to trust your players. Everybody just believes in each other right now. We believe that any time anyone can step to the plate or in the field and they’re going to make the play. They believe it, they feel it, and we’re very confident right now that we can beat anybody.”
For the Hatters, Tauber and Lundy were both 2-for-3. Tauber had a double while Lundy had two doubles and one RBI.
Kendal Leitner, who absorbed the loss, allowed five hits and three runs (two earned) while striking out 12 and walking three.
Neshaminy (17-5, 12-4 SOL) will travel to #7 Haverford for Tuesday’s district semifinal contest.
“Our theme for our team right now – we stole it from the NCAA – is ‘survive and advance,’” Quense said. “That’s the motto and that’s how they’re playing it.”
Hatboro-Horsham (20-2, 16-0) will be on the road at #2 North Penn for a high stakes playback game on Tuesday. The winner will earn a state berth, the loser will go home.
Neshaminy 000 210 0 3-5-1
Hatboro-Horsham 000 100 0 1-5-0
#7 HAVERFORD 5, #2 NORTH PENN 0
In yet another quarterfinal upset, the Knights were shut out for the first time this season, falling to a Fords squad they had defeated 4-1 during the regular season.
North Penn had its share of opportunities but stranded 10 base runners. Emma Taylor, who notched the shutout win, did not have a 1-2-3 inning in the entire game but came up with the big pitches when it mattered most. She allowed eight hits in the complete game win, striking out nine and walking one.
The two teams combined for seven errors with the Knights committing five of them.
The Fords plated an unearned run in the top of the third and then added three more in the fourth when an error set the stage for a two-out, three-run inside-the-park home run by Brooke McKeown. A solo home run by Kerri McCallum to lead off the fifth gave the Fords a 5-0 lead.
The bottom of the seventh underscored the Knights’ offensive futility when they collected three singles but didn’t score a run.
Shearer was 3-for-4 out of the leadoff spot, and Carley DiGiuseppe was 2-for-3.
Mady Volpe allowed just five hits and only one earned run in seven innings, striking out seven and walking a pair.
North Penn (20-2, 15-1 SOL) will host Hatboro-Horsham in Tuesday’s playback game for the final state berth.
Haverford 001 310 0 5-5-2
North Penn 000 000 0 0-8-5
Second Round
#8 QUAKERTOWN 4, #9 METHACTON 1
The Panthers were leading 4-1 when their second round game against Methacton was suspended because of a storm. Nothing changed when play resumed on Thursday.
The Warriors managed just four hits off junior Syd Andrews, who notched the complete game win.
“The story was Syd pitching to weak contact,” coach Dave Scott said. “She only had four strikeouts, but she worked around the edges of the strike zone, both inside and out, and she got them to ground into a lot of weak ground balls and popups in the infield.
“Her rise ball was working well. They didn’t hit too many balls hard the whole game, so really that was the key.”
Ava Beal led off the first with a single and moved up to second on an error. She scored on Emma Hilton’s single to right field, spotting the Panthers an early 1-0 lead.
The Warriors evened the score with a run in the top of the third, but the Panthers answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning, benefitting from singles by Beal, LauraRose Morelock and Mary Wilkinson (RBI) as well as a costly Methacton miscue. Andrews picked up an RBI on a fielder’s choice.
With the win, the young Panthers have guaranteed themselves at least two more games.
“Shortstop, second base, first base are all freshmen, my right fielder is a freshmen,” Scott said. “I think we’re about a year ahead of schedule from where I thought we’d be.
“It’s a thrill for me to see them and see how they’ve handled some of the big game pressure and see how they’ve handled the playoff pressure. They were loose before the game today and yesterday, and they stayed loose. They locked in and played well, and I couldn’t be prouder and more pleased for them.”
Quakertown (18-3, 13-2 SOL) will travel to #1 Pennsbury for Friday’s quarterfinal contest at 1 p.m.
Methacton 001 000 0 1-4-3
Quakertown 103 000 x 4-7-2
#2 NORTH PENN 10, #15 OWEN J ROBERTS 0 (5 innings)
In the resumption of a game that was suspended because of storms a day earlier, the Knights made quick work of the Wildcats, scoring six runs in the bottom of the fifth to earn the mercy rule win.
Julia Shearer’s three-run double to right highlighted the inning that also included singles by Brie Wilmot, Gianna Cimino, Sophia Collins (RBI) and Rachel Lowry (RBI).
Cimino’s 3-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored led the Knights’ 12-hit attack. Collins was 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored while Lowry was 2-for-3 with one RBI and two runs. Annabelle Smink also was 2-for-3.
Mady Volpe allowed just one hit – a leadoff single to Emma DeBattista. The Knights’ ace struck out 10 and walked one in the five-inning shutout.
Owen J Roberts 000 00 0-1-3
North Penn 031 06 10-12-0
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