Souderton advanced to Friday’s District 1 6A Tournament with its 3-2 win over Plymouth Whitemarsh. Check out the TNT (Tuff ‘n Tuffer) recaps.
DISTRICT 1 6A Semi Final
# 4 SOUDERTON 3, #9 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 2
They just keep finding ways to win.
The Indians picked up their 20th win of what has become storybook season, edging a PW squad that was coming off an upset of top-seeded North Penn. They won it on a night when they fell behind 2-0 early and were outhit by the Colonials 7-4.
“It’s just really special,” Souderton senior captain Ava Detwiler said. “We’re really bonding right now – we have great chemistry, and we’re just focused on being there for each other: team over individual.
“I feel like that’s really important because you saw it today – everyone’s contributing. When someone is down, someone else picks them. It’s just amazing that we have that, and that’s going to help us in the long run because it doesn’t take one person to play this game, you need everyone.”
Detwiler drove in the game-winner in the bottom of the sixth with a one-out sac fly, but that was just one of several clutch plays by the Indians on a day when hits were hard to come by off of PW’s Liv Brodzinski, who was coming off a stellar shutout win over top-seeded North Penn.
Tuesday’s game-winner was set up by the aggressive baserunning of courtesy runner Cayla Southard, who stole second, advanced to third when the throw to second trickled into the outfield and scored on Detwiler’s sacrifice fly.
“Our girls are resilient, and sometimes it’s not pretty, but they get the job done,” Souderton coach Tyler Bui said. “We had some big plays at the end of the game that if we don’t get some of the runners moving – we don’t win that game.”
--Colonials strike first: PW broke a scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the top of the third. Emily Dobrowolski led off the inning with a ground single to center, and it looked as though the Indians might see their way out of the inning when freshman Katie Straub retired the next two batters she faced – the first on a strikeout and the second on a fly ball to left fielder Skyler Byrnes.
But PW’s Gia Bono kept the inning alive when she lined the first pitch she saw to left field for a single. Anna Powel followed with a line single to left that plated Dobrowolski. A walk to Liv Brodzinski loaded the bases and set the stage for Lizzy LaNoce, who grounded a single to center that scored the inning’s second run before Straub retired the next batter she faced on a fly ball to center to end the inning.
--Indians answer: Emma Lewis breathed life into the Indians’ offense when she led off the fourth inning with a solo blast over the left field fence. The Indians evened the score in the fifth inning with a two-out rally.
Katie Straub grounded a single to center, and the freshman leadoff batter was off and running on the 0-2 pitch to junior Kiera Fadden, who ripped a double into left field. Straub never stopped running and beat the throw to the plate with the tying run.
“Personally, going in there, I knew that I hit the two first pitches in my last two at bats, and I was thinking – ‘Let me look for something I actually want to hit,’” Fadden said. “I had confidence in Katie that she’s going to do what she’s going to do on the base paths, so I knew if I put the ball in play, she’s going to score.”
The decision to have Straub running with the pitch, according to Bui, was an easy one.
“We’re running on that all day,” the Indians’ coach said. “Worst case scenario – if she gets out for whatever reason, we have the top of our order back up again next inning. That was an easy call because we have a very fast runner.”
The Indians’ confidence stems from their potentially dangerous lineup.
“Did you see our lineup?” Fadden said. “There are no down periods, there’s no girl off, and all of us are willing to pick each other up. If someone makes a mistake, we’ve got each other’s back.
“We all want to be here, we all want to play in the district championship.”
--Detwiler delivers again: Six days after keeping the Indians’ postseason alive with a base hit in the bottom of the eighth inning for the walk-off win over Council Rock South in the second round of the District 1 6A Tournament – Ava Detwiler was back at it again.
This time, the Souderton senior – who missed Tuesday’s scholar banquet to play softball - stepped into the batter’s box with courtesy runner Cayla Southard on third base and one out in the bottom of the sixth of a tie game.
“Honestly, I was pretty confident because I know Cayla is on third, and I just need to hit something over (the infield), and she’ll score,” Detwiler said.
That confidence was well-founded.
The senior captain ripped a ball that was hauled in close to the fence in right field, scoring Southard with a run that put the Indians on top 3-2 and stood until the final out was recorded.
The win vaulted the Indians into Thursday’s district title game against Owen J Roberts, and Detwiler is especially eager for the opportunity to face the Wildcats.
“Earlier this season, I had a mentorship, so I couldn’t play in the OJR game,” she said. “So I’m really looking forward to playing them.”
Turns out Detwiler enjoys the challenge of facing the area’s best in the circle, including OJR ace Maddie Reed.
“(North Penn’s) Felicia (Connolly) – I love hitting off of her,” Detwiler said. “And I loved going against Maddie Reed last year. It’s just new experiences, and I don’t know – it’s fun.”
--Dynamic duo: Freshman Katie Straub and junior Madi Mott were once again an effective one-two punch in the circle with Straub working the first three innings and Mott – who earned the win - closing it out with four shutout innings. She allowed just two hits and walked a pair.
“They’re a very disciplined team,” Bui said of the Colonials. “They’re not going to swing at bad pitches, and that makes it very tough, so you’ve got to hit corners because you’re not going to throw one up high because they’re not going to swing at it. If you throw it low and away, they’re not going to chase it, so you really have to be precise.
“Madi comes in, and she does what she’s done all year. She’s come in, she’s cool as anything, and she just goes out there and she gets the job done.”
Mott earned the win in Souderton’s second -round district game as well as Tuesday’s semifinal while Straub was a winner in Friday’s quarterfinal.
“We just love the game, we love bringing each other up, and we make a really good duo on and off the mound,” Mott said. “We complement each other really well.”
Mott – after completing several postgame interviews – leaped into the arms of Straub when she returned to the dugout as the duo celebrated together.
“This win was huge,” Mott said. “I never really doubted we could come back. We have come back from much more. They were really great competition, but we have a really great team.
“We have a really good offense and a defense that really gels together, so I never doubted for a second. We were down for a little bit, but we pick each other up. That’s just how this team works.”
--A date with the Wildcats: Looking for a strange stat – look no further than Souderton’s 36-7 combined record over the last two years with all seven of those losses to the same two teams. Five of the losses were at the hands of North Penn and two were to Owen J Roberts.
OJR defeated the Indians 9-1 in their first game last year and this year notched a 6-3 win in the third game of Souderton’s season.
“Our girls are just very grateful that we have another opportunity to play them,” Bui said. “You know it’s going to be a good battle, and we’re just thankful we have another opportunity to play them.”
“We’ve been playing really well,” said Mott. “So, I have a lot of confidence in our team. I know they’re great competition, but I think we have what it takes to beat them.”
Added Fadden, “(Playing in the district title game) was more of a goal last year. This year, we wanted to let the season take its course, but after last Wednesday and our first playoff win, we were like, ‘This is where we’re going, this is our goal.’”
Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Mike Perez:
“I said to the girls after the game – ‘I think we outhit them, I thought we played really good defense, and I thought we played well enough to win, but we couldn’t get the key production when we needed it. They got the key hits when they needed to, and we didn’t.
“We left a lot of runners on, but I said – what we proved over the last couple days is we can play with and beat any team in the state, and that’s what’s going to be important heading into states. The district tournament’s not over. We’re still playing for the three and four seed, which is big, but what we’ve proved here is seed doesn’t matter.”
Up next: Souderton will face #2 Owen J Roberts in the District 1 6A title game at Spring-Ford High School on Thursday (4pm). It is their first trip to the title game since 2006 when the Erin Holloway Indians fell to Pennsbury 6-1. Plymouth Whitemarsh will host #11 Haverford in the third-place game Thursday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 002 000 0 2-7-1
Souderton 000 111 x 3-4-1
District 1 6A playback
#1 NORTH PENN 8, #5 NESHAMINY 2
In a must-win game with a spot in the state tournament on the line, it was the Knights taking a 3-1 lead after one inning and never looking back.
It was exactly the kind of response coach Rick Torresani was hoping for after Friday’s upset 3-0 loss to Neshaminy in nine innings.
“We talked about that game yesterday at practice,” the Knights’ coach said. “PW played extremely well. They deserved to win, and I told the girls that we have to step up our game and play a little bit more excited about being there and have a little more energy. The girls came out today and did that.
“Going into the PW game, we asked them to take a look at some pitches, and let’s see if we could work the girl’s pitch count up, which we didn’t do. Today we did that. The girls knew it was win or go home, and they just came out and played North Penn softball.”
The Redskins took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Kendall McCafferty, who walked, scored on Zahmira Coppola-Miller’s double to right field.
The Knights answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning and added two more in the second. Cailin Halfpenny hit a one-out single, and Gabriella Brigidi and Tallie Smind drew back-to-back walks, loading the bases for Gabby Battavio whose single brought in a pair for a 5-1 North Penn lead.
Neshaminy made it a 5-2 game when Kendall McCafferty, who singled, scored on a sac fly by Jill Rickards.
The Knights answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Highlights included singles by Brigidi and Smink (RBI), a sac fly by Alana Battavio (RBI) as well as an error and a walk.
“We won today for kids like Tallie (Smink) and (Cailin) Halfpenny and kids like that,” Torresani said of his seniors.
By the numbers: North Penn: Tallie Smink (2-for-3, 1RBI, 1R), Alana Drummond (2-for-4, 2B, 3RBIs), Cailin Halfpenny (1-for-2, 3R, 2BB), Gabby Battavio (1-for-3, 2RBIs, 1R), Alana Battavio (2RBIs)
Key inning: Bottom of first – After the Redskins scored a run in the top of the first, the Knights answered with three in the bottom of the inning. Cailin Halfpenny drew a leadoff walk, and one out later, Tallie Smink was safe on an error. A walk to Gabby Battavio loaded the bases for Alana Battavio, whose walk forced a run home. With two outs, Alana Drummond singled home a pair of runs for a 3-1 lead.
North Penn coach Rick Torresani:
--Props to Redskins: “Sarah (Martoccio) has done a great job with that team. I had a chance to coach her in Carpenter cup. She was just an outstanding player then and now as a coach.
“It was bittersweet for both of us – whoever won because we care about each other, and for me, it was bittersweet, but it is what it is. You’ve got to go out there and play, and there’s got to be a winner and loser.
--Westward bound: “We talked about it after the game – we’ve headed west before (in the PIAA Tournament), so they’re excited to be in it. They know we have a really good team, and if everything work out, we could hopefully win a couple of games.
“It’s really tough to be one, three or four (from District 1 in states – you stay here and you’ve got to go through the District 1 Tournament again, which is so hard.”
--Drummond excels: “She’s a junior, and we brought her up last year in the middle of the year to play shortstop. She’s done really well. She’s a very heady player, she’s smart. Academically, she’s unbelievably smart. She does everything well.
“When she’s hitting, she can hit the gaps and hit home runs, and today, she was right on to drive in the runs. She’s a kid that does well in softball but also does well academically. She’s just unbelievable.”
Up next: North Penn will face the winner of Wednesday’s game pitting #3 Pennsbury/#10 Methacton in the fifth-place game on Thursday. Neshaminy closed out its season with a share of the SOL Patriot Division title and a 17-6 record overall
Neshaminy 100 001 0 2-4-3
North Penn 320 003 x 8-8-1
District 1 2A final
#1 BRISTOL 10, #2 NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 2
The Lions found themselves staring at a 7-0 hole after two innings, and although they got on the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the third, the Warriors added three in the bottom of the inning on their way to the win.
“Bristol jumped out early, but our kids never quit, battling the entire game,” NH-S coach Chris Marchok said. “Mabel Klossner led the way offensively, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored while holding the Warriors scoreless over the final three innings on the mound.
“Senior Kaylee Harris wrapped up her four-year varsity career with two hits and a diving catch in right field.”
Sisters Riley and Rachel Sim combined for five putouts on pop-ups and fly balls. Riley, the Lions’ catcher, had three while Rachel, who plays right field, had two.
“Rachel just missed hauling in a diving catch in the gap,” Marchok said. “We couldn't be prouder of our Lady Lion Family for today and the entire season.”
New Hope-Solebury closed out its season with a share of the SOL Freedom Division title and an overall record of 15-7.
New Hope-Solebury 002 000 0 2-8-1
Bristol 433 000 x 10-13-1
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