The Suburban One League/BAL squad split its two games in Carpenter Cup play Monday. To view photos, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Mary Jane Souder
PHILADELPHIA – Dani Litwin’s summer schedule is packed with softball as a member of Rock Gold 18U traveling squad. That didn’t prevent her from trying out for the Suburban One League/BAL Carpenter Cup squad.
“My one friend who was a senior this year played last year and said it was a great thing,” the rising Pennsbury senior said. “She said, ‘It’s a great experience. You should definitely do it.’”
Litwin opted to heed teammate Farryl Groder’s advice.
“I’m loving every second of it,” she said. “It’s definitely a different experience. I’m meeting girls from different areas, and it’s really, really fun, and the coaches are all wonderful.
“We had two practices, and the first one you’re trying to step out of your comfort zone – that’s kind of the point of this. We jelled together pretty nice right away.”
Litwin had three RBIs to help propel the SOL/BAL to a 9-5 win over Mercer County in its opening round game on Monday at FDR Park.
“She’s got a fantastic mindset,” said Upper Dublin coach Heather Boyer, the head coach of the BAL/SOL squad. “She’s a great leader by example. I can put her anywhere on the field, and she’ll play it unbelievably.
“She’s a very, very talented athlete but just has a great work ethic and a great attitude. She sets a good example for the girls around her.”
The SOL/BAL found itself on the short end of a 6-3 score in its second game of the double elimination tournament. Morgan Yoder’s three-run double accounted for the team’s only runs. The Souderton junior had a story similar to Litwin’s. She was encouraged to try out for the squad by Carpenter Cup veteran and teammate Haley DeLaney.
“I definitely like it, and I kind of regret not doing it last year or at least not trying out,” Yoder said. “It’s definitely a great experience, a great opportunity.
“It’s really cool to play with people you’ve played against, especially the North Penn girls with the big rivalry. It’s definitely cool meeting the coaches, meeting the players and forming friendships.”
Twelve SOL schools are represented on the squad. Bristol’s Olivia D’Emidio is the lone BAL representative on the team.
“The word of mouth with girls having good experiences like this and spreading it to their teammates – it’s going to draw the right kids,” Boyer said.
The SOL is two years removed from winning the Carpenter Cup championship, and Boyer points to the squad’s camaraderie as a key
“I don’t know what the other franchises do,” she said. “I have a hunch some of them showed up this morning, and that’s the first time a lot of them are meeting one another and their coaches.
“We make it a point to have the girls come in to several practices as well. When you come down here, the talent’s going to be here on most of the teams, if not all of the teams, so it’s how quickly the girls learn to come together as a cohesive unit and really learn how to work well with one another and basically trust each other.
“You can put a lot of talent on the field, but if they don’t jell and the chemistry is not there, you won’t be successful. When we go back to 2012, that’s what we had – we had great chemistry. We had good talent, but we had great chemistry and kids that really worked well together and trusted each other.”
In its opener against Mercer County, the SOL/BAL found itself staring at a 2-0 deficit, but a three-run fourth gave the team a lead it would not lose. Highlights of the inning included an RBI double by Litwin, a single by Yoder and a two-run double by Neshaminy’s Sarah Snider-Leonhauser.
Yoder finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBIs. North Penn junior Jackie Bilotti was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and Abington’s Nicolette Ray also had a two-run double.
In its second game of the day, the SOL/BAL found itself staring at a 6-0 lead after two innings as Burlington County capitalized on five hits and two walks in a five-run second inning.
The SOL/BAL battled its way back in the game with a three-run uprising in the third inning. Abington’s Jamie Gosselin got things started with a one-out slap single, and then North Penn’s Becky Christoffers singled off the pitcher. A walk to Bilotti loaded the bases. Gosselin was forced out at home on a grounder to short for the inning’s second out, but Yoder stepped to the plate and lofted a booming double to deep left that cleared the bases and made it a 6-3 game.
For Yoder, the catcher on Souderton’s state championship softball team, it’s been a grueling June. She was behind the plate in both games on Monday after catching three games for her Thunderbirds Gold squad at the ASA 18U State Tournament this weekend.
“I’m definitely tired – my legs are burning,” Yoder said. “Non-stop softball, but I love it. It’s what I like to do.”
In the fourth inning, Wissahickon’s Brittany Gelman delivered the defensive play of the game, hauling in a ball at the fence that appeared destined for extra bases.
“I didn’t think I was going to get it,” Gelman said. “It was so high up – I couldn’t even see it.”
The SOL/BAL put runners on board in each of the last four innings but could not push any more runs across.
Gosselin paced the offense with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate, and the sophomore outfielder is enjoying her first Carpenter Cup experience.
“I love it,” she said. “All the girls are so nice. We all get along, and we all play great together.
“It’s really fun. It’s a bunch of different girls coming together and all playing for fun.”
The Abington sophomore was encouraged to try out by her Vypers Gold travel team coach – Abington alum Susan Spiegel.
“I talked to my travel coach, and she was excited and said ‘Go for it. It’s a great opportunity,’” Gosselin said. “She also played, and she said, ‘You go and have a shot at it now.’”
Gelman, a Carpenter Cup veteran, was equally enthusiastic about the opportunity to compete with players she faced over the course of the high school season.
“I enjoy it a lot,” said the Wissahickon junior, who is a member of the New Jersey Breakers Gold travel squad. “It’s fun getting to know people on different teams and then seeing them throughout the season, and it’s a good level of competition. We’re a really good team.
“You get the college people watching. It’s an honor to be on the Carpenter Cup team.”
The SOL/BAL will return to action on Wednesday at 9 a.m., and Boyer is optimistic that the team has developed the kind of unity that will propel it through the loser’s bracket of the tournament.
“We spent the first 20 minutes of our first practice talking about looking for people to step out of their comfort zone, get to know each other quickly, don’t be afraid to be a leader by example,” she said. “They’re really starting to work towards that, which makes it fun to coach because you know you have a group of kids who love the game and want to be here and give up a week of their summer to come down here and play when they do so every weekend. It’s fun to have that common interest.”
EXTRA INNINGS: In the loss to Burlington County, the SOL/BAL picked up eight hits with Gosselin accounting for three while Bilotti, Yoder, D’Emidio, Christoffers and Upper Merion’s Dez Kandy each added one hit…Ray pitched three scoreless innings in the second game.
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