Continental Conference
Souderton 4, Hatboro-Horsham 1Courtney Hughes found herself searching for words to describe the performance of pitcher Liz Parkins in Tuesday’s win over the Hatters.
“She was spectacular,” the Souderton coach said.
But that didn’t seem good enough.
“This was everything we asked of her and more,” Hughes said. “She put her heart and soul out there, and she’s asked for the opportunity to do that.”
Still, the Indians’ coach wasn’t satisfied.
“I have been part of a lot of good pitching performances,” the former Souderton and Lock Haven standout said. “To see her go out there and not give in – she was untouchable today.”
Untouchable just might be the perfect word to describe Parkins’ performance. The Shippensburg-bound senior started the game by striking out the first two batters she faced, and after Julie Wambold grounded a single up the middle, she fanned the Hatters’ cleanup batter.
Parkins closed out the game the same way she started it, by striking out the side – all swinging – in a one-two-three seventh. In between, she fanned 10 more batters for a total of 16, and no one came close to getting a hit after Wambold’s first inning single.
As a matter of fact, a ball never left the infield after the first.
“She pitched great,” Hatter coach Joe DiFilippo said. “We had zero energy. Maybe it’s because you’re playing so many days in a row, but honestly, Parkins threw great. She was phenomenal.
“They wanted to win.”
The Hatters’ first-year coach paused.
“One hit and 16 strikeouts – we chased about 20 balls above our heads,” DiFilippo said. “She threw a great game. I tell you what – she’s going to be hard to beat.”
The Hatters spent the afternoon chasing - in vain – Parkins’ nasty rise pitch. She struck out Hatboro’s number one and two batters a combined six times in six trips to the plate – all swinging.
“My stuff was working today,” Parkins said and then gave props to her catcher. “Mollie (Burrell) is always great with calling pitches. She was definitely working in and out. We were trying to keep them guessing, and I guess it worked.
“They were swinging at the rise, and when they did hit the ball, my defense was there to make the plays, and that’s all a pitcher can ask for.”
Take away Wambold – who bats out of the three hole and reached base safely three times, and Parkins was a perfect 9-for-9 in strikeouts against the Hatters’ top four hitters.
“Today she was using all parts of the plate,” Hughes said. “She was up, she was down, she was low, and she could sneak one through the strike zone. She was able to use all her pitches, and that was a really big difference.”
The win avenged a 9-4 loss to the Hatters earlier this season.
“This is what we have been working for, especially after the last time when they beat us,” Parkins said. “This is one of the teams I’ve been trying to beat since I was a freshman, and it feels really good to accomplish this today.
“Coach said in the huddle it was a total team effort, and I couldn’t agree more. We moved the runners when we needed to, and we got the hits when we needed to. It was awesome.”
Parkins has been tough all season, but she admits she’s feeling stronger as the season progresses.
“Just having warmer weather helps,” she said. “I’m loose, and everything is just flowing.”
The Indians staked Parkins to a 1-0 lead in the third. Corinne Stiles was safe on a bloop single over first that fell between a pair of Hatter players. Sarah Derstine’s bunt sent her to second, and when Meghan Weisel lined a single off the first baseman, the Indians were in business.
Stiles beat the throw to the plate on Brittany Beebe’s grounder to short, and the Indians led 1-0.
That lead grew to 3-0 in the fifth. Derstine opened the inning with a single up the middle, and when Weisel eluded the tag on her bunt down the first base line, the Indians had a pair on board with none out.
It looked as though the rally might end there as Maggie Schaffer coaxed harmless pop-ups out of the next two batters she faced, but when Burrell was safe on an error, the stage was set for Parkins, who already had a single and double to her credit.
The Indians’ pitcher proved to be as effective at the plate as on the mound, stroking a single just out of the reach of Wambold at short that plated a pair and put the Indians one top 3-0.
“All season Liz just continues to improve her hitting and get more confident,” Hughes said of her pitcher who was a perfect 3-for-3. “She went up there today, and you could see it in her eyes even when she was in the batter’s box that she had all the confidence in the world.
“It carried over from her pitching. It’s kind of been her week.”
The Hatters got on the scoreboard in the sixth when Wambold – who was safe on a one-out error – stole second and third and then scored on an errant throw to third, trimming the Indians’ lead to 3-1.
A leadoff walk to Moira Golden and a costly two-out Hatter error allowed the Indians to get that run back in the bottom of the sixth.
Parkins did the rest, fanning the side in the seventh to put the finishing touches on her one-hit masterpiece.
“Without a doubt, it’s the best game I have been part of at the high school level,” Hughes said. “To see them not fall apart, to see they had the mental toughness to finish it out, and we did not stop scoring after we got one, which was a huge thing.
The win over Hatters was the first for Souderton since 2006 when – behind the strong arm of Erin Holloway – the Indians defeated Hatboro in the district playoffs.
“We have looked forward to our games against the big three all year,” Hughes said of Hatboro, Central Bucks South and North Penn. “Just to get over the hump of finally getting it done against one of those – this is what we train for.”
The win created a log jam at the top of the conference standings. Central Bucks South and Hatboro both have two losses in conference play while the Indians and North Penn both have three.
“It’s great because on any given day anyone can win, and that’s what makes it so much fun to come to the games,” Parkins said. “You know you could be the ones dominating the game, or you lose and not have a good day. Today we were the ones who had a good day.”
And no one had a better day than Parkins.
North Penn 6, Central Bucks West 0
Kellianna Bradstreet and her Maiden teammates rebounded from Monday’s 2-0 setback at the hands of Pennridge to earn the decisive win. Bradstreet tossed a complete game no-hitter and was one out away from a perfect game when the Bucks drew a two-out walk in the seventh. The senior mound ace finished the game with seven strikeouts.
Leading the Maidens’ attack was sophomore Michelle Holweger, who was 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Senior Stephanie Kulp was 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI. All told, the Maidens pounded out 11 hits.
The Maidens are 7-3 in league play (11-3 overall).
Central Bucks East 13, Pennridge 5
The Patriots evened their record in league play at 5-5, thanks to their big win over the Rams.
Pennridge plated two first-inning runs, but East answered with six runs in the bottom of the inning.
The Patriots took a 6-4 lead into the fourth inning when they exploded for seven runs to make it a 13-4 game before Pennridge plated a single run in the top of the seventh to close out the scoring.
Caroline Schoenewald contributed a home run and a second one that was misplayed into a round tripper by a Ram outfielder. Laura Murray had a pair of singles, and Julia Schoenewald had a double. Kaylynn Johnson had a pair of hits, which included a double, and Sam Gladnick was 3-for-4.
For the Rams, Brooke Labs was 3-for-4 with a double. Emily Hofmann had a home run, and Paige DeCew had a double and a single. Emily Mayhew had three singles.
Central Bucks South 2, Quakertown 1
Proving that nothing is going to come easily for anyone in the Continental Conference, the Panthers battled the Titans to the finish before falling 2-1.
The Titans collected eight hits while the Panthers managed just three.
“We left a lot of runners on base,” Titan coach Jennifer Robinson said.
The Titans got on the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the third inning
Kelly Culp led off the inning with a single, and she moved up to second on Kim Rowe’s sacrifice. Leadoff batter Carley Dudek delivered an RBI single, and after Jae Epstein singled, Lauren Klepchick collected an RBI single to put the Titans on top 2-0.
The Panthers plated their lone run in the fourth.
Francesca Carrullo threw the first four innings, fanning seven and allowing three walks and three hits. Haileigh Stocks did not allow a hit in the final three innings, striking out four and walking one.
“They’re not the Quakertown of old,” Robinson said. “We put the ball in play all day, and they made some really good plays.”
American Conference
Norristown 6, Upper Moreland 2
Stephanie ‘Sweat’ DiNolfi led the Eagles with three hits, which included a double, and teammate Gabbie Berry added a pair of hits, which also included a double. Brie Kennedy, Julia Santoro, Taylor Copestick and Sarah Spause each added one hit.
Coach Jon Kandrick lauded the defensive efforts of Gina Pellechio, Berry and DiNolfi.
On the mound, Sara Rosetti pitched a complete game seven-hitter, striking out three.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 16, Upper Dublin 1 (4 innings)
Junior hurler Erica Miller allowed one hit and two walks in three-plus innings of work while senior Gabby Stamler closed it out and secured the win for PW.
Offensively, the Colonials received contributions up and down their lineup. Senior catcher Alexa Borkowski was 2-for-4 with a double, triple and four RBIs. Sophomore shortstop Corinne Watson had a double and an RBI.
Upper Merion 3, Cheltenham 1
The Lady Panthers scored a first-inning run to go on top 1-0, but the Vikings answered with single runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings to earn the win.
Freshman Nikki Ross earned the win on the mound, scattering five hits while striking out six and walking one.
Cheltenham’s Lesenia Santiago pitched well enough to win, allowing just four hits while fanning 13 and walking four.
National Conference
Council Rock North 4, Harry S. Truman 1
The Indians solidified their hold on third place in the conference standings, taking a three-game lead over fourth place Truman as a result of Tuesday’s win.
“Obviously a league win is really important,” coach Hollie Woodard said. “Especially in our league, any time you can get away with a win it’s a big deal.
“The girls were very aware going into the game that every win takes us that much closer to the playoffs. They worked hard, and they got the ‘W.’ They’re very excited because this created a nice cushion between us and Truman.”
Dom Pinto continued her string of torrid offensive performance, collecting a pair of hits and upping her hitting streak to 11 games.
“She’s just seeing the ball and hitting it hard,” Woodard said. “She’s got great hand-eye coordination, and her swing is the most simplistic swing ever – nothing fancy, none of this loading and pre-loading. It’s just a simplistic swing, and she has great hand-eye coordination and great bat speed and extreme upper body strength that makes her put the ball in play.”
Morgan Lewis came up big on the mound, earning the win and working six and two thirds innings before giving way to Alex Tremitiere, who collected the final out with the bases loaded.
“Morgan hurt her back a couple of weeks ago, and this was the first game she was able to finish for us,” Woodard said. “She came back strong and was able to pitch a full game, which she wasn’t able to do since she got hurt at Council Rock South.”
Woodard has changed things up defensively, and her team responded by playing an error-free game on Tuesday.
“We have been plagued with errors, and we played a great game on defense,” the Indians’ coach said.
Caytlin Friis got things going offensively with a leadoff double in the first. Michelle Hand was hit by a pitch, and one out later, Lewis delivered an RBI single.
In the third, the Indians added an unearned run, and they closed out the scoring with a pair in the sixth that saw Lewis lay down a successful suicide, and Ali Goldberg followed with a bunt that plated a run, putting the Indians on top 4-0 before the Tigers scored their lone run in the seventh.
“The big thing today was no mistakes by us on defense,” Woodard said. “We worked hard yesterday afternoon at practice, did tons of work on that, and we were really, really pleased about that.”
The Indians improved to 7-2 in league play while the Tigers fell to 3-5.
William Tennent 15, Bensalem 5
The Panthers once again put their offensive prowess on display, exploding for 15 runs against an Owl squad that 24 hours earlier battled Neshaminy to the finish before falling 3-2.
Ashley Alden was given one opportunity to hit. She made the most of it, belting a leadoff home run in the first to knot the score 1-1. It was the last time the senior standout saw a pitch to hit.
Despite Alden’s early heroics, the Panthers trailed 4-2 going into the third inning.
“I had to get a little vocal,” coach Gary Bizacquino said. “I thought we were going through the motion, but we woke up.”
Did they ever.
The Panthers exploded for eight runs in the third inning. Nikki Alden – a freshman in name only – delivered the inning’s big blow, a grand slam.
Kaitlyn O’Toole, a freshman, as well as Melissa Simpson and Kirsten Dougherty were all 2-for-3 in the game.
“Hitting is starting to get a little contagious,” Bizacquino said. “It was a good win. I told them before the game that this was not the same Bensalem team we played four or five weeks ago when we went down there.
“Since we moved Ashley to the leadoff spot, we have been averaging around nine or 10 runs a game. It’s coming from everybody. Today the bottom of the lineup turned it over, so we could get to Ashley.”
Nicole Meleta earned the win on the mound.
Neshaminy 11, Council Rock South 0 (5 innings)
Courtney Clee and Lauren Quense both were 3-for-4 to lead the Redskins offensively. Clee scored three runs while Quense crossed the plate twice. Diana LaPalombara was 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Julia McGovern added a pair of hits for the Redskins, who pounded out 12 hits.
On the mound, Sarah McGowan allowed just two hits while fanning six and walking none.
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