Late Homers Lift Lady Hatters to Softball Win at Souderton

The line between winning and losing in the Continental Conference appears to be slim again as the Hatboro-Horsham High School varsity softball team proved on Thursday in a 4-2 victory against host Souderton. 

Trailing 2-1 in the top of the fifth, the Lady Hatters (4-0 overall, 2-0 in conference) struck with deadly force as center fielder Jen Cader smashed a home run to center leading off the inning to tie the score and shortstop Daria Edwards followed a walk to third baseman Maria Spinosa with a booming blast well beyond the left-center field fence to provide the winning runs. 

That was all Nicole Casagrand (4-0) needed to close out another victory. 

Casagrand scattered six hits, two walks and a hit batter, while striking out six and repeatedly found ways to strand runners in scoring position as Souderton stole seven bases and stroked a pair of doubles.

The fireballing left-hander allowed a run in the first that tied the score and another in the fourth as the Indians took that 2-1 advantage, but she slammed the door once her teammates gave her the lead in the late innings.

Casagrand got some help in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, a runner on first and the dangerous Sarah Destine (2-for-2) at the plate.  

Freshman catcher Bridgett Schaeffer, who had been unsuccessful throwing out any of the seven base runners who stole on her earlier in the game, gunned out the final one to put an end to Souderton's last threat.

Left fielder Carlie Johnson prevented trouble earlier in the game with a nice, running catch near the fence to rob an extra-base hit and kill a potential rally.

"In this league, you take a win anyway you can get it," said Hatboro-Horsham coach Joe DiFilippo. "Every game against the top five teams is going to be like this."

With the win over Souderton, Hatboro-Horsham finds itself tied with Pennridge for first place, while defending state 4-A champion Central Bucks South, Central Bucks East, North Penn and Quakertown are all tied a game back. 

Indian pitcher Salina Allebach, who had struggled in a 12-4 loss to North Penn on Tuesday in the league opener, rebounded to stifle Hatboro-Horsham for much of the afternoon.

Allebach allowed just five hits against the potent Lady Hatter attack, singles by Edwards and first baseman Heather Lutz that plated a run in the first and a double to the right-center field gap by Lutz in the middle of the game before being burned by those late homers.

"She pitched a great game, keeping our hits off-balance," said DiFilippo. "She threw a lot of junk. I don't know if she tired late in the game on those homers, or what."

Morgan Yoder had an RBI single in the first and Nikki Canfield added an RBI double in the fourth for Souderton. 

It was a tougher day for the young JV Hatters in an 11-2 loss to Souderton. 

The JV Hatters (2-2, 0-2) hit in tough luck, with the Indians making several clutch catches in the outfield and Hatboro-Horsham's defense faltering at some key moments to allow five unearned runs off pitcher Emily Wallace.

HHHS managed only a pair of infield hits by third baseman Bria Cashman and first baseman Jackie Locke and a clean single to left from Wallace through the first four innings. 

But the JV Hatters finally put together a rally in the fifth when left fielder Jamie Mroz and right fielder Charlotte Coulson combined for hard back-to-back singles to center and left and designated hitter Jessica Eble (2-for-3) beat out a bunt to load the bases.

With two outs, Cashman (2-for-3) fouled off five pitches with two strikes before ripping a single to left to score Mroz and Coulson for Hatboro-Horsham's only RBIs.

A single to center by Eble and a double to the left-center gap by Kaeli Simmons in the seventh gave the JV Hatters one last chance, but the game ended when Kaylin Mount was robbed of a potential extra-base hit by another great catch in center field.

A scheduled game at Conestoga High School on Friday has been postponed and will likely be made up later in the season to allow Conestoga to play a delayed conference contest. 

Both Lady Hatter teams will be back in action Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. against Pennridge, with the varsity game being an early battle for first place in the Continental Conference.