ALLENTOWN – Never underestimate the value of a bench that contributes.
Or a clean-up batter who with one sweet swing can change the outcome of a game.
Central Bucks South had both in Thursday’s PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal showdown against Hazleton at Pates Park in Allentown.
It was the alert call of the bench in the bottom of the fourth inning that prompted the Titans to appeal a Hazleton tag play from third. The umpire ruled the runner out for leaving too soon, and the Titans – instead of trailing 1-0 - had an inning-ending double play.
“That’s what a team is about,” South coach Jennifer Robinson said. “You have the girls out on the field doing their job, and you have the girls on the bench whose heads are in the game, and they’re making that valuable contribution.”
Two innings later, sophomore Morgan Decker hit a two-run blast over the right field fence that opened the floodgates as the Titans exploded for five runs on their way to the 7-1 win.
With the win, the Titans find themselves back in the state semifinals for the second time in as many years. This time they will have a date with Governor Mifflin, which edged Coatesville 3-2 in eight innings in another quarterfinal contest.
“We know we beat good teams to get here,” Decker said. “The first game of the season we lost to Council Rock North, and we learned that we’re a good team, but we can’t take things for granted.”
After Thursday’s big win, the talk in the stands and on the field was about the two plays that forever altered the course of the game.
The first came in the bottom of the fourth inning.
The inning began with Hazleton sophomore Shannon Salvaterra roping a double to left center, and she moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt. It was the third time the Cougars had a runner in scoring position in four innings, and things didn’t look promising for the Titans when Salvaterra beat Shana Steigerwalt’s throw to the plate after Gabby Ziller lofted a fly ball to shallow right.
That’s when South’s bench entered the picture.
“We were sitting on the bench, and we knew Shana was going to catch it so we might as well watch the runner,” said sophomore Dani London, South’s designated player. “She definitely did leave early.
“Her foot was off (the bag) when the ball was about to hit her glove, so the second we saw it we were like, ‘Wait, she left early.’ We had to go for it. We had nothing to lose, so we called it.”
Pitcher Fran Carrullo flipped the ball to Decker at third, and to the dismay of everyone on Hazleton’s sidelines, the third base umpire saw exactly what South’s bench saw and called the base runner out for an inning-ending double play.
“The bench was screaming, ‘Tag third, tag third,’” Decker said. “Me and Fran both heard them at about the same time. I’m like, ‘Here, Fran, give me the ball.’ She hustled over, and I touched the bag.
“It usually doesn’t get reversed there, but I figured I’d touch the bag and make them happy. Here she had left by like two feet. That boosted our confidence, and we knew we could get this.”
Talk about momentum swings – this was it.
“I think that really jump started us,” London said. “If she had scored, I guarantee all of our heads would have been down, but since that happened, we all knew that we were working together as a team, especially because the bench helped with that, so it showed we’re all part of it.”
That set the stage for the next big play. This one came in the top of the sixth.
It began innocently enough when Haileigh Stocks was safe on an error to open the inning. That brought Decker to the plate, and the Titans’ gifted lefthander needed just one swing to turn a scoreless tie into a 2-0 South lead, hitting a monster blast that easily cleared the right field fence and landed 240 feet from home plate.
“She gave me a pitch on the inside, and I was ready to drive it because she came in on my last at-bat,” Decker said. “She hit me in the elbow, so I knew she wasn’t afraid to come in, and I was ready for it.”
Decker – like everyone else in the park – knew it was gone off her bat.
“It feels amazing,” she said. “There are just sometimes that you know, and I think that was a time I knew. I was trying to sprint down the first base line, but I couldn’t help myself from looking.
“You take advantage of it because stuff like that doesn’t happen a lot.”
The hit was reminiscent of the two-run home run Decker hit to the fence of South’s field in the first inning of the Titans’ win over North Penn in the district quarterfinals.
“She hit the life out of that ball,” Robinson said. “Morgan is the kind of kid that has the capability of doing that. She’s not always that big-hit hitter. She always has tons of power, and she always has multi-hit games, but they’re singles and doubles. She just smoked it, and boy, did she smoke it at the right time.”
Sparked by Decker’s clutch hit, the Titans were off and running.
Lauren Klepchick – who also had a pair of hits – lined a single off the third baseman’s glove, and when Michelle Gessner’s sacrifice bunt was misplayed, the Titans had a pair of runners on board for London, who ripped a triple into the left field corner that plated a pair.
“Dani has been looking great in practices recently, but it hasn’t translated as much as I would have liked in the past couple of games,” Robinson said. “Right before she went up to bat, I said, ‘Don’t over-think it. I know the kind of ability you have.’
“I think when she let go of the tension, you could see she was more relaxed. Her swing was looser, and she made better contact with the ball.”
London, who doubled down the left field line in her previous at-bat, had two of her team’s eight hits.
“My bad habit is I dip my shoulder when I swing, so I just focused on standing tall and trying to make contact,” she said. “That’s usually when I get my best hits – when I don’t try and hit it hard and when I just swing.”
London admits she sometimes over-thinks when she steps into the batter’s box.
“I catch for my other team, so I’m constantly thinking of what the pitcher is going to throw, and I psyche myself out,” she said. “I’ll think ‘The next one is going to be high,’ and it’s a strike down the middle.”
London scampered home when Taylre Stocks hit a sacrifice fly to left field, and the Titans led 5-0.
“I feel like we were a little bit dead coming out, but the one thing I do have is confidence in the team,” Robinson said. “Sometimes it takes them a time through the lineup to get on their game, to get working together. Sometimes we leave too many base runners, and then we get that one girl or two girls to step up in the lineup, and that’s the difference maker.”
The Cougars got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Titans plated a pair in the seventh, capitalizing on a pair of walks, two errors as well as a single by Haileigh Stocks.
The win vaulted the Titans into Monday’s state semifinal against Governor Mifflin – the second place team out of District 3 - at a site and time to be determined. Last year, the Titans fell to Shaler 2-1 in the state semis.
“I’m so excited,” London said. “I hope we can pull out a win, so we cannot replay last year.”
NOTES: Carrullo earned the win on the mound with yet another standout effort, scattering five hits while striking out five and walking a pair…After going down in order in the top of the first, the Titans managed a hit in each of the next four innings and had a runner in scoring position in three innings. Hazleton also had its opportunities, putting runners in scoring position in five of seven innings.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 7, HAZLETON 1
Central Bucks South (7) – Shana Steigerwalt rf 4 0 0 0; Jae Epstein lf 2 1 0 0; Sam Kraus ph 1 0 0 0; Haileigh Stocks 2b 3 2 1 0; Morgan Decker 3b 3 1 2 2; Lauren Klepchick c 4 0 2 0; Ally Horvath cf 0 1 0 0; Michelle Gessner ss 3 1 0 0; Dani London dp 4 1 2 2; Taylre Stocks 1b 2 0 0 1; Kate Bechta pr 0 0 0 0; Tyler Vitelli cf 3 0 1 0; Fran Carrullo p 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 29 7 8 5.
Hazleton (1) – Sabrina Babula 3b 3 0 0 0; Amanda Gardineer ph 1 0 0 0; Candice VanHorn ss 3 1 1; Shannon Salvaterra 1b/p 2 0 2 0; Becky Demko 2 0 1 1; Gabby Ziller c 3 0 0 0; Ashley Donlin lf 3 0 1 0; Hailey Kendall cf 2 0 0 0; LaBuz ph 0 0 0 0; Nicole Gasser 2b 2 0 0 0; Rossi ph 1 0 0 0; Jolene Pawlowskii dp 0 0 0 0; Ali Schuetz rf 3 0 0 0. TOTALS 25 1 5 1.
Central Bucks South 000 005 2 7-8-1
Hazleton 000 001 0 1-5-5
E-Hazleton 5, CB South 1. DP-Hazleton 1, CB South 1. LOB-CB South 7, Hazleton 6. 2B-London, Salvaterra, Donlin. 3B-London. HR-Decker. SB-Salvaterra. SAC-Demko, Gessner. S-T.Stocks.
IP H R ER BB SO
Central Bucks South
Carrullo (W) 7 5 1 1 2 5
Hazleton
Demko (L) 6 7 5 2 2 9
Salvaterra 1 1 2 0 2 2
- Log in to post comments
0
