Central Bucks South and Pennsbury advanced to Monday’s PIAA Class AAAA semifinal round. To view photos of the CB South/St Hubert’s and Hatboro-Horsham/Bishop Shanahan game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
A Suburban One League team will be playing in next Friday’s PIAA Class AAAA state title game at Penn State University. That much was assured when both Pennsbury and Central Bucks South picked up wins in Thursday’s afternoon’s state quarterfinal games. The Falcons eked out a 7-6 win in a nine-inning thriller against Lower Dauphin while the Titans defeated PCL and District One champion St. Hubert’s 3-1. The two SOL schools will square off in a semifinal game at Spring-Ford High School on Monday at 4 p.m.
Hatboro-Horsham saw its season end when the Hatters fell to district runner-up Bishop Shanahan 4-1 in a quarterfinal game on Thursday.
(1-3) CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3, (12-1) ST. HUBERT’S 1
Morgan Decker called it ‘a huge moment in the game.’
In truth, Lauren Klepchick’s two-run blast over the left field fence in the fourth inning of Thursday’s quarterfinal game was the difference between winning and losing the game for the Titans.
“Look at the score – it was only 3-1 with two of those runs being on the home run,” Decker said.
“It was a relief for me,” pitcher Haileigh Stocks added. “It was a weight off my shoulders. I had a cushion behind me.”
Up until the pivotal fourth inning, St. Hubert’s pitcher Erica Ragazzone was cruising through South’s batting order, retiring nine of the first 10 batters she faced while fanning five. The Titans did not hit a ball out of the infield during that span.
“She was tough,” Stocks said. “She wasn’t overpowering, but we weren’t timing it right.
“I know she was throwing a lot outside, and I don’t think we were waiting on it and trying to go to right field. We were pulling out a little bit and waving at some of her pitches. We just had to fix that, and when we did, we hit the ball.”
In the top of the fourth inning, Decker broke up Ragazzone’s no-hitter with a one-out bloop double in front of the leftfielder, setting the stage for Klepchick’s homer.
“I feel like once we go through the lineup one time, we see what she’s throwing and at least start making contact with the ball and then end up getting runners on and playing either small ball or looking for pitches and just driving it,” Klepchick said.
The Titans added an insurance run in the top of the fifth. Kristyn Marinelli led off with an infield single, and two outs later, she raced home when Jae Epstein collected an infield single that put the Titans on top 3-0.
“We have proved throughout the season that we can come back late in games,” Decker said. “We don’t beat ourselves when (the pitcher) gets us early in the game. We don’t lay down.”
The Bambies plated their only run in the fifth inning, but Stocks closed out the game with a flourish, retiring the final seven batters she faced and putting an exclamation point on the win by collecting a strikeout for the game’s final out.
Stocks scattered four hits while fanning seven and walking four. The Titans’ defense was once again outstanding behind Stocks, making all the plays without committing an error.
“That’s the key,” Hayes said. “At the beginning, we talked about not walking anybody, not making any errors. We walked a few, but if you’re not committing any errors and you don’t give them extra outs, you certainly give yourself a better chance to win.”
Defensive highlights included a doubleplay in the second inning on a line drive to second baseman Alyssa Virginnio that erased a leadoff baserunner for the Bambies. In the fifth inning after the Bambies once again put their leadoff runner on board, Decker gunned down the lead runner at second on a grounder to third, and then – after a steal that put a runner on second with one out - Stocks alertly gunned down a runner attempting to advance to third on a grounder to the mound.
The Titans (20-4) needed every one of those big plays to beat a Hubert’s squad that captured the PCL and District 12 titles.
“They’re not your typical Catholic League team,” Hayes said. “(Rigazzone) was as good as advertised. She really located her pitches outside. We tried to adjust a little bit and move up on the plate and be aware of the ball off the corner. She did a nice job – she’s a tough pitcher.”
(1-4) PENNSBURY 7, (3-3) LOWER DAUPHIN 6 (9 innings)
In the day’s most riveting game, the Falcons – who pounded out 17 hits - scored what turned out to be the game winner when Christina Bascaro, who had singled, scored on Farryl Groder’s two-strike, two-out single in the top of the ninth inning.
“Lower Dauphin is a good team,” coach Frank McSherry said. “I view them as a Cinderella team. Their coach said they have never been this far, and it was ready to be storybook for them, but our kids battled. They just battled. They could have been down, but they found a way to score some runs.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to do the same thing on Monday.”
Lower Dauphin plated single runs in the third and fourth innings to go on top 2-0. They took that lead into the fifth inning when the Falcons finally got on the scoreboard.
Freshman Dani Litwin got things started with a one-out single, and one out later, Taylor Boltersdorf collected a single. An RBI single by Mackenzie Obert made it a 2-1 game.
In the sixth inning, Bascaro doubled to lead off the inning, and Suzanne Swanicke followed with an infield single. Bascaro raced home on Michelle George’s RBI single, and the Falcons had their first lead when Groder lofted a sacrifice fly to the outfield.
“We killed the ball,” McSherry said. “We hit a lot of balls hard at people, and we mishit a few. It looked like it was just a matter of time, but sometimes you run out of time.”
The Falcons’ 3-2 lead was shortlived as Lower Dauphin – benefitting from a two-out error - rallied to knot the score 3-3 in the bottom of the inning, setting the stage for extra innings.
It looked as though the Falcons had a win in the bag when they exploded for three runs in the top of the eighth. Swanicke and George collected back-to-back singles, and with out outs, Lauren Cregan came up with yet another clutch two-strike, two-out hit – this one a triple that plated a pair of runs.
“Cregan hit a bomb,” McSherry said. “If it would have been at our field, it would have been gone.”
Boltersdorf’s basehit plated Cregan, and the Falcons had what appeared to be a commanding 6-3 lead. The Lower Dauphin Falcons, however, were unfazed, answering with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Casey Alcorn’s two-run single was the big hit in the inning, but according to McSherry, it could have been worse.
“Val really pitched out of a jam that inning,” the Falcons’ coach said. “They could have ended it there. The bases were loaded with none out, and we got out of it.”
The Falcons won the thriller with a big run in the ninth.
“Lower Dauphin is a good team,” McSherry said.
Boltersdorf and Jess Greenwald led the Falcons with three hits each. Obert, Bascaro, Swanicke and George each added two hits.
To read Rick Woelfel’s complete game story, please click on the following PhillyBurbs.com link: http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/high_school/courier/pennsbury-perseveres/article_99b773a7-8e99-506c-85be-6112fd592e28.html
(1-2) BISHOP SHANAHAN 4, (1-5) HATBORO-HORSHAM 1
Val Sadowl might have said it best when asked about Bishop Shanahan’s performance in Thursday’s quarterfinal game.
“You have to give it to them,” the Hatters’ senior shortstop said. “They all played a great game today.”
The Eagles had the look of a team with very realistic state title aspirations, negating the fact that the Hatters were getting their bats on the ball against flame-throwing hurler Kate Poppe by making one big defensive play after another.
“Our goal was just to put the ball in play and see what happens, and we did, but they just came up with great defensive plays,” Sadowl said. “There was nothing more that we could have done. It was a well-played game by both teams.”
Thursday’s game was the rematch the Hatters had been waiting for since they fell to Poppe and the Eagles 1-0 in a district quarterfinal game. In that game, Poppe fanned 17. She had only six strikeouts in Thursday’s rematch.
“We definitely worked on it over the week, just laying off that high pitch that she throws and just getting the ball in play,” Sadowl said. “We adjusted to her well. It’s just that things didn’t go our way today.”
The Hatters, led by the 2-for-2 effort of freshman Jenn Cader, collected six hits off of Poppe, and the Eagles did not commit an error behind the Villanova-bound senior.
“That’s a very good team,” Hatboro coach Joe DiFilippo said. “You have to put it all into perspective, and that’s a very good pitcher.
“We tried to adjust, and we started to hit the ball. She didn’t strike out 17 of us, that’s for sure. We hit the ball in the wrong places. Two teams played, and they won. There were only four teams playing in the State of Pennsylvania today. Unfortunately, somebody has to lose. We’re not walking off the field saying, ‘We lost because of dumb mistakes.’ They beat us.”
The game started off on a promising note for the Hatters when Jackie DiPietro legged out a bunt single. She was erased on a fielder’s choice, and Poppe got the second out on a strikeout before Sadowl drew a walk to put a pair of Hatters on board. Poppe got out of that mini-jam with a strikeout.
It marked the beginning of a stretch that saw Poppe retire 12 in a row before Nicole Casagrand collected a two-out bloop single in the fifth. By that time, the Eagles had a 3-0 lead.
It was not the kind of beginning the Hatters hoped for in Thursday’s rematch.
“I really thought we would hit her,” DiFilippo said. “Call a spade a spade – the kid is good. When she gets the players in the field to make plays behind her, that’s a huge difference.”
Bishop Shanahan got on the scoreboard in the second when – with a hard rain falling - the Eagles collected a pair of singles and also drew a pair of walks. They added two more in the third when Poppe ripped a no-doubt-about-it home run over the center field fence that plated a pair.
Still, it looked as though the Hatters might get back into it when Cader came off the bench and followed Casagrand’s single with a pinch hit single of her own. DiPietro followed with a wicked grounder on the right side that was snagged in the hole by first baseman Marisa Giordano, robbing the Hatters’ speedy leadoff batter of a hit and effectively taking away any momentum the Hatters may have had.
“For a second, I thought it was going through,” DiPietro said. “Coming off the bat, it felt like a good hit, and when I saw she was getting it – they had a good defense. They played really well, and we weren’t really expecting them to play so well.”
The Hatters broke up Poppe’s shutout bid in the sixth inning. With one out, Maggie Shaffer grounded a single to left, and Sadowl drew her second walk of the game. Heather Lutz delivered a clutch two-out RBI single up the middle to make it a 3-1 game.
The Eagles added a single run in the sixth to go on top 4-1. In the top of the seventh, Cader collected her second hit in as many at-bats with a sharp double down the first base line. Poppe retired the next two batters she faced, and a successful season had ended for the Hatters.
“It’s really tough, especially your senior year,” DiPietro said. “All the seniors – we have gone so far. We won the state championship, we were in the semis and today the quarterfinals. We have seen it all pretty much.”
“It’s tough,” Sadowl said. “I have been playing with these girls since little league, and to never be on the field with them again – it was a great four years. We accomplished a lot – top three sophomore year and we won (the state title) last year. I would never trade that for anything.”
DiFilippo bids farewell to an outstanding senior class that included – Sadowl, DiPietro, Shaffer, Chrissy James and Nicole D’Andrea.
“These five seniors that just played their last game – this group is a phenomenal group of kids,” the Hatters’ coach said. “I personally will miss everyone.”
The Hatters - who entered the season with a bulls-eye on their backs after winning both the district and state championships - closed out the year with a 24-3 record.
“Every team looked at us like the World Series,” DiFilippo said. “Everyone wanted to beat us.
“Unfortunately, we lost this one, but the team that wins the state championship is going to go through the same thing next year. There aren’t many teams that win a state championship and come back and go 24-3. I give these kids a heck of a lot of credit for that.”
- Log in to post comments
