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SELLERSVILLE – Pennridge was hoping to make a statement in Friday’s SOL showdown against Central Bucks South.
Instead, it was the Titans making a very clear statement – a trip to the top of the Continental Conference standings still goes through Central Bucks South.
That much was clear after the Titans rolled to a 10-0 win in a game that was halted after five innings when the mercy rule went into effect.
“We’ll keep working at it,” Pennridge coach Scott Didra said. “Their hitting has improved since last year, absolutely.”
“Last year they got by on a couple of runs. Today everything they hit found a hole.”
The Titans have reached double digits in hits in each of their first three games, and any thoughts that they had taken a step back from last year after their season-opening loss to Council Rock North were decidedly premature.
“In the Council Rock game, our team had 10 hits,” South coach Jennifer Robinson said. “We just left a ton of runners stranded, and we played outstanding defensively, particularly in the outfield.
“It came down to Council Rock had an inning where they put runners on base, and they had the one key hit when they needed it.”
On Friday, it was the Titans getting hits when they needed them. They also delivered a defensive gem that might well have set the tone for the game.
It came in the bottom of the first when – with one out – Jordan Viella hit a rocket into the right center field gap but was gunned down at third on a dazzling relay throw from Shana Steigerwalt to Haileigh Stocks to Morgan Decker for the tag.
“At practice, we keep going over the same fundamental plays because in order to win a game, you have to get the fundamentals down,” Steigerwalt said. “We have been practicing it for a long time, so everyone knew their set positions, everyone defended it very well.
“When you have perfect plays like that, it’s such a big lift, especially early in the game. It knocks the other team’s momentum down, and it only makes you that much stronger and that much more successful. Everyone was excited going into the game, and that just topped it off.”
Titan hurler Fran Carrullo allowed just three hits the rest of the way while fanning five and walking one in a superb outing.
“Against Fran Carrullo, you can’t get behind at all,” Didra said. “She’s a good pitcher.
“I have been around a couple of different leagues, and she’s very good.”
The Rams fell behind in the second when the Titans plated a single run. Michelle Gessner drew a one-out walk, and Taylre Stocks grounded a single to left. Ram hurler Paige Decew came up with a strikeout for the inning’s second out, but Jae Epstein – batting from the left side – legged out a grounder to second for an infield single that plated Gessner.
Decew fanned four the first time around the Titans’ batting order, but she wasn’t nearly as fortunate the second time.
Consecutive singles by Haileigh Stocks, Decker and Lauren Klepchick – with Klepchick’s plating a run - brought an end to Decew’s day on the mound. Things didn’t improve a whole lot as three of the next four Titan batters walked, plating two more runs.
And the Titans were just getting started.
Epstein greeted Emily Hofmann- the Rams’ third pitcher in the inning – with an RBI single to left. Steigerwalt’s single to center plated two more runs.
“We knew coming into the game they were 4-0, and we knew it was going to be a good game,” Steigerwalt said. “Coming off our loss to Council Rock North, we’re trying to make a statement.
“We’re trying to come back on a good run this year, so this game was super important – keeping our heads in the game, picking each other up, communicating with each other. We have a really good team. It’s just getting the chemistry together, and so far we’re doing that really well.”
By the time the inning was over, nine runs had crossed the plate, and the Titans were on their way to the big win.
“That third inning they started to hit the ball off of Paige, and they didn’t just hit it – they hit it in the hole,” Didra said. “Everything was right between two players of ours, and we couldn’t do anything about it.
“They had so many seeing-eyed hits in a row – it was crazy. We had a scouting report, and I tried all kinds of different pitches.”
It didn’t matter what pitches the Rams threw at the Titans, they hit them , once again establishing themselves as the team to beat in the conference.
“We knew Pennridge was 4-0, and we knew they would probably be contenders,” Robinson said. “Again, it didn’t matter who they put in to pitch, we continued to be disciplined in the batter’s box and got the hits.
“We don’t hit triples and home runs, but we consistently string hits together and then play solid defense behind an outstanding pitcher. We didn’t even utilize our small game today. Today we just went with our hitting game.”
While the Titans improved to 2-1, the Rams fell to 4-1.
“I told the girls to not let the day change anything they have already done and to continue to do what they’re capable of doing the remainder of the season,” Didra said. “We have to chalk today off as it was just not our day.
“We have been playing so well, and I know we can continue to play really well.”
Council Rock North 3, Harry S. Truman 2 (9 innings)
The Indians showed a flare for the dramatic in Friday’s SOL showdown against Truman, tying the game with two outs in the bottom of the seventh on back-to-back triples by Michele Hand and Caytlin Friis. They won it in the ninth on a Truman throwing error.
The Indians collected nine hits off of Truman ace Rachael Alligood while the Tigers managed seven hits off winning hurler Morgan Lewis, who fanned nine. Alligood struck out four.
A recap of the early scoring would show that Truman took a 1-0 lead in the first only to watch Rock North knot the score in the third. The Tigers had to like their chances when they took a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh, but the Indians staged a heroic two-out rally.
With the win, the Indians improved to 2-2 on the young season.
Upper Dublin 9, Springfield 7
Sammy Sitarski had a productive day at the plate for the Flying Cardinals, contributing an RBI double as well as a two-run home run. Teammate Melissa Wolfe had a pair of hits and three RBIs while Shannon Haggerty also had two hits for the Cardinals, who collected eight hits on the day.
Srpringfield was led by the two-hit effort of Elise DiFilippo, who had a solo home run.
The Flying Cardinals took a 5-3 lead in the second. The Spartans trimmed that lead to one by plating a single run in the third, but the Flying Cardinals scored a pair in the fourth and added single runs in the sixth and seventh. Springfield scored three runs in the seventh.
Kristen Ganderton worked the first three innings while Julia Angelos closed it out. Both pitchers allowed just one earned run. Samantha Juliano absorbed the loss for the Spartans.
Central Bucks East 6, Quakertown 1
Robyn Ziegler earned the win with a strong performance on the mound. The senior hurler allowed just three hits while striking out five. Quakertown's lone run was unearned. Buonanno Taylor was 2-for-3.
For East, Ziegler was 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI, Brittany Aughenbaugh had a double and an RBI, Allie Chase was 1-for-2 with a sacrifice bunt, and Brittany Devlin was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
“It was an all-around team effort,” East coach Erin Scott said. “I was very impressed by Quakertown. They seemed to be very trusting of one another and really motivated to work hard. It was refreshing to see, and they gave us a great game.”
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