Check out the recaps for SOL softball teams in action Tuesday. CR South/Wissahickon photos provided courtesy of Diana Leferovich. New Hope-Solebury/Renaissance Academy photos courtesy of Karla Donohoe. Check back for galleries of both games.
Non-league
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3, WISSAHICKON 2 (8 innings)
Avery Tumolo was penciled in to play on the jayvee, but John Engelhardt opted to give her a shot on the varsity instead. The Golden Hawks’ first-year coach is certainly glad he did.
The freshman stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth with two outs and the winning run on second. She ripped a shot to center field that plated the game-winner.
“I just wanted to help my team,” Tumolo said when asked by her coach what she did different in that at-bat.
And help her team she did,
“She’s just such a likable kid,” Engelhardt said. “Being new, I didn’t have any offseason workouts. We basically had a week of tryouts.
“This girl was slated to be on jayvee, but I told the girls, ‘This is a fluid situation, positions are open, roster spots are open. Just be ready if and when that opportunity presents itself.’ Here’s this freshman comes up with two outs after hitting an RBI in the second inning on a fielder’s choice on a hard shot to second.
“She is a very talented kid but had been way ahead all game. She moved up in the box and let the ball travel. She crushed a ball over the centerfielder’s head, which would have been a double.”
Senior Ciara Constance earned the complete game win, allowing five hits and one earned run while striking out eight.
“Our seniors stepped up in a big way,” Engelhardt said. “Ciara Constance pitched every inning for us. She’s just consistent.”
The Golden Hawks struggled defensively behind Constance, committing five errors.
“She just keeps on, it doesn’t faze her, and she’s done a really nice job,” Engelhardt said. “She knows she has to carry the load for us, and she’s just a great senior role model to help me bring a new program in, being hired a month before the season. She kept us in the game and battled.”
The Golden Hawks took a 1-0 lead on Tumolo’s groundout in the second inning. The Trojans plated a pair of runs in the fourth to go on top 2-1, but the Golden Hawks evened the score in the fifth, thanks to an RBI double from senior Lauren Paulk.
The eighth inning rally that won it began with two outs and nobody on when senior Kayla Patricelli hit a double. The Trojans elected to walk the Golden Hawks’ six hitter, setting the stage for Tumolo’s heroics. The freshman was 1-for-2 with two RBIs.
“This was a kid that didn’t complain when she was slated for jayvee after the first week, put her head down and worked and just created opportunities for herself,” Engelhardt said of Tumolo. “This was her first start playing the field and hitting, and she made the most for it. This is the type of kid I know that I need to build a successful program, so it’s awesome to see this kid have success.”
Patricelli finished the day a perfect 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.
“She does that with a hurt hand,” Engelhardt said. “Just her level of intensity – I knew that she was going to get on base in the eighth. She was just locked in.
“Again, it’s a senior stepping up – two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and she kept the inning alive and scored the winning run. She calls the game for us behind the plate. The kid can do it all.”
Kaylee Walters was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and one run scored.
“Kaylee doesn’t have the ‘showcase’ stat line, but this kid had the highest on-base percentage,” Engelhardt said. “She’s got seven walks in two games, and she does exactly what you want your leadoff hitter to do. She’s got six stolen bags in two games, so when she walks, she’s on second, so I couldn’t be more happy with her because that’s what you want out of a leadoff hitter.”
Council Rock South (2-0) will travel to Neshaminy for Wednesday’s SOL opener, and Wissahickon (0-2) will host Hatboro-Horsham Wednesday for its league opener.
Wissahickon 000 200 00 2-5
Council Rock South 010 010 01 3-6-5
QUAKERTOWN 3, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 2
Syd Andrews had the perfect solution for escaping jams in Tuesday’s non-league win. The junior pitcher simply came up with a strikeout.
“She didn’t have her best stuff today,” Quakertown coach Dave Scott said. “What I liked a lot about it – she did get herself into some trouble, but she got herself out by bearing down and getting her act together.”
With the Panthers clinging to a 3-2 lead, the Patriots put their first two runners on board in the fifth, thanks to an Alex Frenia single and a walk. Andrews struck out the next two batters she faced and coaxed a harmless popup to second for the inning’s third out.
In the sixth inning, Bailey Shellhorn led off the inning with a double to deep left. This time Andrews struck out the next three batters to escape unscathed. In the seventh, Frenia picked up her second hit of the day, and one out later, an error put a pair of Patriot runners on board. Again, Andrews struck out the next batter and then collected the game’s final out on a popup to third base.
All told, Andrews struck out 15, and the Patriots stranded 11 base runners. While the Panthers sent 25 batters to the plate, the Patriots sent 36. If the junior pitcher feels pressure with runners on base, she doesn’t let it show.
“I just take a deep breath and trust that my backup has me because if I trust my infield and outfield then I feel like I can play better,” Andrews said.
The Patriots put a run on the board in the first when Elizabeth Gray – who legged out a bunt single to lead off the inning – scored on Soleil Dooner’s single to left. They upped that lead to 2-0 with an unearned run in the third inning when Mackenzie Wilson delivered a two-out RBI single.
With one swing of the bat in the bottom of the inning, Trinity Lucas cut that lead in half with a solo shot over the right field fence.
“That was great – it was her first varsity home run,” Scott said.
Later that same inning, Candace Lewis, who singled, scored from third on Emma Hilton’s groundout.
In the bottom of the fourth, Skyler Williams was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and she scored from third when Lewis smashed a single off the pitcher. That 3-2 lead held up the rest of the way.
“Some of our freshmen looked like freshmen today,” said Scott, whose team committed three errors. “The first couple of games they didn’t. They played beyond their years. A couple of them looked a little skittish today, and that’s always going to happen when you get 14-year-olds playing at the varsity level.”
Lewis, in her first varsity start, had two of the Panthers’ five hits. Her line in her debut was 2-for-2 with an RBI and run scored.
For the Patriots, Frenia was 2-for-4.
Soleil Dooner threw three innings, allowing two runs. Frenia closed out the game and gave up one run. The duo combined for seven strikeouts.
Quakertown (2-1) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh in Wednesday’s SOL opener, and Central Bucks East (2-1) will host Pennridge in Wednesday’s league opener.
Central Bucks East 101 000 0 2-6-1
Quakertown 002 100 x 3-5-3
BRISTOL 16, LOWER MORELAND 6 (5 innings)
The Lions trailed their former BAL rival by just a 3-1 score heading into the bottom of the third when the Warriors plated a pair of runs. They blew the game wide open with a 10-run fourth.
For the Lions, Liz Neeld was 2-for-2 with a home run, two RBIs and a run scored. Isabella Ricciardi was 2-for-3 with a run scored, and Juliet Yavas was 2-for-2 with a double, two RBIs and a run. Natalie Shiloni had a double and scored a run.
Lower Moreland (0-1) will host Upper Moreland in Wednesday’s SOL opener.
Lower Moreland 0-0-1-2-3 6-10-1
Bristol 2-1-2-10-1 16-11-1
RENAISSANCE ACADEMY 9, NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 0
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