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Health & Fitness

Changes Spark Lady Hatters to Rout of North Penn

Hatboro-Horsham's softball team makes the most of some lineup adjustments to pound out 11 runs and 16 hits against the defending District One champions, North Penn.

TOWAMENCIN — Hatboro-Horsham High School coach Joe DiFilippo isn't used to losing  games, so when his Lady Hatters dropped two Continental Conference games in a row last week, his reaction was expected — it was time to shake up the lineup.

Which wasn't a pleasant experience for North Penn on a Tuesday afternoon with threatening weather and the ominous bats of Hatboro-Horsham looming as the start of the game was delayed by a brief downpour.

When the revamped Lady Hatters emerged on the field, they pounded North Penn ace pitcher Jackie Bilotti and the Maidens for nine runs in the first two innings, on the way to a critical 11-5 victory. 

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The Lady Hatters pounded out 16 hits, including three each by Maria Spinosa and Jen Cader. Cader and Heather Lutz also ripped home runs to leave defending District One champion North Penn reeling.

With the victory, Hatboro-Horsham (12-3 overall, 9-3 in conference) remained in a three-way tie for first place with Central Bucks East (13-3, 9-3) and Central Bucks South (12-5, 9-3), who were carving out 19-1 and 15-0 wins over Quakertown and winless Central Bucks West on Tuesday.

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Pennridge fell a game back with a stunning 7-6 loss at Souderton. Souderton (8-8, 5-7) and North Penn (9-7, 5-7) are fighting for a chance to advance to the District One playoffs.

"When things get stagnant, you have to shake things up," said DiFilippo. "Every year, I've made changes."

DiFilippo moved Spinosa into the lead-off role in the batting order, dropped center fielder Jen Cader to the sixth spot and juggled several other players accordingly, including placing freshman DeAnna Moyer in the second position.

He also swapped positions on the field with Daria Edwards moving to third base and Spinosa taking over at shortstop. 

"I was just playing a hunch with Maria and Daria," said DiFilippo. "They both are excellent fielders who can play either position."

After a 20-minute delay in the game's start, it didn't take long for those moves to pay dividends when the first five batters reach base in the top of the first and HHHS scored four runs — as many runs as the Lady Hatters had managed all last week in losses to Pennridge and Central Bucks South.

Four hits and two errors did the damage.

Bilotti had been one of the toughest pitchers Hatboro-Horsham has faced in the past two years, losing three tough, one-run decisions previously, but even in warm-up, it appeared the smooth sophomore right-hander was leaving pitches up in the zone.

It was a bad day to be a little bit off for a hurler who normally excels with command.

Spinosa was 3-for-4 with two runs and a walk to spark the Lady Hatters at the top of the order and Moyer, the right fielder who was coming a strained hamstring a couple of weeks ago, returned to the lineup to go 3-for-4 with two more runs.

Edwards, Lutz and second baseman Adrienne Giuliani all had two-hit games, with Giuliani having a double and two RBIs. 

In the second inning, Spinosa led off again and started a four-hit, two-walk barrage that led to five more runs and a 9-0 lead.

Bilotti was fortunate to escape a bases-loaded jam and more runs in the third when shortstop Jenn Halcovage turned an inning-ending double play.

At that point, North Penn coach Rick Torresani decided to go to the bullpen. 

Cader, who had already doubled in the second, greeted reliever Hannah Sheehan with a booming home run to make it 10-0. It was the third RBI of the game for Cader, who finished 3-for-3 at the plate.

Six outs away from ending the game with the 10-run rule, the Lady Hatters relaxed enough to let North Penn hang around with two runs in the fourth and fifth and one more in the sixth.

First-baseman Lutz completed Hatboro-Horsham's scoring with a towering homer to dead center field that soared well over the new, permanent fencing at North Penn.

DiFilippo lectured his team afterwards for taking their feet off the gas pedal and not closing out the game. 

Nicole Casagrand picked up another win in the circle for the Lady Hatters, scattering eight hits, three walks and four earned runs, while striking out three. 

It was fifth triumph in three seasons for Hatboro-Horsham in the friendly, hitting confines of North Penn. They have swept the Maidens in the season series for the past three years and also picked up a Distirct One title win over Pennsbury in 2011 and a state-championship qualifying victory against Spring-Ford in 2012.

The Lady Hatters have just two Continental Conference games remaining against Quakertown at home at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday and Monday in Doylestown at CB West, while the other conference leaders must square off head-to-head down the stretch.

Defensive lapses proved critical again for the JV Hatters in a 12-2 loss at North Penn, ruining the pitching work of Lexi Campbell and Kaeli Simmons as the team committed seven errors. 

North Penn tallied three unearned runs in the second to break a scoreless tie and Campbell had to exit the circle with a sore arm.

Hatboro-Horsham (6-9, 3-9) managed to get one run back in the third on a Simmons double and a misplayed drive in the outfield off the bat of Jamie Mroz.

But three more unearned runs scored for North Penn in the bottom of the inning after a two-out dropped fly extended the frame. A six-run outburst in the fourth gave the Maidens an 11-run lead.

Simmons (2-for-3) doubled again in the fifth and scored when she combined with third baseman Bria Cashman (2-for-2) on a double steal.

Kayla Richard returned at second base after missing seven games with a concussion in the first North Penn game three weeks ago. She had the only other JV Hatter hit with a liner up the middle leading off the fourth.

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