The Suburban One League/BAL won three straight games Wednesday before its remarkable run in the Carpenter Cup came to an end with a 9-8 loss to Tri-Cape in the team’s fourth game.
By Mary Jane Souder
Sarah Snider-Leonhauser had just arrived home from what had been close to a 13-hour day at FDR Park in the sweltering heat and humidity with her Suburban One League/BAL squad.
If it seems as though the rising Neshaminy senior would have had quite enough of her teammates, guess again.
“Oh my gosh, we still have a group chat going – we’re all like best friends now,” Snider-Leonhauser said. “About four minutes after the game was over, we started it.
“We really bonded this year. It was a great group of girls, and we really enjoyed playing with each other. It was great to have the time we did together – we wish it could have been more, but we were really happy with what we got.”
The SOL/BAL entered Wednesday with one loss in the double elimination Carpenter Cup tournament. The squad faced the daunting task of needing to win four straight games in order to advance to championship Thursday. It seemed like it could happen after the SOL/BAL won its first three games.
The team’s resiliency and determination was never more apparent than in its fourth game of the day against Tri-Cape. The SOL/BAL fell behind 8-1 in the top of the third inning but rallied to make it a 9-8 game in the seventh inning. The team had the tying run on second with two outs when Snider-Leonhauser hit a shot to center field that was snagged for the final out, bringing an end to an extraordinary day for the SOL/BAL squad.
“I was hoping (it would fall in), but the girl made a really nice catch on it, so you can’t really be mad with something like that,” Snider-Leonhauser said. “We had an amazing comeback.
“We fought so hard. We came up a little bit short, but we worked very hard.”
The disappointment after the game was not so much that the team had lost but rather that a special experience had ended.
“It was definitely hard to see it end,” North Penn rising senior Jackie Bilotti said. “Especially coming here today and having four games.
“We definitely wanted to go to the championship tomorrow and go to the Phillies game. We were all hoping for that, but Sarah couldn’t have done anything more. She ripped it to center field, and the girl made a great catch.”
Bilotti had herself quite a day Wednesday. After going 1-for-3 with an RBI triple in the BAL/SOL’s 2-0 win over Berks/Lancaster-Lebanon in the first game of the day, Bilotti reached base on 12 straight trips to the plate, going 8-for12 in that span.
“I have been doing this for a couple of years now, and I have had a lot of kids who excelled in one area of the game or maybe a couple areas of the game and do great things,” said coach Heather Boyer. “Jackie Bilotti is stellar across the board. She is a complete player.
“Her fielding is impeccable. The way she fields her position on the mound in particular is just unbelievable. Her ability to throw and make clutch pitches in tough spots is unbelievable. And then her offensive ability – not only just hitting, putting the ball in play and having a good eye with two strikes, but her base running is just so instinctive. There was a time when she was on third base, and there was a passed ball. Coach (Rick) Torresani told her, ‘No, no, no,’ and she just went on instinct and was safe. She does everything exceptionally well. She is a complete player, and it’s just fun to watch her.”
Bilotti played all 28 innings on Wednesday.
“I was pretty tired at the end of the day,” she said. “I love playing every inning.
“I’m kind of used to that from pitching in travel, but it was a lot more innings than I’m used to with school ball.”
North Penn’s ace split pitching duties on the mound with DeRosa. The rising Cheltenham senior, who plays travel for the Lower South Liberty Elite squad, started all four of the SOL/BAL’s games Wednesday, picking up wins in the first three.
“Talk about coming out and getting yourself ready and being confident – she worked herself out of jams,” Boyer said. “You could literally see as the day went on, she was the girl I saw throwing for Cheltenham all year, that confident, collected pitcher that took control of her team. She was out there talking to her teammates and settling in. She did a really good job.”
In the BAL/SOL’s 14-7 win over Chester County, DeRosa stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and her team holding a 2-0 lead.
“They called a low and in pitch on her for strike two,” Boyer said of a pitch that made it a fullcount. “There were comments from the peanut gallery. It should have been ball four and a run scored, but then she roped a three-run double in the gap and cleared the bases, so it was good she didn’t get walked.
“That offensive output there allowed her to have a little bit more confidence.”
The team’s memorable Carpenter Cup run was a team effort, and when it was over, the players acknowledged they had been part of something special.
“To be a first-year player on this team, I can’t even describe how incredible this experience was,” said Lauren Schwartz, a rising senior at North Penn. “We were at the field for close to 14 hours today, and it was the most fun day of my life, honestly.
“I had such a great time playing softball, and I made so many new friends. We had so many good times, and I know we will definitely stay in touch. It’s definitely an experience I’m never going to forget.”
“It was definitely different than last year,” Bilotti said. “Last year our trip down there was cut short, so we didn’t really have that much time to bond.
“This year we definitely bonded a lot. The 13-hour day being at the park today – it was so much fun, and afterwards taking pictures with everyone, we had so much fun. I definitely think it was the most fun I have ever had playing softball. It was the greatest group of girls, and it was so cool getting to know everyone from different schools that we’ve played against.”
According to the North Penn standout, the players went into Wednesday’s action with a positive mindset.
“Going into it, we were really confident because we had some of the greatest hitters on our team,” Bilotti said. “We were scoring a lot of runs early.
“I think we just went in confident – picking each other up and knowing that if you get out, the next person after you will pick you up.”
While the team’s showing on Wednesday was remarkable, the friendships that had their roots at FDR Park were perhaps the best part of the experience.
“We already have a group chat, and we’re all talking,” Bilotti said. “Next year when we play Souderton, seeing Morgan (Yoder) – it’s going to be totally different. It’s going to be so much fun.”
“Overall, it was an amazing experience,” said DeRosa. “Going into this, we didn’t really know each other, but I could say we were really good friends by the end. We definitely meshed easily, and that helped us play better together.
“We had two practices together and then we played Monday – Monday we didn’t know each other as well, but I think today we came together a lot more. We had four games and we had the breaks. There was a lot of joking, and you realized when you did have that second loss, you weren’t going to play with them anymore, and that was a little sad.”
“It really was hard to end the day,” said Schwartz, who plays travel for Philadelphia Spirit Elite 18U. “I know I definitely wanted to make it to tomorrow and keep going. Especially after playing four games today, we really wanted to pull that last one out.
“It was hard that we didn’t, and it was hard to say good bye to all of them because we all had so much fun. We were all saying good bye, hugging and exchanging numbers. We’re hopefully going to stay in touch, and it will be fun to see them next year during school season.”
Boyer acknowledged that this year’s Carpenter Cup experience was a special one.
“It was an unbelievable experience,” the veteran coach said. “You go through the tryout process, and you do your best to not only select the best athletes but the kids who are going to mesh, and that’s hard. You’re asking these high school kids to step out of their comfort zone and work with kids they don’t know and spend all season trying to beat when they’re on another team.
“Just watching them as the games went on and they continued to be successful – it was really quite an extraordinary experience to see how close as a unit these kids became.
“You would have thought after the last game that we were the winning team. We were still there probably a half hour after the last pitch. They were taking pictures, having fun. It was probably one of my proudest moments to be associated with girls who were not only great athletes and showed such resiliency and such grit all the way to the last out, but just to see their character and their sportsmanship and their commitment.
“There were a lot of kids on a number of different franchises who made the decision to go to another tournament today. The 15 kids who stayed with us today committed to it and really fought hard and had a never-say-die attitude, and that was really cool to see. It will definitely be one of my top softball memories for a long, long time.”
Members of this year’s squad were clearly sold on the experience.
“I would definitely encourage anyone to go out for Carpenter Cup,” Schwartz said. “I was so glad when I heard I had the opportunity to try out, and when I heard I made the team, I was so excited.
“From the beginning, we were so nice to each other. Conversation came easily, and we all just bonded together as a team right away on and off the field. We had so much chemistry on the field that it worked out. I would definitely encourage anyone to go out for the team.”
“I would definitely say to the sophomores going to be juniors and the sophomores next year to definitely do it,” Bilotti said. “It’s so much fun. You get to meet the people you play against which is very cool.”
GAME RECAPS: In the SOL/BAL’s 2-1 win over Berks/Lancaster-Lebanon in game one, Bilotti not only delivered an RBI triple but also threw three scoreless innings of one-hit ball. DeRosa threw the first four innings, allowing one hit and one run. Litwin had an RBI single in a two-run first inning.
-In game two, the SOL/BAL scored 10 runs in the first three innings and never looked back on its way to a 14-7 win over Chester. The SOL/BAL pounded out 17 hits. Bilotti was a perfect 4-for-4 with a double, RBI and four runs scored. North Penn’s Becky Christoffers was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Pennsbury’s Danielle Litwin had a double and two RBIs. Yoder (Souderton) was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. “I played with good hitters and I know good hitters, but that many good hitters on a team, especially Jackie Bilotti, who I think got on every time except maybe once today,” DeRosa said. “Throughout the whole day, I don’t think I have ever played with girls that were such good hitters. The lineup was good. We had timely hits. It worked really well.”
-The BAL/SOL earned a 10-6 win over Mid-Penn in its third game, opening up a 4-1 lead in the top of he third, thanks to a three-run double by Litwin. A five-run fourth put the BAL/SOL on top 9-2. The inning was highlighted by Bilotti’s two-run double. Bilotti finished the game 2-for-3 with four runs scored. Jamie Gosselin (Abington) was 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
-In game four, Tri-Cape turned a 1-0 deficit into an 8-1 lead in the top of the third with an eight-run outburst. The BAL/SOL answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning and one more in the fourth, but Tri-Cape got that run back in the sixth to go on top 9-4 heading into the final inning.
In the seventh, Bristol’s Olivia D’Emidio led off with a single, and Allyson Taylor (Norristown) drew a walk. A bunt single by Christoffers loaded the bases. Schwartz drew a walk to push a run across, and it was a 9-7 game after Litwin delivered a two-run single. Yoder’s groundout sent another run across and moved Litwin to second, setting the stage for a shot off Snider-Leonhauser’s bat that was hauled in for the game’s final out. Bilotti and Litwin each had three hits to lead the way. Snider-Leonhauser - who contributed to Sports Connection’s run to an ASA 18U Class A State title last weekend - had two hits and an RBI, and Schwartz scored three runs.
“It was very hot and very humid, but we were able to push through it,” Snider-Leonhauser said. “A lot of the girls had travel, so they have been busy with all of those games. Everyone was exhausted, but we just wanted to push through, and we did the best we could.”
“It was a long day,” Schwartz added. “We really could have gone into that first game – one loss and we were done, and we could have gone in with that attitude, but we really pulled it out.
“Our bats got going in every game. Even that last game – we were down 8-1, and we never had a losing attitude. We just got in the game and we brought it back to 9-8 and had a runner on second with two outs in the seventh inning. We just never wanted to quit. We all felt that, and it was really great to be a part of that.”
Boyer tipped her hat to her players.
“They played 28 innings today, and some of the kids played every out of the 28 innings,” she said. “They’re exhausted. Actually, they’re probably beyond exhausted.
“I hope once they get beyond the delirium, the soreness and achiness, the tiredness they’re feeling – I hope they can look back on it and say that it was one of the highlights of their softball career, and I think it will be for a lot of them.
“This is really what it ultimately is about – an opportunity to give these kids who come together with a common interest and play the sport they love and have a great experience doing it.”
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