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Health & Fitness

Bishop Shanahan Edges Lady Hatters in Quarterfinals

Kate Poppe holds Hatboro-Horsham to one hit and no runs and gets some help to lead Bishop Shanahan to a 1-0 victory in the PIAA District 1 softball quarterfinals.

Two or three pitches defined a pitcher's duel between Bishop Shanahan's Kate Poppe and Hatboro-Horsham High School's Maggie Shaffer Friday afternoon on the Lady Hatters' softball diamond and ultimately made the difference in a 1-0 loss for Hatboro-Horsham in the quarterfinals of the PIAA District 1 4-A playoffs. 

Poppe drove in the game's only run on one of those key moments with a bloop single in the first inning and made that run stand up with a 17-strikout, one-hit pitching performance to stop the defending district and state champion in a game that was started a 1 p.m. in deference to Friday night's Hatboro-Horsham senior prom.

With the loss, Hatboro-Horsham's hopes to defend its district title are over, but the Lady Hatters can still earn a spot in the state tournament bracket by winning two games next week for District's 1 fifth and final playoff spot.

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The fourth-seeded Lady Hatters (19-3) will host No. 9 Methacton (17-7) at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Methacton beat No. 24 Interboro 3-0 on Monday and No. 8 Downingtown East 4-0 on Wednesday before dropping a 2-1, eight-inning decision to No. 1 Pennsbury on Friday.

Bishop Shanahan (20-2) clinched its spot in the state tournament as one of the district's four semifinalists and will play Pennsbury in the next round. It will be an all-Continental Conference matchup in the other side as No. 10 North Penn (a 1-0 winner over Central Bucks East) will face No. 6 Central Bucks South (an 8-0 winner over No. 3 Spring-Ford).

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The momentum of the Lady Hatters' game quickly turned the Eagles' way when Kathleen Devaney singled to center on a 3-2 pitch and was sacrificed to second by Erica Keen. With two outs, Poppe got under a 2-2 pitch from Shaffer and lofted a shallow fly into right field for what looked like the third out of the inning.

But Heather Lutz played the ball cautiously and it fell in front of her for a base hit. Lutz's strong throw to the plate arrived too late and Devaney slid across the plate with the run.

"A misplayed fly ball in the first inning and this is what you get," Hatboro-Horsham coach Joe DiFilippo said. Poppe "is a great pitcher. She threw a great game and we didn't adjust."

Shaffer had the Eagles completely throttled the rest of the way, holding them to a bunt single in the third when third baseman Maria Spinosa's feet slipped out from under her on the wet infield on Devaney's bunt, another bunt single in the fourth when Marisa Giordano was called safe on an umpire's missed call at first and a looping single from Keen off the glove of Chrissy James in the sixth.

Bishop Shanahan's only other base runner came in the seventh when catcher Daria Edwards couldn't come up with Shaffer's eighth and final strikeout and Giordano was safe at first to lead off the seventh.

Hatboro-Horsham shortstop Val Sadowl erased Giordano later in the inning, fielding a grounder and throwing her out to Spinosa at third. Shaffer got another lift from her defense when first baseman Nicole Casagrand made a diving catch of Steph Salcito's line drive near the line, leading off the third.

"Maggie pitched great," said DiFilippo.

But while Shaffer was scattering five hits and not allowing a walk, Poppe was even more effective.

The lone hit for the Lady Hatters came with one out in the second after Lutz had drawn a walk. Spinosa slapped a soft liner into left to put runners on first and second, but Poppe struck out Nicole Casagrand on a 1-2 pitch that appeared to be outside and then fanned designated player Nicole D'Andrea to end the threat.

Poppe had to survive one more threat in the fifth and received two huge assists from the home plate umpire.

Spinosa worked a 3-2 count leading off the inning and appeared to draw a walk on a pitch that was high and outside. But the pitch was called a strike, leaving Spinosa stunned at the plate as the first out. 

With two outs in the fifth, back-to-back errors gave Hatboro-Horsham new life.

D'Andrea rolled a soft grounder up the line that Eagle first baseman Julie Fullam struggled to pick up on the wet dirt. When she finally made a throw to Devaney covering first from second base, Devaney dropped the ball and couldn't pick it up before D'Andrea had arrived safely at the first-base bag.

Jackie DiPietro kept the inning alive when her hard-hit grounder to short skipped under the glove of Alyssa Lewis for another error and Chrissy James worked a walk from Poppe on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases.

But then the second key pitch of the inning tilted the game even more towards Bishop Shanahan. Shaffer appeared to work the count even after fouling off several pitches on another pitch that was clearly high and outside, but again the home plate umpire called the pitch strike three to help Poppe get out of the jam.

Poppe, who will play for Villanova next fall, then struck out the side in the seventh to finish off the win.

"I hope we meet (Bishop Shanahan) again," said DiFilippo. 

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