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NEWTOWN – Shana Steigerwalt stared at the gold trophy she was holding in her hands and said, ‘I don’t want to let this go.’
It was hard to blame the Central Bucks South senior.
District championships don’t come along every day, and this one had been hard earned. It took 10 innings to determine a winner, and when the dust had settled on yet another epic battle between the SOL Continental Conference rivals, the Titans had eked out a dramatic 3-2 win over Hatboro-Horsham.
It was Steigerwalt’s safety squeeze bunt that plated Ally Horvath with the game winner in the bottom of the 10th inning, setting off a jubilant celebration on the infield at Council Rock North High School.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” Steigerwalt said. “It’s a great way to end the district playoffs, and it gives us momentum heading into states.”
“Oh my god, this means everything,” Titan pitcher Fran Carrullo added. “We just wanted to go out and get our respect, and it feels so good the second time around to actually win it this time. It feels better than anything right now.”
The title was the Titans’ first ever in softball, and for coach Jennifer Robinson, who has been at the helm since the program began six years ago, winning a district crown was especially sweet after falling in last year’s district title game to Spring-Ford 4-2 in a contest the Titans led 2-1 heading into the sixth inning.
“It’s just indescribable for me,” she said. “It’s like – finally.
“It’s been six years of a great program, coming so close and knocking on the door last year, and we finished it this year. We still have a ways to go, and we have to re-focus after this game, but I’m just enjoying it right now.”
One team’s jubilation is another team’s heartbreak, and there was no mistaking the immense disappointment on the Hatters’ side of the field.
“These are the games that make us stronger,” said senior co-captain Megan Kelly, making no attempt to hide her tears. “We’re going to face tougher teams in states, and when we play good teams like this, it makes us a better team.
“These are the games that you have to test yourself.”
Thursday’s game was the third meeting between the SOL rivals, and for the third time in as many outings, the game was decided by one run.
One fact is clear – very, very little separates the neighboring rivals.
“A break here, a break there, and it broke their way,” Hatboro coach Kelly Krier said. “Give them credit for that. You have to give a good team the credit they deserve.”
The game was decided in the 10th when the international tiebreaker went into effect with each team putting a runner on second to start the inning.
Robinson elected to go with speed on the base paths and inserted Ally Horvath at second base to open the 10th. Horvath moved up to third on Karey Fortier’s sacrifice bunt, setting the stage for the perfectly-executed suicide squeeze by Steigerwalt. Horvath broke for the plate as soon as the throw went to first.
“I turned around, and I saw the ball going in,” Steigerwalt said. “I don’t even know how high I jumped when I saw Ally go under the tag.
“I was the last out in the seventh inning, and I knew I had to come back and produce the run for my team. This is absolutely incredible. Right now is only the beginning for us.”
The top of the 10th was not without drama as Megan Kelly, the Hatters’ speedy lead-off batter, was ruled out at home plate on a bang-bang play after she tried to score from third after Lauren Klepchick caught a foul ball off the bat of Val Sadowl at the fence.
On the play, the Titans’ catcher collided with third baseman Morgan Decker, and Kelly broke for home where she was met by first baseman Taylre Stocks, who was alertly covering the plate and made the tag for the inning-ending double play.
“I thought she was going,” Klepchick said. “I knew that Taylre would be heads-up, I knew she would be behind me. She called to me, and I threw the ball.”
“I knew she was going because Lauren was deep catching that foul ball,” Stocks said. “I could just feel it, and I took the initiative to go and cover the plate because I knew no one else was there.
“You just have to be on top of things, stay calm and know what’s going on and know what to do every single play.”
No one was happier to see Stocks covering home than Carrullo.
“Actually, I was mad at myself at the time,” the Titans’ junior hurler said. “I was like, ‘Why am I not covering home?’
“I was at the wrong place at the wrong time for a second, but Taylre was there, and she saved me. I was very happy.”
On the other side of the field, there was the prevailing belief that Kelly slid under the tag.
“From my point of view, I thought she was under the tag,” Krier said. “It’s just a tough call.
“Obviously, everyone sees plays differently. I think Megan made a great play – a great run, a great slide, but the official saw it a different way, and we have to deal with that.”
In a winning effort on the mound, Carrullo allowed just four hits in 10 strong innings, and she insists she still had plenty of gas in her tank when it ended.
“She (Robinson) kept asking me if I was okay, if I was feeling good, and I kept saying, ‘Yes, yes, yes,’” the Titans’ mound ace said. “I’m still not tired. I could play another one.”
From the outset, it looked as though one run might win it, and the Hatters appeared to be poised to steal the district crown when they put a pair of unearned runs on the board in the sixth. The inning began with Kelly – who had two of her team’s four hits – collecting a single up the middle.
She wound up on third with none out after a stolen base and error, but it looked as though that’s where the rally might end as she remained stranded on third with two outs. Back-to-back walks to Chelsea Edwards and Jackie DePietro loaded the bases, and a pair of runs crossed the plate when Kelsey Koelzer’s bad hop grounder was misplayed, putting the Hatters on top 2-0.
“I told the girls they had two choices – they could hang their heads, or they could pick their heads up and show people what this team was made of,” Robinson said. “We had been through the order. We knew what to do with that pitcher. It was just a matter of having the heart and the discipline in the batter’s box to get the job done.
“I had confidence that they could.”
The Titans didn’t disappoint.
Pinch hitter Dani London grounded a single to left to open the inning, and she moved up to second on Steigerwalt’s sacrifice bunt. Jae Epstein followed with an infield single in the shortstop hole, but it looked as though the Hatters might escape unscathed after Shaffer came up with a strikeout for the inning’s second out.
That didn’t happen.
An error on Morgan Decker’s grounder plated a run, and Klepchick followed with a bloop single over first to send the tying run across the plate.
The Hatters put a pair of runners on board in the eighth but came up empty, and neither team could push a run across until a riveting 10th inning that saw the Titans score the game winner.
“Last year, we played well and we came close, but we ended up losing,” Klepchick said. “We knew this year we had to win the game and go strong into states.
“Everybody just contributed to a great game. This feels a lot better than last year, having a trophy and just being more confident going into states.”
Lost in the shuffle was the standout effort of Hatter sophomore Maggie Shaffer, who scattered six hits and allowed just one earned run. She walked one and fanned nine.
“Maggie pitched (out of her mind),” Krier said. “She was hitting her spots. They have great hitters who got some clutch hits when they needed to.”
Although disappointed with the outcome, Krier was not disappointed with her team’s effort.
“I am so proud of this team,” she said. “I told them that several times out there. I wouldn’t want any other girls – they are just a special group.
“It’s so much fun coaching them, working with them. I wanted it for them - I really wanted it for them.”
For the Titans, the historic win erased memories of last year’s disappointing loss in the district final.
“Last year was definitely difficult, but this year we proved ourselves worthy, and that’s all we could ask for,” Steigerwalt said.
“It’s great,” added Taylre Stocks. “It was close last year, and now it’s even better that we’re seniors and we got it. I’m excited.
“They’re our biggest rivals.”
NOTES: Titan centerfielder Tyler Vitelli delivered the defensive gem of the game when she made a spectacular running catch going away of a drive to lead off the ninth by Danielle DiFilippo that had extra bases written all over it. The play loomed even larger when Melissa Spinosa followed with a single to left. “She covers her ground well,” Robinson said. “She’s made other catches like that for us this year. Actually, she had some great catches here in our first game. She snagged that ball – that’s why she’s our centerfielder.”…Council Rock North was the site of South’s season-opening loss to the Indians. This time the ending was a whole lot happier.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, HATBORO-HORSHAM 2 (10 innings)
Hatboro (2) – Megan Kelly cf 4 1 2 0; Chrissy James 2b 3 0 0 0; Valerie Sadowl ss 4 0 0 0; Chelsea Edwards c 2 1 0 0; Jackie DePietro 3b 2 0 1 0; Kelsey Koelzer dp 4 0 0 0; Danielle DiFlippo 1b 4 0 0 0; Melissa Spinosa rf 2 0 1 0; Maria Spinosa ph 1 0 0 0; Heather Lutz lf 3 0 0 0; Maggie Shaffer p 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 29 2 4 0.
Central Bucks South (3) – Shana Steigerwalt rf 4 0 0 1; Jae Epstein lf 4 1 1 0; Haileigh Stocks 2b 3 0 1 0; Morgan Decker 3b 4 0 1 0; Cait Bechta pr 0 0 0 0; Lauren Klepchick c 4 0 1 1; Michelle Gessner ss 4 0 0 0; Sam Kraus dp 4 0 1 0; Taylre Stocks 1b 3 0 0 0; Ally Horvath pr 0 1 0 0; Tyler Vitelli cf 2 0 0 0; Dani London ph 1 1 1 0; Fran Carrullo p 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 33 3 6 2.
Hatboro 000 002 000-2
CB South 000 002 001-3
E-CB South 2, Hatboro 1. DP-CB South 1. LOB-Hatboro 8, CB South 6. SB-Kelly, Edwards. SAC-T. Stocks, Steigerwalt, DePietro, James 2.
IP H R ER BB SO
Hatboro
Shaffer (L) 9 2/3 6 3 1 1 9
CB South
Carrullo (W) 10 4 2 0 5 2
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