Check out the recaps for SOL softball teams in action Thursday.
Non-league
HARRY S TRUMAN 14, UPPER MORELAND 5
Chrissy Huhn said it best.
“We needed this,” Truman’s junior shortstop said. “We definitely needed it.”
There was no mistaking the Tigers – 24 hours removed from a 12-2 loss to William Tennent – needed a win. Thursday’s win snapped the team’s six-game losing streak after opening the season with back-to-wins, and perhaps even more significant was the fact that the Tigers dug themselves out of an early 4-0 hole.
“We really honestly needed a big morale boost at this point,” Truman coach Lisamarie Belmonte said. “We’ve been playing in some really tough games.
“Our Pennsbury game was a tough game. We ended up coming out with a (4-3) loss. I told the girls – ‘I feel like we won.’ I felt like we were there, and today we finally solidified that we have what it takes to continue to be successful in this league and in this season, so I’m very, very proud of these girls.”
The outcome might have been different had it not been for the standout effort in the circle of Jalecia Blackston. The sophomore hurler – who entered the game in the top of the first with one out, the bases loaded and four runs already across – brought with her a composure that belied her years. She coaxed a ground ball back to the circle out of the first batter she faced and calmly threw home for the force and then retired the next batter on a popup to the infield, keeping the Tigers within striking distance.
“I was just trying to get outs,” Blackston said matter-of-factly.
The Golden Bears managed just four hits and one run the rest of the way.
“That was huge,” Belmonte said. “She’s young, she stays focused, she gets the girls behind her, and she never gives up. Jalecia is a tough pitcher when she does her thing.”
In the top of the first, Jocelyn Baumeister and Bean Hughes opened the game with back-to-back singles, and then the bunting began. Jackie Martino was safe on a fielder’s choice that loaded the bases, and Jenna Sadowski and Gianna Fiorenza followed with back-to-back bunt singles. Both plated a run.
One out later, Gabrielle Wiley drew a bases-loaded walk that pushed another run across, and Allison Ludlow’s RBI single to right gave the Golden Bears a 4-0 lead. That’s when Blackston entered the game, and things were never the same for either side.
The Tigers had an immediate answer to the Bears’ four-run uprising, scoring three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Huhn led off the inning with a single and stole second. She scored when Mara McKeon reached first on an error. Grace Pool’s two-run single made it a 4-3 game.
“We just said we had to pick each other up, and we had to get our bats going,” Huhn said. “It was really important to get those (early) runs.”
The Golden Bears led 5-3 after Hughes, who singled to lead off the third inning, scored on a delayed steal of home. In the bottom of the inning, Teyana Towner, who doubled to left to lead off the inning, scored on Elle Olivero’s sacrifice fly, pulling the Tigers to within one.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Tigers all but put the game out of reach, scoring six runs to go on top 10-5. They benefitted from four walks. Elle Olivero’s two-run double down the third base line was the big hit in the frame. A pair of runs crossed the plate on wild pitches.
“We haven’t played clean in probably the last three or four games, and we’ve gotten away with it,” UM coach Scott Ludlow said. “We’ve managed to get out of jams, we’ve managed to make some plays. We’ve gotten just enough pitching and hitting to really overcome some of those things, and today they caught up to us.”
The Tigers plated four more runs in the fifth. Cortney Nau led off the inning with a single to left, and Vanessa Tancini legged out a bunt single. Both runners scored when Huhn doubled to left center. McKeon also singled home a run, and the Tigers had their final margin of victory.
“We had to stay focused and keep our cheering up because once we get out of it – we get out of it,” said Huhn. “The most important thing is we always stay together. We have to be a family.”
Huhn led the Tigers with a 3-for-5 effort that included a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. McKeon was 2-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored, and Pool was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Olivero was 1-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs.
Hughes had a big day for the Golden Bears, finishing 3-for-3 with two runs scored and a steal of home. She also had six putouts/assists in the field.
“She’ll do anything you ask her to do,” Ludlow said of Hughes. “She’s actually playing out of position for me – her natural position is center field. She’s a pleasure to coach.”
The loss left Hughes searching for answers.
“I don’t know – there were definitely some calls that could have gone our way,” she said. “They started hitting a lot more, they hit in the gaps, and they had good pitching – it was a really good speed for us to have to adjust to.
“I almost feel like they got a big burst of energy when they scored, and we were stuck in that four runs. I definitely think we’ll learn from this.”
Baumeister and Sadowski both added a pair of hits for the Golden Bears, who are perfect in league play with their only three losses in non-league games.
“It wasn’t errors you’re going to see in the scorebook – it was just little things we haven’t been real clean with lately, and today it all snowballed,” Ludlow said. “We had wild pitches and passed balls that we don’t see.
“To their credit, they got some key two-out hits, they ran the bases well, they did a lot of good things and put pressure on us, and we did not react well.”
Harry S Truman (3-6, 2-4 SOL) will host Council Rock South on Tuesday, and Upper Moreland (6-3, 5-0) will host Lansdale Catholic in a non-league game Monday.
Upper Moreland 410 000 0 5-9-1
Harry S Truman 301 640 x 14-12-1
NESHAMINY 9, QUAKERTOWN 1
The visiting Redskins did a lot of things right in Thursday’s non-league win. Take away an error in the bottom of the seventh that allowed the Panthers to plate their only run (unearned), and they played flawless defense behind Kennedie Ruth, who notched complete game win. The Redskins also pounded out 10 hits and received contributions up and down their lineup as nine different players contributed hits.
“Everyone contributed defensively, and it was a total team effort,” coach Dave Chichilitti said.
The Redskins broke a scoreless tie with four runs in the third. Ruth led off with a double, and Kiley Gurysh was safe on a bunt. Emily Siwak followed with an RBI single, and by the time the inning was over, the Redskins had a 4-0 lead. They added three more runs in the fourth. Rachel Kohler led off with a single, and back-to-back one-out walks loaded the bases. Asia Barnard followed with a bases-clearing double. Kohler hit a solo home run in the fifth, and the Redskins tacked on a run in the seventh before the Panthers scored in the seventh on an Abby Schwartz sacrifice fly.
Kohler had a big day at the plate for the Redskins, finishing 3-for-4 with a home run, RBI and two runs scored. Ruth was 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Ruth also notched the complete game win, scattering three hits while fanning seven.
Maddie Moyer’s 2-for-3 showing led the Panthers.
Neshaminy (9-2, 5-1 SOL) will host Bensalem on Tuesday, and Quakertown (5-6, 3-4) will host Central Bucks South on Tuesday.
Neshaminy 004 310 1 9-10-1
Quakertown 000 000 1 1-3-2
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 5, EASTON 4
It hasn’t been an especially easy season for the defending District One 6A champion Titans, and two days after they had fallen to North Penn 10-2, the Titans appeared destined to absorb their second defeat of the week when Easton scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to take a 4-0 lead.
But that didn’t happen as the Titans battled back, and Lindsey Bieber capped a wild comeback when – with two outs – she delivered an RBI single that gave South the walk-off win.
“I had actually pinch hit for her earlier in the game and re-entered her, and she got a base hit to left field,” said coach Kevin Rosini, going on to acknowledge the importance of the win. “The two runs we gave up in the seventh inning – we looked dead. Somehow, some way they figured it out. We’ll take it. Going into the Easter break, if we had lost today, I think it would have been a tough one.”
The Titans’ seventh-inning rally began when Olivia Robinson reached base on a one-out error. Tara Tumasz followed with a single, and a Katie Heinz single brought Robinson home with the Titans’ first run.
“Nicole Pilla hit a soft looper toward short that fell in front of her, and the bases were loaded,” Rosini said.
A second Titan run crossed the plate when Olivia Zoolalian was safe on an error. It looked as though that’s where the rally might end, but with two outs Rebecca Brennan delivered a single that plated a pair and knotted the score 4-4, setting the stage for Bieber’s heroics.
“Rebecca is coming back into her own,” Rosini said. “She broke her hand over the winter and was out for a month. Her swing is coming back.
“For Lindsey (Bieber) to get that hit is just so big for her. Those hits were both with two outs.”
Brennan finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Hines was 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored. Tumasz was 2-for-4 with a run scored in a contest that saw the Titans pick up 12 hits.
Kylie Kenney earned the complete game win, allowing six hits while striking out six.
“Kylie pitched her guts out today,” Rosini said. “The couple runs she gave up in the seventh were kind of fluky.
“She showed me a lot today, and she always does, but today was a gutsy one. It’s hard to pitch when your offense isn’t scoring. Maybe this is what we needed to turn things around. I hope so.”
Central Bucks South (5-5, 3-2 SOL) will travel to Quakertown on Tuesday.
Easton 000 020 2 4-6-3
Central Bucks South 000 000 5 5-12-1
BENSALEM 11, FRIENDS SELECT 1 (6 innings)
The Owls upped their winning streak to five games with their rout of Friends Select in a non-league contest Thursday.
Bensalem took care of business in a hurry, plating four first inning runs. Emma Lostracco and Haley Keenan set the tone with back-to-back singles to open the inning. Maddie Buechner followed with a double, Chloe Munyon singled in an inning that saw the Owls send nine batters to the plate.
Friends Select scored a run in the second, but the Owls put the game out of reach with a five-run fourth that included a triple by Keenan.
Freshman Maggie Formichelli earned the win, allowing four hits while striking out eight and walking one.
Bensalem (8-2, 3-2 SOL) will travel to Neshaminy on Tuesday.
Bensalem 400 502 11
Friends Select 010 000 1
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