Defending State Champs Stop H-H Softballers, 5-4

It was a self-fulfilling prophecy for coach Joe DiFilippo and the Hatboro-Horsham High School varsity softball team on Thursday afternoon at home in a Continental Conference showdown with arch-rival Central Bucks South.

DiFilippo predicted after Tuesday night's dramatic 11-8 road win over Pennridge that no team in the conference would go undefeated and sure enough, CB South proved it with a 5-4 win over the Lady Hatters. 

After Hatboro-Horsham (5-1 overall, 3-1 in conference) stranded pinch-runner Maggie Leisch at third base in the bottom of the sixth in a tied game, the Titans pushed across two runs in the seventh to regain the lead and pitcher Kristyn Marinelli held on for the victory in a matchup of the last two PIAA 4-A champions and teams that shared the conference crown in 2012. 

"We didn't have as much energy as we normally do, but don't take anything away from CB South," said DiFilippo. "That is a very good team and they played a great game today."

The HHHS loss muddled the standings with four teams, Hatboro-Horsham, CB South, CB East and Pennridge all tied with 3-1 conference records. 

CB East outlasted Souderton 6-4 in 11 innings on Thursday and Pennridge struggled past CB West 9-5 after blowing most of an 8-0 lead.

"This conference is amazing," said DiFilippo. "If five, or six teams from our conference don't make the playoffs this season, something is wrong."

Marinelli plated a crucial insurance run in the top of the seventh with a two-out, RBI single to center that scored Hallie Bilker to make it 5-3 for the defending state champs.

The trouble started when slapper Ally Horvath led off the seventh with a soft liner that just eluded HHHS shortstop Daria Edwards. By the time Edwards retrieved the ball at the far edge of the dirt infield, Horvath was rumbling into second base with a double.

Hallie Bilker laid a sacrifice bunt between first baseman Heather Lutz, pitcher Nicole Casagrand and second baseman Adrienne Giuliani that Lutz fielded and bobbled for an error that put runners on the corners with no outs.

After Bilker advanced on catcher Bridgett Schaeffer's passed ball, Taylor Gallagher lifted a sacrifice fly to Jen Cader in center to put CB South back in front.

Cader sparked Hatboro-Horsham hopes in the bottom of the seventh when she slammed a homer to left, leading off, to bring the Lady Hatters within a run.

Marinelli retired third baseman Maria Spinosa on a comebacker for the first out and then pitched around the dangerous Edwards, who sparked HHHS back from a 2-0 deficit with a home run in the fourth. 

"I wanted to get us pumped up," Edwards said of the blast. "We were down in the first couple of innings."

But with the potential tying run on base in its final at-bat, Hatboro-Horsham was victimized by a pair of nice defensive plays from CB South shortstop Maddie Decker.

Decker snared a liner off the bat of Tuesday night's grand-slam hero Lutz that would have sent Edwards to at least third and then back-handed a sharply-hit grounder from left fielder Carlie Johnson before narrowly throwing out Edwards at second to end the game. 

Defense proved to be a challenge for the Lady Hatters, who committed three errors.

"It was one of those days," said DiFilippo.

Casagrand gave up four earned runs on five timely hits with two walks, while striking out six in a complete-game pitching effort. 

The Titans jumped on Hatboro-Horsham early with solo runs in the first and third for that 2-0 lead.

After Edwards homered in the fourth to wake up the Lady Hatter bats, a walk to Lutz was converted into another run on a Johnson single.

After CB South scored again in the top of the fifth to make it 3-2, Cader was the catalyst in the bottom of the inning with a double and came across on a Spinosa single to tie it one final time.

After an intentional walk to Edwards and another free pass to Lutz, Marinelli worked out of a bases-loaded jam to keep it tied. 

Hatboro-Horsham's best chance at the lead came an inning later when Casagrand drilled a shot to left for a single that skipped under the fielder's glove for an error and an extra base. 

Jaynie Black sacrificed pinch-runner Leisch to third with a perfect bunt, but Marinelli dodged a pair of bullets to keep the game tied.

Designated hitter Emily Wrenn drilled a liner that was caught at second to deny her a clutch RBI and right fielder DeAnna Moyer sent a shot to deep left that was tracked down for the final out of the inning.

While the varsity was feeling the frustration of its first loss, the JV Hatters were rolling to their most complete win of the season in a five-inning, 12-0 victory over CB South.

Freshman pitcher Kaeli Simmons was unlucky to fall short of a no-hitter in a complete-game shutout. She was touched for a bloop single in the second and another in the third on a wind-blown pop-up to finish with a two-hitter. 

Simmons didn't walk a batter and fanned the side in the fifth to finish with seven strikeouts. 

On offense, the JV Hatters got off to a quick start with four runs in the first, keyed by third baseman Emily Wallace (2-for-2, three RBIs, two runs scored and a walk), who just missed a homer with a booming, ground-rule double to deep left that bounced off the CB South school bus for two RBIs.

Hatboro-Horsham broke the game open in the second with eight more runs.

Right fielder Charlotte Coulson opened the inning with a line-drive single to left to start a parade of base runners as 14 batters came to the plate.

After walks to Jackie Locke and Emily Griffis to load the bases, Simmons, Wallace, Meghan Fitzgerald, Emmy Rivkin and Jamie Mroz all followed with one-out hits.  

Fitzgerald's liner was a two-run double — two of three RBIs on the day for the JV Hatter shortstop.

Coulson picked up an RBI on a bang-bang ground out to short and Locke lined a single to left for Hatboro-Horsham's seventh hit of the inning, in between walks to Griffis and Kayla Richard. 

The win was the first conference victory for the JV Hatters in four games and improved their overall record to 3-3.

Both Hatboro-Horsham teams will be back in action on Friday, if the weather allows.

The Lady Hatters are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. contests against Garnet Valley, but rain is in the forecast. 

Hatboro-Horsham has a busy slate of games next week as it returns to conference play at North Penn on Monday, at home against Quakertown on Wednesday and in Doylestown on Thursday against Central Bucks West.

The road games will start at 3:30 p.m., with the Quakertown contest scheduled for 3:45 p.m.