CR South, Quakertown & North Penn were winners in Monday’s opening round of the PIAA 6A Tournament. Check the recaps.
It was quite a day for SOL softball Monday.
Three SOL teams were in the 16-team PIAA 6A field, and all three won and are now in the field of eight. All three wins were by one run with each game more exciting than the next. Check out the recaps for all three games.
PIAA 6A opening round
#1-2 QUAKERTOWN 7, #11-2 FREEDOM 6
Trailing 6-0 after five innings, things looked decidedly bleak for the Panthers.
And for most teams it would have undoubtedly spelled doom, but the Panthers are not most teams, possessing a resiliency that apparently knows no limits and rallying for the electrifying walk-off win.
“I was nervous, I was definitely nervous, but like coach Scott says – our team has so much heart and so much passion for the game, and we really do want to win, so we will battle until the last second,” said senior Mary Wilkinson, whose three-run home run in the sixth gave the Panthers some desperately needed life.
Despite Wilkinson’s heroics, the Panthers still trailed 6-3 heading into the seventh.
“We were still down, but we had the top of our order coming up,” coach Rich Scott said. “I just kept believing in them. We’re a good team. It’s not over till it’s over.”
“I was pacing in the dugout,” junior Leah Schwalm said. “Abbey (Wagner) was sitting there chilling, and she was like, ‘I trust my players.’ I trust them too, but I was pacing.
“I was like – ‘I don’t know what’s going on.’ I was just all over the place, but I think everybody knew we’re a good team, and we’re a good hitting team, and it’s definitely contagious, and I think at the start of the inning, we have good hitters, and we knew we could definitely come back.”
Ava Beal drew a walk to lead off the seventh and scored one out later when Schwalm lined a double to left field. The next batter was retired on a line drive to left, and the Panthers were down to their final out.
With first base open, the Patriots issued an intentional walk to Wilkinson.
“I wasn’t happy that they walked me, but it made sense for their play,” the Panthers’ senior first baseman said. “I knew I was going to get in. I didn’t know how I was going to get in, but I knew I was going to.
“I was very confident in my team. That adrenaline started to come back, and we started to pick up. Once you get your momentum going, it’s hard for the other team to get you to stop.”
Wilkinson’s faith turned out to be well founded. Sophomore Kira Jefferson lined a double to center field that plated a run to make it a 6-5 game, and then freshman Cadence Jozefowski stepped into the box and lined the first pitch she saw into right field for a single that plated a pair, giving the Panthers the walk-off win and setting off a jubilant celebration.
“Honestly, I was not worried,” Wilkinson said. “I had full confidence in Kira – I know what she can do, and I had full confidence in everyone after her.”
“Kira has definitely been a great hitter and third baseman for us,” Schwalm said. “But Cadence coming out – in our first district playoff game (a 3-2 win over Conestoga), she basically saved the game for us in the outfield (throwing out a runner at home plate).
“Then coming up today – I told her mom, ‘You better get her something good to eat today’ because she’s been big for us. She doesn’t really talk very much, but she just comes out and does great. She’s got some confidence in her. I love seeing it.
Making Jozefowski’s game-winner even more impressive was the fact that she stepped into the starting lineup Monday with the loss of senior Cadence Lewis. The team’s senior center fielder and cleanup batter is sidelined with an injury she sustained in the district title game
“I call her ‘Little Cadence,’ and I have full confidence in her, and she really stepped up today,” Wilkinson said. “I’m very proud of her.”
“She had the biggest hit of the game,” Scott said. “She hasn’t been tested (at the plate) all season, and I went with my gut and let her hit.”
For five innings, the Panthers barely had a pulse and were in desperate need of a spark.
“We were down – our emotion wasn’t there, we didn’t do anything good for the first five innings,” Scott said.”
“I’m not really sure why,” Schwalm said. “I think everyone’s intent was there, but the energy was just not there, and definitely our hitting – we couldn’t get anything going.
“We had a hitting practice yesterday, and I think everybody was ready. I think it was just a weird off day.”
Scott was doing everything in his power to light a fire under his squad.
“I told them – ‘Let’s go. You guys had an amazing season. Let’s not end it like this,’” the Panthers’ coach said. “The sixth inning they came in, and I said, ‘This is going to be a test to see how good you guys are. Where’s your character?’ Boy, they came back in a big way.”
Skyler Williams drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and Schwalm followed with a single, setting the stage for Wilkinson, who smashed a three-run home run to left field that cut Freedom’s lead in half.
“That was definitely huge,” Schwalm said. “She’s come up big for us in the past, and it definitely changed my morale around when she hit that.”
Wilkinson knew it was gone the moment she made contact.
“It hit my bat at a perfect spot, and it felt so good, so I really did have a feeling,” she said. “I knew – it felt really good.”
Wilkinson wasn’t thinking home run when she stepped into the box.
“If I go up thinking I’m going to hit a home run, I will swing for the fences, and I will miss,” she said. “Really what helps me hit really well is just thinking – ‘If it’s a strike, I’m going to swing; if it’s’ not a strike, I’m not going to swing’ and just keeping it really simple and trusting the work I’ve done up until that point. My mind was very calm. Obviously, I was thinking it would be great for me to hit a home run here, but if that’s what I focus on, I get too much in my head.
“The first five innings – we definitely weren’t playing our best, and I think we all felt that. I think my home run played a really big part in bringing the energy back up, but I knew it wasn’t just me. I knew what we were capable of, and we just had to get there. We pulled it together the last two innings, thank the Lord, but the first five were definitely a nail biter, for sure.”
Monday’s win on the heels of a loss to top-ranked Downingtown West in the District 1 6A final was the very definition of a bounce back win.
“We say on our team – flush it,” Wilkinson said. “If you make a mistake or lose, you have to flush it because if you take that loss into your next game, it will affect you.
“That night (after losing to Downingtown West), we took the time to be upset, but the next day – it’s a new day, it’s a new game. I’m really proud of our team for not letting that affect us.”
The emotions were decidedly different after Monday’s win.
“I was excited, I was hugging everybody,” Schwalm said. “I was like – ‘I don’t know how we pulled through, but we did.’ I was definitely unsure of how it was going to be at the beginning of the game.
“We had a few mishaps, and the hitting wasn’t there. I was so happy at the end. I have confidence in us.”
“They are so amazing,” Scott said. “They really are. They just battle and battle and battle. It really looked bad. For five innings, we were done.
“(Trailing) 6-0, I thought to myself, ‘Can we fight back? Can we come back?’ When Mary hit that three-run homer, that really uplifted us, that got us going. It was an amazing game, an amazing ending. It was wild.”
Schwalm was 3-for-4 with a double and RBI, and Jefferson also was 3-for-4 with a double, RBI and run scored. Abbey Wagner, who notched the complete game win, was 2-for-3, and Wilkinson was 1-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
“Especially my senior year, just playing the best I can and putting my all into the game and watching the rest of my teammates put their all into the game – I’m having so much fun, and I’m just so proud of my team,” Wilkinson said.
Quakertown (23-2, 15-1 SOL) will face District 3 champion Central Dauphin in Thursday’s second round. Central Dauphin defeated Boyertown 10-1 in an opening round game.
Freedom 010 113 0 6-10-1
Quakertown 000 003 4 7-11-4
#1-3 NORTH PENN 6, #3-2 CUMBERLAND VALLEY 5
Gianna Cimino – with two doubles and a single already to her credit – was looking for nothing more than a single when she stepped to the plate in the top of the seventh with two outs and nobody on in a tie ballgame.
The Knights’ leadoff batter did a whole lot better than that, smashing a solo home run to left field to give her team a 3-2 lead.
“Honestly, I was just looking for contact because I had two strikes on me, so I knew I had to shorten my swing,” Cimino said. “I was just looking for a single – it just happened to be a home run. I knew when it went off the bat, but I was a little hesitant because I knew the fences were high.”
Cimino’s round tripper ignited a four-run rally and marked the beginning of five straight hits for the suddenly red hot Knights.
Liv Stevens followed with a single to center, and then it was Casey Sokol hitting a single to right field. Sophia Orth’s single to center brought home a pair of runs and gave the Knights a 5-2 lead.
“It was hot,” NP coach Rick Torresani said. “Our catcher, Sophia, hit a two-out, two-run single in the top of the seventh. She got to first, and she started puking. She was dehydrated.
“She looked at me and said, ‘I’m not coming out.’ She came back in and finished the game.”
“It was definitely an interesting day,” Orth said. “It was hot back there, we had some long innings, and I think that’s what played into it, but I had to stay in – it was such a big game.”
The Knights weren’t finished yet as Bella Nunn helped her own cause with an RBI double that gave the Knights a seemingly comfortable 6-2 lead that turned out to be anything but that.
The Eagles staged a rally of their own and trailed by just one with a runner on third after a one-out, two-run triple.
Nunn came up with a huge strikeout for the inning’s second out and collected the final out on a popup to Cimino at short.
“Bella’s always big, she always comes in clutch for us,” Orth said. “I always know I can rely on her. She’s always getting pitches there, especially when we need it. She always digs deep in those situations.”
Nunn earned the complete game win, allowing seven hits and five runs (two earned) while striking out 10 and walking three. She threw 138 pitches – 92 for strikes.
“When their first girl came up and got a double, that ignited them,” Torresani said. “It was hot, and Bella had thrown over a hundred pitches before she started that inning.”
Earlier, the Knights put a run on the board in the first when Cimino, who led off the inning with a double, scored on Orth’s two-out single. The Eagles got that run back in the second, benefitting from a Knight miscue.
That 1-1 score stood until the top of the fifth when Cimino lined a double to center field that plated Izzy Tubertino, who drew a walk to lead off the inning. Cumberland Valley got that run back in the bottom of the inning, and that 2-2 score stood until the seventh when the floodgates opened for both squads.
“The top of the seventh – we just knew we had to get hits and timely hits, and we came through,” Cimino said. “And we were working together. Every single one of us works really hard, and that shows how tough we are.
“When we were in the field, it got a little scary, but I knew we were going to win once we got the second out.”
All told, the Knights had 11 hits off Fordham commit Sydney May.
“That all starts with Gianna,” Torresani said. “She had a day. On Saturday, she took an errant throw on the top of her eye. Today, her eye was completely black and blue and almost shut, but she said, ‘Coach, I’m playing,’ and she went out and got four hits, and their fence isn’t short – it’s 220 down the lines.
“That’s a good team with four Division 1 players, so going into it, we knew it was going to be a good, close game but not a 6-5 game.”
Cimino was a perfect 4-for-4 out of the leadoff spot with two doubles, a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored. Orth was 3-for-4 with three RBIs, and Nunn was 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI.
For a North Penn squad that rolled to last year’s state title with one shutout after another behind pitcher Julia Shearer, this season has been decidedly different, and the players are loving it.
“We knew it was going to be a tough matchup,” Orth said. “They were getting hits, but we knew we had to battle back. We were in it the whole time. I didn’t doubt that we were going to win.
“Everybody’s working – it’s a lot more rewarding, honestly, these games this year because we know how much effort we put in, and it’s just perfect every time. We love it.”
“It’s awesome,” Cimino said. “Going from a 20-0 season and winning states to now – it’s hard to defend that state champion title, but winning this game means a lot to us. It just proves how hard we’ve been working at practice.”
In Thursday’s second round, North Penn (22-3, 14-2 SOL) will face District 7 champion Seneca Valley, which notched an 11-0 win over District 10 champion McDowell in an opening round game Monday.
North Penn 100 010 4 6-11-4
Cumberland Valley 100 010 3 5-7-0
#1-5 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 1, #11-1 LIBERTY 0
Lexi Waring was on top of her game.
The Golden Hawks’ junior pitcher had allowed just one hit through six innings. Things got real interesting in the bottom of the seventh when – with two outs and Patriot runners on first and second -Ann Marie Stella grounded a single to right that was fielded by a charging Gabby Bloom. The diminutive right fielder’s perfect throw to the plate and ensuing tag by catcher Grace Stepp brought to a dramatic end Monday’s classic battle.
“It’s definitely scary – I was just ready to do anything pretty much,” Bloom said. “Game on the line, 1-0 and they have two runners on.
“When the ball was hit that hard and (second baseman) Kelly (Delise) went to the ground, I was like, ‘This is my time,’ and right out of my hand, I knew it was an out. Especially with Grace behind the plate – that tag is down.”
“I knew we had her,” Stepp said. “I looked at third, and when Gabby got the ball, she was about a quarter past third base.
“Gabby came up throwing. She was dead out – it was perfect.”
With the win, the Golden Hawks – in their first ever trip to the state tournament – continue to make history.
“It means so much to win this game,” Bloom said. “South has never even made it to states, let alone won a game, so we just keep making history.”
“It feels amazing,” Stepp said. “I’m still shaking.”
Waring turned in a complete game gem in the circle, allowing just three hits – two in the seventh inning – while striking out 11 and walking one.
“My warmup felt good, my spin was working well and my speed was there,” Waring said.
Listening to Stepp tell it, Waring had everything working on Monday.
“I think it’s the best I’ve seen her pitch,” the Golden Hawks’ senior catcher said. “She was confident in herself and just kept throwing.”
The Patriots collected their lone hit through six innings in the bottom of the second, and the Golden Hawks scored the game’s only run in the top of the fourth when Katie Aamland, who singled to lead off the inning, scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Delise.
There wasn’t a whole lot of action after that until the bottom of the seventh when Leah Onia lined a one-out single to right and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt. A hit batter put a pair on board, setting the stage for Stella’s single to right field and the dramatic finish.
“I thought it was more up the middle,” Waring said of Stella’s base hit. “I didn’t realize how far over it was. I just backed up home, and it was a perfect throw. I was happy – it was very exciting. I knew we could do it.”
“The throw – we practice that so much with her,” Molle said. “The one-bounce throw in to Grace, and Grace knows how to get the plate. Our outfielders have really good arms. Gabby can chuck it with the best of them.
“Earlier in the game, Gabby made a running catch almost at the dirt behind second base.”
Aamland was 2-for-2 with a run scored, the lone player for either side with more than one hit in a game that belonged to the two pitchers.
“Lexi was just dominant today,” Molle said. “She’s been so good the last three games. Their first hit was misplayed. She’s been so good – she got her second wind. She knows how to get it done and make pitches when she needs to.
“We told them – ‘This is the playoffs. Those 15, 10 even 8-run games aren’t going to happen.’”
Council Rock South (21-3, 13-2 SOL) will face Warwick, District 3’s third place team, in Thursday’s second round. Warwick rolled to a 16-1 win over District 12 champion Central in an opening round game.
Council Rock South 000 100 0 1-6-0
Liberty 000 000 0 0-3-0
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