Council Rock South was a winner in Monday’s opening round of the PIAA State Tournament. CR South/NP photos courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos. CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports’ SOFTBALL GALLERIES.
PIAA 6A opening round
#1-4 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 4, #11-1 EASTON 1
Lexi Waring has been a study in consistency in the circle for the Golden Hawks.
Throw out the Perk Valley district game for seeding purposes, and the senior ace has allowed more than one run just once in the last eight games. Waring took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of Monday’s state opener and allowed just one hit – a leadoff solo home run – in the complete game win.
After giving up the home run, Waring struck out the next two batters she faced and retired the Red Rovers in order to close out the seventh.
“She’s one of the most amazing pitchers I’ve ever caught,” said sophomore catcher Sophia Salamon. “She can bounce back from anything – whatever happened in the previous at-bat or in the previous inning does not faze her.
“Like the home run today – obviously, we were up a few runs, but she was able to take a deep breath and just throw so consistently. It is such an honor to be able to catch her behind the plate. She just makes your entire defense feel so good.”
The Golden Hawks showed no ill effects from back-to-back district losses – a 1-0 heartbreaker to North Penn in the district semis and a 6-2 loss to Perk Valley in the third place game.
“Going into that last game (against Perk Valley), it didn’t really matter if we won or lost because that was just depending on seeding, but the North Penn game – we all wanted it because of what happened in the state championship game,” senior Julia Scannapieco said. “We lost that game 1-0, and then we lost 1-0 again.
“We all just said – coming into states, it’s a new slate. Everyone is 0-0, and we all just need to lock in and push through it all. Just forget about everything that happened in the past.”
The Golden Hawks scored a pair of runs in the second and added single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to go on top 4-0 over the District 11 champions.
“Our goal is to get on (the scoreboard) in the first or second inning, so we have a little bit of a lead and have a little bit of a cushion,” said Scannapieco, who drove in a pair of runs.
Scoring two runs early, according to Salamon, set the tone for Monday’s win.
“It just completely changed the feel of the game,” the Hawks’ catcher said. “It’s not easy for any team to come back after two losses, but when you have those two runs, it gives you a little room to see some pitches and not feel like you have to be so aggressive at the plate and really take your time with your at-bats. That’s a great feeling for any batter.
“After our last game, we reviewed what we did wrong, and we looked at what we did right. We worked on that and tried to emphasize what we did well. That’s all we could really do. I think we did a great job of that today.”
The Golden Hawks had just three hits but benefitted from a pair of Easton errors as well as eight walks.
By the numbers: Council Rock South: Lexi Waring (W) (7.0 IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 9K)
Julia Scannapieco (1-for-2, 2RBI), Paige Brady (1-for-3, 1RBI), Sophia Salamon (1-for-2)
Key inning: Top of second: Waring drew a one-out walk, and Salamon and Brady (RBI) followed with singles. An error on Margot McLean’s bunt allowed a second run to cross the plate.
Council Rock South coach Scott Molle on bouncing back: “After losing to Perk Valley, we stressed to them – these last few games don’t matter. Would you like to win a district title, sure, but we have one goal in mind, and that is to get back to that last game of the year. We were the five seed last year. It’s about getting in states. We have some unfinished business to take care of, and I think we have the team to do it right now.
“I give these kids so much credit. Coming in, we lost five seniors from last year’s team, and the girls that have stepped in have just been so big for us. They’re playing the game the right way. Actually, some of the younger ones – I don’t know if they understand how big of a win today was. You only have eight teams in 6A left in the state. That’s an achievement.
“Our seniors understand that, and their leadership has been just so good. We see it carrying on into the next game, so it should be a fun game. We look forward to it.”
–Props: “Lexi had nine strikeouts – her control was there. She was just her dominant self. She really was.
“Our defense played well. We had really good at-bats today, really good at-bats. We took the count deep, and we were able to walk eight times.”
Up next: Council Rock South (20-5, 9-1 SOL) will face a familiar foe in #1-3 Perkiomen Valley. It will be the third meeting between the two teams. PV has won both, most recently the third place game in districts.
“I feel like if we wouldn’t have had one bad inning, it would have been a completely different game,” Scannapieco said. “We need to have better at-bats – be more selective at the plate because I think we were all getting antsy, so I would just say we need to be more selective.”
Council Rock South 020 101 0 4-3-2
Easton 000 000 1 1-1-2
#11-2 NAZARETH 7, #1-2 NORTH PENN 5
It wasn’t supposed to end this way.
Not after entering the state tournament with lofty expectations and certainly not after opening up a 5-0 lead in the second inning. But the script didn’t exactly go as planned. Twice the Knights were within a strike of winning Monday’s state opener, and twice, Nazareth responded with back-breaking hits – back-to-back home runs in the top of the seventh – to earn the come-from-behind win.
“It’s a long season – they worked real hard, and they gave everything they had,” NP coach Rick Torresani said. “I’m proud of them for doing that. They all stuck with it.
“We had times when things didn’t go well. I’m just in shock. I did not think this was going to happen. I thought we were going to do well. We got five runs, and that’s it. We had our chances and didn’t score.”
It looked like the win might be easy when – after Felicia Connolly retired the first six batters she faced – the Knights put five runs on the board in the second.
Connolly was safe on an error to open the inning, and Alana Drummond was hit by a pitch. With one out, Brandi Groarke hit an RBI single to center, and with two outs, Gabriella Brigidi singled home a second run. Groarke scored on a passed ball, and then Cailin Halfpenny drew a walk, setting the stage for Tallie Smink, who delivered a two-run single that put the Knights on top 5-0.
Nazareth got itself right back in the game in the top of the third, collecting three hits – including a two-run home run by Alina Weaver – to make it a 5-3 game.
The Knights loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning but came up empty, and in the top of the fifth, Nazareth pulled to within one when Weaver hit a two-out RBI single to left field.
That score stood until the top of the seventh. A leadoff single was followed by two straight outs, but that’s when disaster struck. Weaver turned on a full-count pitch and hit her second home run of this game – this one a two-run home run to left field, and that was followed by Makayla Ork ripping a solo home run to straightaway center.
The Knights put their first two runners on board in the bottom of the inning, thanks to singles by Archer and Connolly, but a strikeout and game-ending double play on a fly ball to left field ended the Knights’ comeback attempt.
The Knights lose just two seniors to graduation – Mady Archer and Gianna Corrado.
“Mady had a great year for her first year on the varsity,” Torresani said. “She just had a really good year. She hit the ball hard and did everything we could possibly ask of her, and she was one of the leaders on the team.
“Gianna Corrado worked hard. She was always cheering in the dugout, and she was just a really, really good influence for the younger girls when you don’t play and you’re still a good teammate.”
North Penn closed out its season with a 14-9 record overall and 8-1 in the SOL.
Nazareth 003 010 3 7-10-2
North Penn 050 000 0 5-8-1
PIAA Class 5A opening round
#2-1 NORTH POCONO 9, #1-4 UPPER MORELAND 3
The Golden Bears spent Monday’s state opener playing catchup.
North Pocono scored a pair of runs in the first inning. UM evened the score in the top of the second. Claire Walton and Sofia Magagna opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and two outs later, Steph Jones and Layla Knecht both singled home a run.
North Pocono added four runs in the bottom of the second to go on top 6-2. The Bears answered with one run in the third on an RBI single by Magagna, but that would be the extent of their scoring.
The Bears – who held a 10-5 advantage in hits – were led by the two-hit efforts of Jones, Knecht, Walton and Magagna. Jones, Erin Distel and Joslyn McCellan each had a double.
Upper Moreland closed out its season with a 16-8 record. The Golden Bears were 9-1 and SOL Freedom Division champions.
Upper Moreland 021 000 0 3-10-2
North Pocono 240 201 x 9-5-0
About the Author
