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WARRINGTON – Nicole Rodi and Liz Parkins are good friends and summer ball teammates.
But when Rodi – a senior at Central Bucks South - stepped to the plate to face Souderton’s standout sophomore pitcher in the second inning of Wednesday’s SOL contest, all of that nice stuff went right out the window.
Rodi had a job to do, and so did Parkins. Something had to give.
Rodi – after fouling off a two-strike Parkins’ delivery to stay alive – lofted a tailing fly ball down the right field line for an RBI triple that put the Titans on top 2-0. That three-bagger – the only hit allowed by Parkins - turned out to be the game winner as the Titans held on to earn a hard-fought 2-1 win on a cold and blustery spring day.
“I had seen her before because she pitched to me before,” Rodi said. “She said it was a fastball.”
When it was over, there was no ill will between the two Harleysville Thunderbird teammates.
“We just gave each other a big hug,” Rodi said.
The Titans’ rightfielder admitted her triple couldn’t have come at a better time.
“I haven’t been hitting well, and I just wanted to go out there and do something,” Rodi said. “I knew there were players on base we had to get in, and it’s good to get ahead early because it gives the pitcher something to work with. We always want to help them out if we can.”
Not that South pitcher Fran Carrullo needed a whole lot of help.
She didn’t.
The sophomore star scattered five singles and fanned 14 in yet another overpowering effort. She walked only one. So in command was Carrullo that coach Jennifer Robinson threw her plan to bring Haileigh Stocks into the game right out the window.
“I was going to use her the last two innings just to show something different to their batters, but Fran was really on her game,” the Titans’ coach said. “It was a close game, and I wanted to let her finish what she started.”
On the other side of the diamond, Parkins – an ice pack on her elbow after a glittering one-hit, nine-strikeout effort – was able to put the loss in perspective.
“I’m glad we could hang with them,” she said. “We’re a young team, so we have a lot to learn, but I think we’re doing really well, especially in this cold weather when it’s hard to play.”
The pivotal inning for both young pitchers came in the second.
In the top of the inning, the Indians had a golden opportunity to get on the scoreboard first.
Elysha Sowers drew a one-out walk, and Liz Sowers followed with a line single to right. Carrullo fanned the next batter she faced, but the bases were loaded after Becca Geiger hit a bloop single to center. Again, Carrullo responded with a huge strikeout to escape unscathed.
“That was very big,” Carrullo said. “I just had to dig deep down inside and pull through for my team.
“They’re always fielding behind me and always picking me up, so I thought I should return the favor and get them out of it. We’re undefeated, so I wanted to keep it going.”
Robinson has come to expect that that kind of clutch performance from Carrullo.
“I have so much confidence in Fran as a pitcher,” the Titans’ coach said. “She’s been in situations like that before. She did a spectacular job as a ninth grader, but I see a different degree of confidence and calmness on the mound this year.
“You could rely on her last year, but you can just see that she has a year under her belt.”
While the Indians squandered a chance to get on the scoreboard, the Titans did not waste theirs in the bottom of the frame.Morgan Decker drew a leadoff walk, and Parkins found herself in a serious jam when Lauren Klepchick’s sacrifice bunt was misplayed, putting runners on the corners. Klepchick immediately stole second, and just like that, the Titans had runners on second and third with none out.
Decker scampered home on a wild pitch, and a second run crossed the plate on Rodi’s clutch triple. Parkins struck out the next two batters she faced and recorded the final out on a groundout to second, but the Titans had a 2-0 lead.
“It’s really annoying when you let the leadoff batter get on because most likely they will come around to score,” Parkins said. “Hopefully my defense will be behind me, and today they were for the most part.”
Parkins retired 15 of the next 18 batters she faced in a brilliant finish, but her teammates weren’t generating a whole lot of offense. Elysha Sowers lined a one-out double to deep center and moved up to third on a groundout in the fourth, but Carrullo collected the third out on a grounder back to the mound.
In the fifth, Carrullo fanned the side before the Indians spoiled her shutout bid in the sixth.
Cory Amenta reached first on a third strike passed ball, and she moved up to third when Sarah Landes lined a single to right. Amenta scored on Olivia Shoemaker’s groundout, but Carrullo escaped without further damage.
Britany Beebe opened the Indians’ seventh with a single to right center and stole second, but Carrullo struck out the next three batters she faced to close it out in style.
“I actually got really mad,” Carrullo said. “I just wanted to get those three outs, but you know what – again, I had to dig down and get those strikeouts.”
Pitching and defense, according to Robinson, are points of pride for the young Titans.
“If we can get those one or two runs when the opportunities present themselves, I have confidence that we can defend those runs,” she said. “I keep telling them, ‘If you can put the ball in play, good things will happen.’
“We make mistakes against other teams, and other teams are going to make mistakes against us. The most important thing is that we try and be aggressive on the pitches that are the best pitches. Today was a good test. We didn’t do a bad job, but we still have room to grow.”
If there’s an area of concern for Robinson, it is on the offensive side.
“One of these days, we’ll just come into our own,” she said. “We’re getting there. They’re doing the right things at practice.
“We’re working a lot on our mental game.”
While the Titans upped their record to 3-0 in league play, 7-0 overall, the Indians fell to 1-2 in the league, 2-2 overall.
“I thought it was a good game,” Souderton coach Joe Hallar said. “I thought we did a real nice job.
“They don’t have any losses, and we went toe to toe with them for seven innings, and I feel good about that because we do have a lot of young kids on the team. Even the kids that aren’t young, it’s their first year of varsity experience. I was real happy with what they did today.”
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 2, SOUDERTON 1
Souderton: Taylor Yoder cf 4 0 0 0; Corey Amenta 2b 3 1 0 0; Sarah Landes c 3 0 1 0; Olivia Shoemaker ss 3 0 0 0; Elisha Sowers 3b 2 0 1 0; Liz Sowers 1b 3 0 1 0; Brittany Beebe dp 3 0 1 0; Becca Geiger lf 3 0 1 0; Liz Parkins p 1 0 0 0; Moira Golden rf 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 27 1 5 1.
Central Bucks South: Shanta Steigerwalt lf 3 0 0 0; Fortier lf 0 0 0 0; Molly Hare 2b 3 0 0 0; Gessner 2b 0 0 0 0; Haileigh Stocks dp 3 0 0 0; Morgan Decker 3b 1 1 0 0; Berger 3b 0 0 0 0; Lauren Klepchick c 1 1 0 0; Nicole Rodi rf 2 0 1 1; Royce rf 0 0 0 0; Taylre Stocks 1b 2 0 0 0; Mel Molnar ss 1 0 0 0; Kraus ss 0 0 0 0; Fran Carrullo p 2 0 0 0; Tyler Vitelli cf 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 20 2 1 1
Souderton 000 001 0-1
Central Bucks South 020 000 x-2
E-CBS 1, Souderton 2. LOB-Souderton 6, CBS 4. 3B-Rodi. SB-Klepchick, Beebe. SAC-Klepchick.
IP H R ER BB SO
Central Bucks South
Carrullo (W) 7 5 1 0 1 14
Souderton
Parkins (L) 6 1 2 1 3 9
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