National Conference
Council Rock South 8, William Tennent 5
Courtney Brown slammed a pair of home runs and Sydney Palmer added a round tripper to lead the Golden Hawks to their first win of the season on Thursday.
“It was great,” Rock South coach Mike Pacitti said. “The girls worked hard, and it was nice to see – after three tough losses – they didn’t hang their heads. They were aggressive at the plate, they were diving for balls. Our outfielders played very well.
“Their team hit the ball well, but our team made some nice plays.”
Rightfielder Kristen Miehoffer contributed a pair of assists, gunning down a runner at the plate and another at second base. Brown, according to Pacitti, had a solid game at first as did Maddy Reif in left field.
“They’re just real positive kids, and there’s a lot of good chemistry” Pacitti said. “They enjoy each other’s company.”
The Golden Hawks are a very young team with no seniors and five freshmen on their roster.
“They’re not intimidated by anybody,” Picitti said. “They just go out and play their game. Every game is new to them. They don’t have that carryover.
“It’s not like we’re having bad games. What it is – we have two good innings and then a bad inning. It’s not like it’s from start to finish. Even though the scores might not sound like it, they were competitive games up until certain points.”
The Golden Hawks took an early 3-0 lead and extended that lead to 5-0 before the Panthers got on the scoreboard. Rock South led from wire to wire.
Pitcher Meg Shaeffer – a three-year starter on the mound - didn’t walk a batter while going the distance to earn the win.
“She keeps battling,” Pacitti said of his mound ace. “She’s very focused. She doesn’t get rattled. You wouldn’t know if we won or lost at the end of the game. She’s very even keeled and always very positive, which is a credit to her.”
Continental Conference
Central Bucks South 3, Souderton 2 (8 innings)
Lauren Klepchick was a difference maker in Thursday’s classic SOL battle.
She didn’t drive in the winning run in the Titans’ come-from-behind win over the Indians. The junior catcher – a three-year starter behind the plate - wasn’t part of a heroic seventh-inning rally that saw the Titans knot the score, but make no mistake about it – Klepchick just might have been the difference between winning and losing for South.
One inning after gunning down a Souderton runner attempting to steal second, Klepchick – with two runs already across, the bases loaded and none out in the fourth - fired a strike to third baseman Morgan Decker, picking a Souderton runner off third and effectively killing a potentially big inning for the Indians.
“There was a left-handed batter up, so I knew it was very easy for me to do that rather than having a right-handed batter where I’d have to go either up or back,” Klepchick said. “Me and Morgan have this thing where we just look at each other.”“We know, we know,” said Decker, who was within earshot.
“I knew what Morgan was doing,” Klepchick said. “She came up a little bit and then went back, and we just got her.”
For her part, Klepchick doesn’t mind the action she’s been seeing in the early weeks of the season.
“It’s exciting for me,” she said. “You don’t just have to sit there behind the plate and catch the ball. You have to throw runners out, you have to pick runners off base. To me, it’s a lot more fun.”
Thursday’s win was the second extra-inning win in as many days for the defending conference and district champion Titans, who edged Pennridge 5-4 in 10 innings on Wednesday.
“Everyone is trying to beat us,” Klepchick said. “We made finals last year, and everyone is just coming out to get us.
“These extra-inning games are very tough. Pennridge and Souderton are very good hitting teams, and if our pitchers aren’t on their game, they know they’re going to get hit hard. We have to play every single team the same way.”
It was Klepchick’s rocket over the left field fence with one out in the third that spotted the Titans’ an early 1-0 lead.
“I wasn’t trying to hit a home run,” she said. “Once I was down two strikes, I was just trying to put the ball in play somewhere to get some runners on base.
“I knew I hit it on the screws, but I didn’t know if I hit it high enough to get over.”
That 1-0 lead was short-lived as Souderton responded with a pair of runs in the fourth. Lauren Urbanski opened the inning with a single to left, and Sarah Derstine followed and roped a shot over the left field fence that plated a pair and put the Indians on top 2-1. They threatened to get a whole lot more, loading the bases with none out on a single and back-to-back walks. Klepchick killed that rally with her pick-off throw to third.
“We had been striking out a lot, and after Lauren hit the home run, we were putting the ball in play, and I thought we had momentum on our side,” South coach Jennifer Robinson said. “Souderton came up, and this girl (Derstine) hits the two-run home run, and now we’re down. That just shifts the momentum completely over to their side. Now their batters are pumped. They’re putting runners on. Fran (Carrullo), who doesn’t usually get rattled, ends up walking two girls after their three hits.
“Things could go sour real fast, but I think Lauren really was their momentum killer. Lauren started our momentum with a home run. Then they got it back, and Lauren was their momentum stopper. Lauren – even though she didn’t get the game-winning hit – was really the star of today’s game. She was (3-for-4), and what she did defensively to take those runners off the bases was very impressive.”
The Indians did not manage a hit off Carrullo in the fifth or sixth innings, and the Titans rallied to knot the score in the seventh.
It was a missed sign that led to the tying run. The inning started with Michelle Gessner singling up the middle, and Alli Waddington followed and legged out a bunt single. That brought Kelly Culp to the plate in an obvious bunt situation. The Titans’ nine hitter fouled off her first bunt attempt but then swung away on the next pitch, fouling it off for a strike and an 0-2 count.
Not to worry.
Culp delivered a clutch single up the middle that knotted the score.
Robinson elected to bring Haileigh Stocks into the game in the bottom of the frame, and she retired the Indians in order. In the top of the eighth, Decker drew a leadoff walk, and she moved up to second when Klepchick grounded out to the right side. Designated hitter Lauren Kleinschmidt followed with an RBI single to left. Stocks preserved that lead, setting down the Indians in order in the eighth.
Carrullo, who allowed just four hits, fanned eight in six innings of work while Stocks struck out four in the final two and did not allow a hit.
For the Indians, senior Liz Parkins struck out 10 and allowed eight hits in a contest that saw neither team commit an error.
“Liz was outstanding,” Hughes said. “She pitched an incredible game, setting up their hitters. Her heart and soul was out there, and that’s really what she was doing.
“They (Parkins and catcher Mollie Burrell) worked well together. They made some adjustments when they started making contact. It was a phenomenal effort.”
Parkins and her teammates weren’t hanging their heads after Thursday’s loss.
“I feel like they didn’t expect us to give them that good of a game,” she said. “It is a little intimidating going up against a team that finished second in the state last year, but I think we handled them well.
“We definitely rose to the occasion, and I’m very proud of our team for hanging in for eight innings.”
Derstine led Souderton with a pair of hits while Gessner had two hits for the Titans and Klepchick had three hits.
The Titans, who improved to 5-0, have yet to play a traditional seven-inning game. Tuesday’s win in eight innings came on the heels of the Titans’ 10-inning win over Pennridge. They picked up abbreviated wins over Wissahickon and Emmaus in five innings and needed just six innings to defeat Easton.
Central Bucks West 2, Quakertown 1
The Bucks won Thursday’s game in dramatic fashion when – with two outs in the seventh and West trailing 1-0 - freshman Amanda Wolfgang delivered a clutch double that plated a pair. The Bucks managed just three hits in the game, but two of those came in the seventh. The stage was set for Wolfgang’s heroics after Ashley Miller drew a base on balls and Jen Fabian singled.
“Both teams were pretty even talent-wise,” West coach Wayne Finkbeiner said. “They’re a very good team, and a win is good at this stage because we’re so young.”
Finkbeiner, who started a pair of freshmen, had just two seniors with varsity experience coming back this season.
“This was exciting, especially for the younger kids,” the Bucks’ coach said. “No experienced players were involved in the play that won it. It was all the younger kids.
“We played some solid defense at times today. We made mistakes, but we’re very young at every position.”
Only one player – centerfielder Cassie Zanolini - is playing the same position as last year for the Bucks.
Maggie Miller won the game on the mound, scattering five hits while allowing one run.
Hatboro-Horsham 15, Central Bucks East 4 (6 innings)
The Hatters continued their early season tear with the lopsided win.
Jackie DiPietro was 2-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs to lead the offense. Kelsey Koelzer was 3-for-3 with three singles and four runs scored. Julie Wambold also had three hits, which included a pair of doubles. She also scored two runs.
On the mound, Maggie Shaffer worked four shutout innings to earn the win. She struck out four and allowed just one hit.
North Penn 4, Pennridge 0
One day after winning a slugfest against Central Bucks East, the Maidens relied on the strong arms of pitchers Kellianna Bradstreet and Vicky Tumasz to blank a Ram squad that was 24 hours removed from extending Central Bucks South to 10 innings. The Rams managed just one hit off the duo, and that came in the second inning when Emily Hofmann doubled.
The Maidens won the game with a three-run outburst in the third. Jess Mower collected a two-out RBI single, and Michelle Holweger delivered the big blow of the game for the Maidens – a two-run home run over the left field fence.
Emily Hayhew absorbed the loss for Pennridge, scattering six hits while striking out 10 and walking none.
American Conference
Upper Merion 4, Upper Dublin 0
The Vikings broke a 0-0 tie with a single run in the fourth. They added one more in the fifth and then tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth. Nikki Ross earned the win on the mound, working four innings while striking out four and walking none.
The Vikings, who held an 8-5 advantage in hits, were led by the 3-for-4 showing of Melissa Kulp, who scored a run and delivered the big blow in the sixth inning – a two-run double. Nicole Battaglio and Krysta Wellington each added an RBI for the Vikings.
Becky Starosta was 2-for-3 for the Flying Cardinals with a double.
Kristin Ganderton absorbed the loss, allowing eight hits while striking out seven and walking four in six innings.
Wissahickon 3, Norristown 1
Katie Ziegler did it all for the Trojans, winning a classic pitcher’s duel against Norristown’s Gwyn Botley. The Trojans’ junior hurler scattered three hits while striking out nine. For good measure, she also collected a pair of hits. Botley fanned 13 but walked six and was victimized by her team’s four errors.
The Eagles went on top 1-0 when they plated their only run in the second. The Trojans, who collected seven hits off Botley, knotted the score in the third and won it in the fifth when they scored two runs.
Gretchen Guaglianone also had a pair of hits for the Trojans, who received one hit each from Rachel Philbin, Kellie Gilman and Rebecca Marinucci.
Julia Santoro and Sammi Kidd accounted for Norristown’s only hits.
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