They entered the season young and inexperienced.
Twenty-four games later, the Central Bucks South softball squad is still young, but the Titans no longer fall into the category of inexperienced.
It is a seasoned South club that will take on Shaler in Monday’s PIAA Class AAAA semifinal game at Shippensburg University, and beyond the experience they have gained, the Titans boast depth.
Coach Jenn Robinson carried 17 players on her varsity this season. All of them got serious playing time.
“One thing as a coach I try to be very mindful of is that you need to have the next girl ready to play,” the Titans’ coach said. “All season – I took players out and put other girls in. I could probably be known as the subbing coach because all I did was sub my bench of 17 girls into every game.
“Whether we were winning by a lot or by a couple of runs, I would make substitutions because I really believe you have to give the rest of your team experience. “
Hempfield, which fell to Shaler 1-0 in last Thursday’s state quarterfinal, undoubtedly wishes it would have had that kind of experience and depth.
Shaler defeated the WPIAL champions without hitting a ball out of the infield. It wasn’t a coincidence that all three of Shaler’s bunt singles were hit in the direction of third where newcomer Jamie Blotzer was in the lineup since Hempfield’s regular third baseman, Rebecca Kuklar, was in the hospital with an appendicitis.
The game-winning run came on a bunt single between third and the mound in the seventh inning.
“You never know what’s going to happen, and you can’t have a girl going in there nervous and scared,” Robinson said. “God forbid if something should happen to one of my starters, but I have so much confidence in the next girl, and I don’t have to worry about that so much.”
When the Titans take the field against Shaler on Monday, they might feel as though they’re looking in a mirror.
Not only do the two squads share the same nickname – Titans, they are both very, very young.
Shaler graduated eight seniors from last year’s squad and starts four freshmen, including catcher Lauren Hackett.
South starts three freshmen, including catcher Lauren Klepchick, third baseman Morgan Decker and designated hitter Haileigh Stocks. Seven freshmen – the above-mentioned three as well as Dani London, Jae Epstein, Michelle Gessner and Kim Rowe – saw varsity playing time during the regular season for South.
“They all contributed significantly,” Robinson said.
The freshmen weren’t the only new faces in South’s lineup. The entire infield – with the exception of senior shortstop Melanie Molnar – was new. Taylre Stocks moved from behind the plate to first base.
“Taylre is such a good infielder,” Robinson said. “She’s really aggressive, and she charges and hustles to the ball. I really felt the void I needed to fill in the infield was at first base, and she has done a tremendous job.”
Molly Hare was plugged in at second base. Nicole Rodi and Shaina Steigerwalt returned to anchor the outfield. If you’re counting, South has three position players in the same spots they played last year.
But where it matters most – on the mound – the Titans boast the gifted and experienced duo of junior Devon Utterback and sophomore Francesca Carrullo, who have been sharing mound duties.
If some are surprised by South’s trip in the state semis, Robinson is not in that number.
“I don’t think it’s so much a surprise but something we really earned,” she said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of momentum on our side right now.
“We’re going to ride that wave, but I really do think it comes down to the ability to work together with the talent we were given. I’m not surprised at this point that we’re still in it given how we’ve been playing as a team.”
Shaler, seeded sixth in the 12-team Class AAAA bracket after placing second in Section 3, is just 15-5. But the Titans are hardly strangers to the post-season. They defeated Hatboro-Horsham 3-0 to capture the state title in 2006.
In the state quarterfinals in 2006, Shaler defeated North Allegheny 1-0 after falling to that saw squad 3-2 in the WPIAL championship game. This year’s scenario is eerily similar. Shaler lost to Hempfield 3-2 in the WPIAL title game but came back to win 1-0 over that same squad in the quarterfinals.
Robinson, however, is not worried about the past.
It’s the here and now that counts, and the Titans’ coach believes her players are ready for the challenge.
“I really do feel on paper we might have the better squad, but you can say on paper maybe Hempfield should have won in the quarterfinals,” Robinson said.
Robinson is prepared for Shaler to play some small ball, and her biggest question is how the Titans kept Hempfield off the scoreboard.
“Obviously, they have either outstanding defense or their pitcher was shutting them down,” she said. “I’m telling the girls to be aggressive in the batter’s box and put it in play. The most important thing is to play strong defensively, even more so than offensively. That’s how we beat Governor Mifflin the other day. They had a better hitting squad than we did, but we were able to come up with the defense.
“It’s so cliché, but they say offense wins games, and defense wins championships. I have seen that firsthand now. If we can keep the errors to a minimum, I really believe we can come out on top tomorrow."
South takes a 22-2 record into Monday's state showdown.
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