North Penn defeated Hatboro-Horsham while Quakertown fell in a heartbreaker in Friday’s District One 6A quarterfinal round.
District One 6A quarterfinals.
#3 NORTH PENN 4, #6 HATBORO-HORSHAM 0
As good as advertised.
That was pretty much Kelly Krier’s assessment after seeing Knight standout Julia Shearer in action in the circle for the first time.
“You can’t take away from what Julia did on the mound for them – she threw a really special game,” the Hatters’ coach said. “We’ve read about her, this is the first time seeing her, and she definitely lived up to all the reports that I’ve gotten.”
Shearer turned in what is rapidly becoming a typical complete game masterpiece, allowing one hit while striking out 12 and walking just one in yet another shutout. She took a perfect game into the sixth inning.
“Honestly, I felt the same as always,” Shearer said. “I knew they were going to come right out of the gate. I was expecting a really tough offensive showing out of them.
“When my stuff was working, it boosted my confidence so much, and as the game went on, I just was so excited to get back out there and pitch. Pitching well against a good team like that – it’s a confidence booster. They’re a really good team, and I just really wanted to come out and win this one.”
For a while, it looked as though there might not be a game. After Shearer struck out the side in the top of the first, the Knights loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a bloop single to left by Sarah Saboscik and back-to-back walks. With the report of lightening in the area, play was halted as rain began to fall. One hour later and thanks to the field work by parents at the game, play resumed.
“Honestly, when we got in there – the heavy rain, it kind of messed with our heads,” Shearer said. “We didn’t know what to expect. As soon as we heard that we were going to play, we instantly got back in focus and were ready to go.”
H-H senior Kendal Leitner came out of the rain delay focused as well, working her way out of that bases-loaded, one-out jam with back-to-back strikeouts.
“The first inning and a couple other innings throughout the game – our defense stepped up, Kendal stepped up, and we were able to hold a really talented offensive team for most of the game,” Krier said. “You have to give their batters a ton of credit. They really were disciplined at-bat today, getting deep in counts and forcing Kendal to throw pitches more over the plate than normal. They’re a strong hitting team, and they were able to get the hits that they needed. It was a battle for a long time. The final score might not reflect the whole game.”
Shearer led off the third inning with a double but was stranded there. In the fourth inning, Gianna Cimino lined a leadoff single to left, moved up to second on a wild pitch and found herself on third with one out after a sacrifice bunt by Sophia Collins, but again Leitner slammed the door on that potential rally.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Knights got on the scoreboard. Shearer drew a leadoff walk and stole second. One out later, she scored when Brie Wilmot singled to left.
“It was really just adrenaline,” Wilmot said. “The at-bat before I had gotten just a piece of it, and it wasn’t hit hard enough to get past them. I saw how far back the outfielders were, and I thought – ‘If I could just hit it like I did the last Hatboro-Horsham game, just get it over someone’s head, score some runs, get my teammates going.’
“We’ve been talking about (this game) pretty much all week – how excited we were and how ready we were to play them again. We knew it was going to be a tougher game than most of our games are during the season. We just knew we had to come with our heads in it and a drive to win.”
In last year’s playback game against the Hatters, Wilmot was also the hero, delivering a single in the sixth inning for the game’s only run and a 1-0 win that sent the Hatters home for the season.
“She’s the one that won us the game 1-0 last year,” NP coach Rick Torresani said. “Then she comes through again. She’s so strong she just pushed it over the shortstop.”
Freshman Maddie Karpovich broke up Shearer’s perfect game with an infield single in the second base hole to lead off the sixth inning. She moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Megan Mills, and after Kiersten Rimer drew her team’s only walk, the Hatters had a pair of board, but that’s where the rally ended as Shearer struck out the next two batters she faced.
“I’m proud of my bottom end (of the lineup),” Krier said. “Maddie Karpovich, our freshman in the lineup, had two really great at-bats. Her first at-bat, she forced a lot of pitches to be thrown, fouled off a lot of balls. Same in her second at-bat, and she ended up getting a hit.
“Megan Mills put down a beautiful sac to move the runner, and then Kiersten (Rimer) had a really strong at-bat as well. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get those follow-up hits to get them in.”
The Knights all but put the game out of reach with a three-run sixth. Collins led off with a single to left and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt. Leitner came up with a big strikeout for the inning’s second out, but Reyna Doherty followed and lined a clutch RBI single to left. Shearer was hit by a pitch, and Sabocsik drew a walk. Annabelle Smink singled to drive in another run, and when Wilmot was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, a fourth run crossed the plate.
“It definitely boosts everybody’s energy (to score the first run) because we know we have a run in the bag, so we just want to keep continuing putting that up because that’s our way of supporting (Julia) really because she does a lot of the field work, and that’s our way of having her back,” Collins said. “We knew we had to get something going because it was getting late. We didn’t want another game like the other day, waiting until the last inning. We were trying everything we could to try and get runs before the seventh inning.”
Shearer did the rest, retiring the Hatters in order in the top of the seventh for a win that vaulted the Knights not only into the district semifinal but also assured them a berth in the state tournament.
“That was an awesome game,” Torresani said. “We had girls on – we just couldn’t get the clutch hit. Hatboro is a good team. We just had to do what we do. It took a little while, but we finally got the clutch hit. Reyna (Doherty) came through to get the clutch hit and another run.
This is just a big win for us. We’re in states. This was a huge team effort. Besides Julia hitting and pitching, the kids played good defense, they didn’t make any errors. When I ask them to do something, 90 percent of the time it was done tonight, and that’s huge.”
For the Knights, Wilmot was 1-for-2 with two RBIs, and Shearer – who reached base on three of four trips to the plate – was 1-for-2 with a run scored and stolen base.
“Julia is the catalyst, not only on the mound but when she’s hitting,” Torresani said. “She runs like a deer. What can you say about that kid? She just comes out and does everything.”
Last year, the Knights were stunned by Haverford in the quarterfinal round. Did the players remember?
“We definitely did, but we just wanted to make sure we weren’t going to repeat what happened last year,” Collins said. “We want to try to go for the district championship this year.
“I love this team so much, and to go back with them (to the state title game) again would be the best thing, so we’re working really hard to try and get back there again.”
North Penn (21-1, 15-1 SOL) will travel to #2 Spring-Ford for Tuesday’s District One 6A semifinal contest.
“There’s definitely a bit of pressure, but I think it motivates us more than anything,” Wilmot said. “I think we’ve learned to take it in stride and know that a lot of people expect a lot out of us.
“We’ve all been very prepared for it during practice during the season. I think it motivates us more than anything.”
Hatboro-Horsham (17-4, 15-1 SOL) remains alive for a berth in the state tournament. The Hatters will face a familiar foe in a must-win game on Tuesday when they host #7 Quakertown in a playback game.
“That’s what we said to them – this might not be the path that we wanted when the day started, but we live to play another day,” Krier said.
Hatboro-Horsham 000 000 0 0-1-0
North Penn 000 013 x 4-7-0
#2 SPRING-FORD 3, #7 QUAKERTOWN 2 (8 innings)
The Panthers lost a heartbreaker in Friday’s quarterfinal round.
One minute, they appeared poised to walk away with a 2-1 upset win after plating a run in the top of the eighth, the next, they were watching the Rams celebrate a walk-off win when Jules Scogna – with the bases loaded, two outs and her team trailing 2-1, hit a two-run single.
In the top of the eighth and with the score deadlocked 1-1, Katie Muller led off with a single to center. Syd Andrews followed with a line drive double to center field, but Muller was called out at the plate attempting to score on the play.
With two outs, freshman Leah Schwalm – just recently called up to varsity – lined a single to center to plate the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the inning, Andrews retired the first batter she faced, but the Rams loaded the bases with one out after a double, single and intentional walk. Andrews collected a huge strikeout for the inning’s second out, but Scogna brought a dramatic end to the game with a clutch two-run single.
Earlier, the Rams took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Caitlin Ashley led off the frame with a solo home run. The Panthers evened the score in the top of the sixth when Muller hit a two-out double to left that plated Ava Beal, who singled. That 1-1 score stood until the eighth.
Muller led the Panthers’ 10-hit attack with a 3-for-4 effort that included a double and RBI. Schwalm (2-for-4, RBI) and Beal (2-for-3, R) also had multi-hit games.
Andrews allowed 7 hits (five through seven innings) and three runs in 7.2 innings, striking out four and walking three.
Quakertown (18-4, 14- SOL) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham for a playback game on Tuesday. The winner will earn a coveted state berth while the loser will go home. The two teams split their regular season meetings with the Panthers winning the first (4-3) and falling in the second (1-0).
Quakertown 000 010 01 2-10-0
Spring-Ford 010 000 02 3-7-0
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