To view game action photos, visit the Photo Gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
FAIRLESS HILLS – Neshaminy’s Erin Quense admits she was more than a little distracted during her final class of the day on Tuesday afternoon. “Oh my god, during the last period, I could not sit still,” the Redskins’ first baseman said. “Every minute, I was checking my phone for the time, and it was only a minute later. I was getting so excited.”
Playing Pennsbury, it seems, has that kind of effect on opposing teams, but Quense wasn’t the only one excited for this one. Tuesday’s game – a battle of the National Conference’s lone undefeated squads - captured the imagination of everyone remotely interested in softball.
It was anyone’s game until the fateful fifth when the Redskins committed their only error of the game. The Falcons pounced on it, plating three unearned runs on their way to a 4-1 win in front of a large and spirited crowd.
“This was a big game,” Falcon senior Lauren Rossi said. “We knew they were solid offensively and defensively, and we knew it was going to be a close game.”
“Our intensity was high,” teammate Kirby Groves added. “It’s a really nice day, and we’ve been in the gym all season, so it was nice to get out and play.
“They’re a really good team, and they have a good program.”
Although the season is far from over, the defending conference champion Falcons, who improved to 8-0 in league play (10-1 overall), passed yet another litmus test with flying colors.
“I think this was really important,” Falcon coach Frank McSherry said. “I think our kids didn’t know how good they could be.“They knew Neshaminy was the measuring stick – Neshaminy and Truman. They played a good game against Truman, but it was close. Neshaminy 10 games into the season – they’re the team to beat. They don’t have any holes offensively or defensively. Their pitcher (Sarah McGowan) is the top pitcher in the league reputation-wise, and she deserves it. She is a great, great pitcher.”
In the end, it came down to a great young pitcher facing some great veteran hitters.
On Tuesday, the veteran hitters came out on top as the Falcons’ two senior captains – Rossi and Groves – came up big when it mattered most. But not before the Redskins had jumped out to an early lead.
In the top of the first, Neshaminy’s Courtney Clee drew a one-out walk, and Quense followed by hitting a frozen rope over the third base bag.
Leftfielder Alyssa Becker dug the ball out of the left field corner and hit the relay. Shortstop Rossi fired a strike to catcher Brooke Downs, who was waiting to make the tag on the sliding Clee.
“That was definitely a game-changer for us,” Groves said. “That was a momentum shift for our team.
“That could have gone there way. It took four things to make that play happen, and they all happened.”
Although sending Clee may have seemed like a no brainer, Neshaminy coach Kathy Houser would love to have that play back.“That’s my fault for not realizing the situation,” the Redskins’ coach said. “At that point, we don’t have to make things happen yet. We have our big hitters still coming up.
“I was forcing them to make the play quick off the bat. I got aggressive.”
The Redskins made the play, but undeterred, Redskin clean-up hitter Christina Udris lined a single to center that plated Quence, giving Neshaminy a quick 1-0 lead.
In the third, the Redskins plated the equalizer. D’Anna Devine hit a one-out single to shallow center, and she moved up to second on a groundout. Rossi stepped to the plate and lined a two-two pitch into center for an RBI single that knotted the score 1-1.
“I was pretty confident that we would come back and start hitting her,” said Rossi, who – along with Devine – led the Falcons with two hits. “Sarah is a really good pitcher, and we knew we had to jump on her quick.”
The Falcons’ fifth-inning rally started innocently enough when Kelsi Bunda legged out a bunt single with one out. Devine followed with a ground single up the middle, and when the throw on Alyssa Shirley’s sacrifice bunt sailed into right field, Bunda sprinted home with the go-ahead run.
“We made a mistake, and they took advantage of it,” Quense said. “That was definitely a factor. We’re going to try and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
It looked like the Redskins might get out of the inning trailing by just one when Rossi was retired on a putout at first on a pop-up in front of home plate. But Groves had other ideas.
The Falcons’ clean-up batter lofted a two-strike pitch to the fence in right field for a double that plated a pair.“It was outside and high,” Groves said of the pitch she hit. “I knew I had two strikes, and I knew I had to put it in play and make something happen.
“Good things happen when you put it in play.”
“That was really big,” McSherry said. “We always talk about trying to be tougher as a two-strike hitter than you are at any other time.
“Kirby took it the way we wanted her to take it all day long.”
Armed with a 4-1 lead, Falcon hurler Kait Schilling – who scattered six hits in a strong outing – closed the door on any thoughts of a Neshaminy comeback. The Redskins managed a one-out single by Jackie Franzen in the seventh but never threatened the rest of the way.
“We have so much confidence in our pitcher,” Groves said. “She hits her spots, she hits her targets really well. She really focuses in and gets the job done, and our defense has her back.”
Houser, whose team stranded nine base runners, was most concerned about her team’s inability to put runs on the board.
“We know every year it’s going to come down to who makes the first mistake,” she said. “My thing is – I’m more upset about the mental aspect.
“We scored in the first and then we shut down. I wish we had been aggressive with our bats the whole game. We know they’re going to hit. We needed to counter that with our own offense, and that didn’t happen.”
While the Falcons improved to 8-0 in league play (10-1 overall), the Redskins are 7-1 in the league (9-1 overall).
“It ‘s not a bad thing,” said Houser of her team’s first loss. “It’s absolutely not. You get to the point in the season where you can’t lose.
“The girls know how it feels, and they don’t like it. It’s all what you do from here. It’s a test. Do you rise from it or not?”
Before the dust had settled on Tuesday’s loss, the Redskins were already looking forward to the rematch on May 12.
“I can’t wait,” Quense said. “I am so excited.
“We’re going to come out with war paint on our faces. It’s going to be the best game we’re going to face.”
PENNSBURY 4, NESHAMINY 1
Neshaminy – Jackie Franzen c 4 0 1 0, Courtney Clee 2b 2 0 0 0, Erin Quense 1b 4 1 3 0, Christina Udris ss 4 0 1 1, Alexa Bell rf 3 0 0 0, Samantha Creamer cf 2 0 0 0, Kelsey Ryan 3b 1 0 1 0, Sarah McGowan p 3 0 0 0, Chelbie McDonald cr 0 0 0 0, Brittany Guidos lf 3 0 0 0. TOTALS 26 1 6 1.
Pennsbury – D’Anna Devine 2b 4 2 2 0, Alyssa Shirley dp 2 1 0 0, Lauren Rossi ss 3 0 2 1, Kirby Groves 1b 3 0 1 2, Becca Erb 3b 3 0 1 0, Brooke Downs c 3 0 0 0, Sarah Gosselin cf 3 0 1 0, Alyssa Becker lf 3 0 0 0, Kelsi Bunda rf 2 1 1 0, Kait Schhilling 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 26 4 8 3.
Neshaminy 100 000 0-1
Pennsbury 100 030 x-5
E-Pennsbury 1, Neshaminy 1. LOB-Neshaminy 9, Pennsbury 6. 2B-Groves, Quense. SAC-Ryan, Shirley.
IP H R ER BB SO
Neshaminy
McGowan (L) 6 8 4 1 0 7
Pennsbury
Schilling (W) 7 6 1 1 3 5
HBP-McGowna 1 (Bunda)
- Log in to post comments
0
