North Penn lost a 2-0 season-ending heartbreaker to District 3 champion Central Dauphin in Thursday’s PIAA 6A quarterfinal contest.
#3-1 CENTRAL DAUPHIN 2, #1-2 NORTH PENN 0 (11 innings)
Sometimes the script doesn’t exactly go as planned.
The Knights appeared to be in good stead when – as a result of their loss to Downingtown West in the District 1 6A semifinal game – they found themselves in the western half of the state tournament bracket. Whoever decided they had gotten a break apparently had forgotten about the not-so-little matter of getting past District 3 champion Central Dauphin and senior pitcher Sam Gress.
Gress, a North Carolina State commit, derailed the Knights’ state title hopes in Thursday’s PIAA 6A quarterfinal game at Moravian College, limiting them to just five hits while striking out 17 and walking only two. The Knights were shut out for the first time in 25 games this season.
“We talked about short strokes, we talked about hitting the ball to the right side, and for this game, we didn’t do it,” coach Rick Torresani said. “Now the kid was a good pitcher. She had good speed.
“We faced kids like her before. Especially when we had the international tiebreaker, we should have been able to score.”
The loss negated yet another stellar outing by Mady Volpe, who tossed a three-hit gem of her own. The sophomore ace fanned 18 and walked four.
“Mady just gutted it out,” Torresani said. “All year long, that’s all she did was keep us in games, and then we won them.
“This time we didn’t get the clutch hits, and that’s what you’ve got to do.”
One of the Rams’ hits – a one-out double to left center in the 11th by Tyler White – plated a pair of runs. Gress retired the Knights in order in the bottom of the inning, and a postseason of great promise had come to a heartbreaking end for the Knights.
“She’s definitely one of the faster pitchers we’ve seen all year, so that’s probably why a few of the girls struggled,” senior Jamie Beer said. “And those clutch hits we normally get just weren’t there today.”
The Knights had their best chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Jordan Pietrzykoski drew a walk, and after Gress came up with a strikeout for the second out, Elia Namey singled to right, putting runners on the corners.
That brought Beer to the plate, and what an at-bat the senior third baseman had, fighting off one two-strike pitch after another – 11 all told in a riveting 17-pitch at-bat. A wild pitch by Gress allowed Namey to move up to second, and the Rams’ senior pitcher – tired of battling the persistent Beer – was undoubtedly more than happy to put her on base with a walk that loaded the bases.
Gress struck out the next batter she faced on three straight pitches, and the inning was over.
“I wanted so bad to end it right then and there for my team and for Mady because she worked so hard this entire game and this entire season,” Beer said. “Every pitch I was like – this is the one, and then I would foul it off, and then I was like – this is the one.
“I wasn’t looking for a walk obviously. I wanted to put the ball in play. She was a good pitcher – I will give her that, but I was not giving up. I was fully prepared to battle that out to the end.”
The Rams broke through with a pair of runs in the 11th. With the international tiebreaker in effect and a runner on second to open the inning, the Rams used a walk and infield single to load the bases with none out. Volpe came up with a huge strikeout for the first out, but that brought White to the plate, and she ripped a line drive into left center for a double that plated a pair.
“It happens,” Volpe said. “If you see a pitcher four or five times, that’s going to happen. You just have to keep battling and mixing up your stuff.”
With a runner on second to start both the 10th and 11th, the Knights pushed the base runner to third with one out in the 11th but came up empty in both innings.
“The vibe was like – ‘It’s fine, we’re going to do it, someone is going to come through with it,’” Beer said.
But that never happened, and the Knights – through their tears – were left to say their farewells.
“This season – by far out of my four years – was the best one,” Beer said. “The girls were just so nice to be around, and with our winning record, that was always fun.
Torresani loses three senior starters – Pietrzykoski, Namey and Beer – to graduation.
“Like I told them out there (in the postgame huddle), they gave us great leadership and took us as far as we could go,” Torresani said. “Again, it’s softball – sometimes you make it and sometimes you don’t, but they were great leaders. They did everything they possibly could to get us to where we are now.”
“It’s really hard because these seniors have been there,” Volpe said. “They know what’s going, and they’re such good leaders.
“It’s really heartbreaking to see them go, but I think the junior and sophomore class can really pull this team together and do the same thing.”
North Penn (12-0 SOL) closed out its successful season with a 22-3 record and sole possession of the SOL Continental Conference title.
“All I can say is it was a great season,” Torresani said. “We thought we’d maybe make another step farther, but it didn’t happen.”
EXTRA INNINGS: The Rams loaded the bases with one out in the third, benefitting from a walk and a Knight error, but Beer thwarted that potential threat with the defensive play of the game – a diving catch of the bunt attempt on a suicide squeeze attempt.
Central Dauphin 000 000 000 02 2-3-0
North Penn 000 000 000 00 0-5-2
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