(1-1) Central Bucks South vs. (3-2) Governor Mifflin
PIAA Class AAAA Semifinal
Monday, June 14, 6 p.m., at Pates Park in Allentown
There’s a quiet confidence surrounding this year’s Central Bucks South softball squad, and Taylre Stocks doesn’t sound the least bit boastful when she acknowledges that anything less than a return trip to the PIAA Class AAAA semifinal would have been considered somewhat of a disappointment.
“Disappointing, yes, but also surprising because we have so much talent on this team,” the CB South senior said. “We kind of – not expected to make it this far, but we know we should make it this far, and we’re really excited and happy that we are back.”
The Titans – thanks to their 7-1 win over Hazleton in the quarterfinals - are back in the state semifinals where they will face District 3 runner-up Governor Mifflin on Monday night at Pates Park in Allentown. The game is a rematch of last year’s state quarterfinal that saw CB South eke out a 1-0 win.
“I actually felt bad because I thought Governor Mifflin could have been a part of even a later round of states because their team was extremely impressive to me,” Titan coach Jennifer Robinson said. “That 1-0 win was something I was so proud of for our team.
“We played the game of our lives. We turned double plays. (First baseman) Taylre Stocks had to come off the bag twice to make tag plays. There was this huge catch of a rocket in center field to deny Jess Epler of a big hit in the first inning. That’s the game we had to play to beat that team on that day, and we played it.
“I have very vivid memories of playing Governor Mifflin and the respect I had for them.”
Governor Mifflin returns all but three players from that squad – its shortstop, catcher and centerfielder, and Jess Epler – the team’s pitcher and top hitter – remains the centerpiece.
“She throws with a good amount of velocity,” Robinson said. “I’m aware of the pitches she’s going to throw, and I know they’re harder than most but maybe not with the same degree of movement as some of the pitchers we have seen.”
Robinson will look to her two seniors – Stocks and Shana Steigerwalt – to set the tone for the team defensively.
“Defensively, our two seniors play on the right side,” the Titans’ coach said of her first baseman and rightfielder. “I think our seniors really set a good example.
“Taylre is involved in every play at first, and she’s just consistent, and she’s the one who will talk the most out there. Shana just leads by example in the outfield. She’s consistent, she has a good arm, and she keeps us together.
“We only have two seniors, and they kind of serve their purpose to lead. They’re key players.”
Third baseman Morgan Decker has been a catalyst for the Titans in the regular season and postseason. Her two-run home run ignited a five-run sixth inning in Thursday’s quarterfinal win over Hazleton, and she also made a dazzling backhand stop of a sharp grounder and fired to first for the putout.
“You get pumped up after the plays she makes,” Robinson said. “She’s young, but she’s that leader by example.
“She’s a motivator. You want to get runs after plays like that.”
Behind the plate, sophomore Lauren Klepchick has been rock solid.
“She’s not calling the pitches – I am, but she’s making sure that what needs to happen is happening,” Robinson said. “She’s calling where the plays are going. She’s the voice directing the team.
“For a sophomore to have that role placed on her where so much depends on her – just from last year to this year, I’ve seen a change in Lauren in terms of her willingness to be louder and to take charge on the field. It was tough last year for her to get to the point where she was comfortable being a leader. This year she knows she’s captaining the team when we’re out on the field.”
Robinson pointed to the consistent play at second base of Haileigh Stocks as significant as well.
“Most of the balls get hit to Haileigh, and that’s why she plays that position,” the Titans’ coach said. “Yes, she could pitch too, but she’s filled that role for us.
“I haven’t said, ‘Would you rather play second or pitch?’ She might want to be pitching, but she does what she does there, and she does it well. There are so many girls that step up.”
On the subject of consistency, no one has been more consistent than ace pitcher Fran Carrullo, who game in and game out just goes out and gets the job done.
“I feel like in the playoffs – in some of the games, I don’t want to use the words rocky start, but for her maybe the starts have been rockier than what they usually would be,” Robinson said. “But she knows what she has to do and makes it work.
“Once she gets on a roll and once she knows she’s got the support of her team - that just picks her up. When her teammates pick it up, she picks it up.”
The players, according to Taylre Stocks, have developed a level of trust in each other that comes from going to war together day after day.
“We all have to know that we’re behind each other no matter what,” the senior first baseman said. “We all have to trust each other in the field – we have to trust that we’re going to pick each other up no matter what, and we’re always going to be together as a team.”
Ask Robinson the key to Monday’s semifinal game against Governor Mifflin, and she can sum it up in one word – defense.
“The key is going to be playing the defense we have established throughout the season, particularly against their two, three and four hitters,” Robinson said. “Offensively, it’s going to be a matter of knowing (Epler’s) tendencies as a pitcher.
“It’s just a matter of our team being able to focus and picking it up offensively earlier in the game. I feel like we either score in the first or score in the fifth or sixth. I would much rather score a little earlier.”
In tightly contested games, scoring first is paramount.
“That will be the deciding factor,” Stocks said. “The last game we played – it’s not like us to leave it to the end of the game. We always pull through and are there for each other.”
There’s a special urgency for Stocks and fellow senior Steigerwalt.
“We know this is our last shot,” Stocks said. “We were so close last year, and it was so tough for our seniors.
“Now that we’re seniors we want this really badly.”
Just one win separates the Titans from their first ever trip to the state title game, and Stocks acknowledged that there is pressure involved in advancing to this point in the season.
“There’s always pressure,” she said. “We’re so close, and we know we can do this, and it’s so exciting.
“I’m getting chills just talking about it. I’m very excited. I am so ready.”
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