Big Fifth Inning Outburst Lifts Hatboro-Horsham to 9-2 Softball Victory Against CB East

After a week off, you couldn't blame the Hatboro-Horsham softball team for being a little less than sharp for Tuesday afternoon's Suburban One League game at home against Central Bucks East.

But when the contest reached the bottom of the fifth inning and the Lady Hatters were struggling with a 3-2 lead, they finally awoke from their slumber and rolled to a 9-2 victory. 

A home run by first baseman Maria Spinosa helped Hatboro-Horsham build a 3-0 advantage early before the Patriots began to put some pressure on the Lady Hatters. 

"We were a little lackadaisical," admitted Hatboro-Horsham coach Joe DiFilippo, whose team had practiced just once over the Easter break since a 13-1 victory over Quakertown last week. "You have to remember, we really haven't been challenged except for that Crestwood game."

Central Bucks East took advantage of an error to plate two runs in the top of the fifth and trim Hatboro-Horsham's lead to one before an error by the Patriots on a line drive to right by second baseman Jackie DiPietro set the tone for a big inning.

DiPietro's blast scored two runs to give the Lady Hatters some breathing room and before they were done it was a six-run inning that pretty much made it game, set and match.

Third baseman Chrissy James used her specialty — the suicide squeeze bunt — to bring home DiPietro.

Back-to-back doubles from center fielder Heather Lutz for two runs and Maggie Shaffer for another score completed the outburst.

"That's the character of this team," said DiFilippo. "When they are challenged, that's how they respond." 

Shaffer struggled with her control in the circle, walking a season-high four batters, while scattering three hits in six innings. But the heady senior pitched around most of that trouble and didn't give up an earned run.

Nicole Casagrand finished off the win with an inning of work, getting away with a single and a walk. 

Lutz led the attack with a double and a triple in three at-bats, while left fielder Kelsey Koelzer also had two hits. 

Hatboro-Horsham improved to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the Continental Conference of the Suburban One League, matching Central Bucks South and North Penn at the top of the standings.

The Lady Hatters should be more focused on Thursday when they travel to Souderton (1-1) for a key conference matchup at 3:30 p.m. 

Souderton handed Hatboro-Horsham one of its losses last season when the Indians hosted the Lady Hatters in the midst of a 26-2 state 4-A championship campaign.

"I guarantee you that we won't be lackadaisical on Thursday," said DiFilippo. "We have a practice on Wednesday and we will be sure to get the girls' attention." 

The Lady Hatter junior varsity team (2-4, 0-2) probably deserved a better fate than Tuesday's 3-2 loss to Central Bucks East in a hard-fought, well-played game.

A missed call on a tag play at second base cost Hatboro-Horsham a run in the first inning and that run proved to be big when CB East put five hits together for three runs in the fifth inning to overcome a 1-0 Lady Hatter lead. 

Emily Wrenn held the Patriots to just two hits and two walks in the rest of the contest, while striking out five in a seventh-inning, complete-game performance.

Hatboro-Horsham broke open a scoreless game in the fourth when left fielder Emily Wallace double down the third-base line and eventually scored on third baseman Bria Cashman's squeeze bunt. 

The Lady Hatters cut the Patriots' advantage to 3-2 in the fifth when second baseman Jackie Locke stroked a long double to left-center field and shortstop Lexi Campbell singled. 

With one out in the seventh, the Hatboro-Horsham JVs loaded the bases on consecutive infield hits from Locke, Campbell and center fielder Maggie Leisch. But Locke overran third base on Leisch's dribbler and was caught in a rundown for the second out.

A one-hop shot by Wallace was stopped by the CB East second baseman, who threw Wallace out by a half-step to end the game with Campbell on the way home with what would have been the tying run.