Hatboro-Horsham High Begins Defense of State Softball Title

It took just one day for second-year softball coach Joe DiFilippo to deliver an important message to the defending Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association 4-A champions when the Hatters opened practice last week.

DiFilippo got his team's attention by conducting a nearly three-hour-long workout session on day one, with a heavy emphasis on conditioning.

He left the practice with a broad smile framing the charcoal-colored, goat-tee on his face.

"I know there are a lot of good 4-A teams out, so it is too early to say how things will go," said DiFilippo. "I know we will be competitive and I know we will be tough to beat."

As the Hatters opened the 2012 season Wednesday afternoon with a scrimmage at home against Neshaminy High, DiFilippo knew that his squad would have a rather large target on its back.

Kind of like the old, Gary Larson-Far Side cartoon of two deer having a conversation.

One deer points out the unusual, circular, target-like markings on the other's chest and says: "Bummer of a birthmark, Hal."

The last time that Hatboro-Horsham had played the Redskins, it was for a berth in last year's state championship game and the Hatters won, 2-0.

But the Hatters jumped out of the gate with a 6-1 scrimmage win on Wednesday behind strong pitching from Nicole Casagrand and Emily Wrenn, the usually solid defense and solid hitting from the likes of , Maria Spinosa and Kelsey Koelzer.

Hatboro-Horsham will host a second scrimmage on March 20 against Spring-Ford High at 3:30 p.m. before officially starting its title defense with a home game on March 23 against Harry S. Truman High at 3:45 p.m.

The national high school sports Web site Maxprep.com has already named Hatboro-Horsham as the favorite for the 2012 championship at the PIAA's highest enrollment level and it isn't hard to see why.

The Hatters, who captured the Suburban 1 League Continental Conference championship, won their first District 3 title a year ago with an 8-5 victory over Pennsbury and then , return six of nine starters, including all-state pitcher .

Shaffer was 26-2 last season, getting the decision in every Hatboro-Horsham game. She was rested on Wednesday as DiFilippo took a longer look at his other pitchers.

"I don't need to see what Maggie Shaffer has," DiFilippo said with a laugh. "After going 26-2 last year, what more is she going to do this season?"

The unflappable senior with the poker face is as equally adept at hiding her emotions in the pitching circle as she is at painting the strike zone.

Pitching is a position of extreme depth for the Hatters, with Casagrand — a hard-throwing, junior lefty with good control — and change-up specialist Wrenn, a senior who compiled a 17-3 record last year on a junior varsity team that came within a game of a conference title, backing Shaffer up.

Hatboro-Horsham graduated four players off the championship team — the Hatters' second state title in four years — all who are continuing their softball careers in college.

All-state shortstop and catcher Julie Wambold is starting regularly for nationally-ranked Syracuse University, while center fielder Melissa Spinosa moved on to West Chester University, first baseman  is now at Millersville University and MaryKate Ballerino has gone on to Gwynedd Mercy College.

Two members of the current senior class, shortstop Val Sadowl and switch-hitting, second baseman/third baseman DiPietro have already signed national letters of intent for next year, with several other Hatter seniors expected to get scholarship offers. 

Sadowl, a smooth fielder and clutch hitter, signed with Connecticut, while small-ball specialist DiPietro will join Seton Hall. 

DiFilippo said DiPietro has increased her speed and will bat in the lead-off spot, while Sadowl will be one of the players expected to make up for the loss of Wambold and Danielle DiFilippo in the middle of the order.

"I don't see anyone throwing Jackie out on the bases this year," DiFilippo said.

DiPietro started in right field before switching to second base last year when Koelzer injured her throwing arm as catcher before the playoffs. That necessitated Wambold moving to catcher, with Sadowl moving from second base to shortstop.

Third baseman Chrissy James, one of the top bunters in the state, gives the team another senior leader and will likely bat second again, like last year. 

Other returning starters include left fielder-catcher Koelzer and outfielder Heather Lutz, a pair of solid-hitting juniors. Lutz, who started in both left and right last season, will replace Melissa Spinosa in center.

The Hatters will find a spot in the lineup for versatile sophomore Daria Edwards, a power-hitting player who can catch, as well as play in the infield, or outfield. 

Edwards slammed seven home runs for the junior varsity team last year as a freshman before being moved to the varsity midway through the season. Edwards is currently starting at catcher.

Speedster Maria Spinosa is a versatile junior with a strong bat, who is making a quick adjustment to her new position, first base, after playing in the outfield last year as a reserve.

"Defensively, we're going to be as good as we were last year," said DiFilippo. "The key for us is run production. I know we can be good. We just have to wait and see how good." 

Two players who moved from the junior varsity to the varsity in time for Hatboro-Horsham's eight-game playoff run, senior catcher Nicole D'Andrea and junior second baseman Adrienne Giuliani are also battling for playing time.

Giuliani, who has built a reputation as one the hardest workers on the team, will fill a utility role with the Hatters.

D'Andrea, a strong-armed defensive player, had a pair of hits against Neshaminy on Wednesday, coming off the bench. She is particularly good at working with pitchers.

"Competition is one of our biggest strengths," said DiFilippo. "We probably have 13 players who could start for us."  

Carlie Johnson, a junior who saw action as a reserve outfielder with the state championship team last season, is expected to miss the season after undergoing wrist surgery.

Johnson, who broke her wrist after slamming into a fence, playing for DiFilippo's travel team, will serve as the team manager this year. 

"We will miss her bat," DiFilippo said. "But at least we will have her back for her senior year."

One freshman is currently on the varsity roster and is a player to keep an eye on for the future. Jen Cader, a rarity as a left-handed catcher, has honed her batting and fielding skills for the Hatboro Banshees club softball team.

Cader opened Wednesday with the HHHS junior varsity squad, which was short on catchers. The JV Hatters fell 13-4 to Neshaminy. Cader is likely to split time between both teams this season, similar to what Edwards did last year.

The Hatboro-Horsham program has built itself into a perennial championship contender since finishing as the state runner-up in a 3-0 loss to Shaler High in 2006 under then-coach and current athletic director Lou James (the father of Crissy James). 

The Hatters followed that season with a state title in 2008, beating Latrobe, 3-0, with Kelly Krier as the coach.

A number of players on the current team advanced to the 2010 semifinals before losing, 1-0, to eventual state champion Mount Lebanon.

The Banshees club program and the seventh- and eighth-grade teams have been key elements in the development of the Hatboro-Horsham program, as has the Hatters' junior varsity squad.

After heading into the final two games of the 2011 season with a 17-1 record and in first place in the Suburban One League Continental Conference, the Kathy Lutz-coached Hatters dropped two games in a row to finish in second place.

Lutz is the mother of Hatter varsity outfielder Heather Lutz and is Julie Wambold's aunt.

Hatboro-Horsham's three JV losses were by a total of three runs last season.

Four players from last year's JV team have moved on to the varsity this season, but the JV Hatters return junior outfielder Grace Mitchell and three sophomores, center fielder Maggie Leisch, first baseman Anna Mitchell and second baseman-outfielder Charlotte Coulson.

Erin Bollendorf, who was undefeated as a pitcher for a championship Keith Valley Middle School team in 2010, has returned to softball for her sophomore year. She also excels as a strong-armed infielder.

That group of veterans is fortified by a talented group of freshmen, including pitchers Lexy Campbell and Emily Wallace, catcher Mara Witsen, along with infielders Jaynie Black, Jackie Locke, Bria Cashman and Miranda Nish, and outfielders Brooke Berridge and Jessica Ebel.

You can read more from David Coulson on his Web site, College Sports Journal, by clicking here.