Senior Softballers Will be Missed at Hatboro-Horsham

Two events signify the end of each year's prep softball season, the annual softball banquet and graduation. 

The banquet gives teams the chance to reflect on the past season, while graduation brings into focus the reality that another senior class has, sadly, finished its career.

It is the rare team that gets the opportunity to send its senior class off with state championship games after graduation — something that Hatboro-Horsham High School was able to do with a PIAA 4-A runner-up finish in 2006 and with state title wins in 2008 and 2011. 

One of the most successful senior classes in Lady Hatter history was honored last week in a delightful celebration at the Talamore Country Club in Ambler and then took that fateful walk through graduation ceremonies on Monday evening.

The seven-member softball class of 2013, which included pitcher Nicole Casagrand, left fielder Carlie Johnson, second baseman Adrienne Giuliani, first baseman Heather Lutz, shortstop Maria Spinosa, pitcher Emily Wrenn and outfielder-catcher Kelsey Koelzer, left a high standard for future classes to attain. 

All this group did was reach the 2010 state semifinals, win gold medals as District One and PIAA 4-A champions in 2011, make it to the 2012 state quarterfinals and capture their fourth consecutive Suburban One League Continental Conference title in 2013 before being upset in the district quarterfinals — one hit short of a fourth-straight trip to the state playoffs.

The 2010 team is the only club in school history to win conference, district and state titles in the same year. 

Casagrand will continue her burgeoning pitching career at Division I Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) next season, while backup hurler Wrenn will do her pitching for Penn State-Abington.

Lutz and Spinosa will join former teammate Danielle DiFilippo at Division II Millersville. 

Koelzer will hang up her softball glove after a year and a half of leg injuries, but will continue to lace up her ice hockey skates for Princeton.

Johnson, who battled back from multiple wrist surgeries and missed her junior softball season before coming back for a spectacular senior season, says she will put all of the pain from her competitive softball and tennis careers behind as she moves on to college. 

The dependable and hard-working Giuliani will also concentrate on being a student as she goes to college. 

But those facts don't tell the story of respect that the Lady Hatter program holds around the Pennsylvania softball community.

Losing in the third round of the district playoffs hasn't kept our softball family from following the progress of postseason play in the PIAA.

As raw as the emotions might have been, we watched the semifinals and final of District One play as Central Bucks East beat Pennsbury and Neshaminy two weeks ago for the title before turning our focus to the first two rounds of the state tournament last week.

Our journey to the Plymouth-Whitemarsh High last week for CB East's first-round victory against overmatched Girls High of Philadelphia led us to a fun afternoon, chatting with North Penn's veteran coach Rick Torresani. 

We learned that the Maidens' sophomore ace in the circle, Jackie Bilotti, had grown up in Hatboro before moving to the North Penn district.

"You absolutely deserve to be in the state playoffs," Torresani told my daughter Charlotte, as she studied CB East freshmen pitchers Teresa Haug and Kayla Ventura, seeking to get an edge while preparing for her senior season in 2014.

The words of encouragement from a rival went a long way to easing the pain of that season-ending district playoff loss to CB East. 

Of course, when Torresani's North Penn team in turn ended CB East's season with a stunning, 11-0 victory a couple of days later in the state quarterfinals, it made my daughter feel even better.

Charlotte Coulson made it a point to congratulate Torresani after his team beat CB East.

There was also the opportunity to see something truly remarkable, the perfect game tossed in the rain by Neshaminy's Lauren Quense in an 8-0, quarterfinal victory over Daniel Boone High last Thursday at Spring-Ford High. 

Ironically, the last time Quense had worked in the Spring-Ford circle, she had lost a tough, 2-0 decision to Hatboro-Horsham's Maggie Shaffer in the 2011 state semifinals.

Quense is probably glad she doesn't have to run into the Lady Hatters in the semifinals, or finals of this year's state tournament.

Which brings us back to why the Lady Hatters were sitting on the sidelines for this state tournament.

Torresani, who serves as the Continental Conference representative on the District One seeding committee, explained how a state statistical formula had stolen one of the District One PIAA bids and given it to District Three's Cumberland Valley — a squad that lost 14-3 to District One third-place finisher Pennsbury in the state quarterfinals.

That fifth District One slot in the state playoffs had gone to Hatboro-Horsham last year and the Lady Hatters would have been strong favorites to have won a play-in tournament again this season.

Try as the PIAA might have to avoid a third-straight all-District One title game, three of the remaining four teams in the 4-A playoffs are from District One as Neshaminy takes on North Penn and Pennsbury goes against two-time, District Seven champion Canon-McMillan in Tuesday's semifinals.

And don't be surprised if it will indeed be another District One championship bash Friday at Penn State when the two 4-A teams take the field at 12:30 p.m.

Torresani also explained how that in an effort to get six deserving teams from the Continental Conference into the district tournament that compromises had led to pairing teams like North Penn and Pennridge, as well as Hatboro-Horsham and CB East, in the third round.

It also caused No. 4 seed CB South to face one of its biggest rivals, North Penn in the second round — an encounter that led the defending state champs to a shocking 14-3 loss to the defending district champion Maidens.

"There is no way that CB East should have been the No. 7 seed," said Torresani. "Hatboro-Horsham shouldn't have had to play that team in the quarterfinals." 

And, Torresani added, CB South shouldn't have had to play the defending district champ in its first game, following a first-round bye. 

Some of that posturing will be eliminated next season by a rating formula that should make the seeding process more fair.

Respect for the Lady Hatter program is shown in other ways, too.

Like the fact that four HHHS players, Casagrand, Daria Edwards, Lutz and Spinosa, were unanimous selections to the All-Continental Conference first team at pitcher, shortstop, first base and third base and that every member of the Lady Hatter starting lineup was chosen to the squad.

Johnson and sophomore Jen Cader made the third team in the outfield, while freshman Bridgett Schaffer was selected as the third-team catcher.

Giulani was honorable mention at second base, with sophomore Jaynie Black and freshman DeAnna Moyer earning honorable mention status at designated player and outfield positions. 

"It is truly an honor to have everyone of our starters recognized on all-league teams," said HHHS coach Joe DiFilippo. "That shows the respect they have earned from other coaches."

Keeping in mind that the Continental Conference is undoubtedly the top league in the PIAA.

The senior class will be remembered for more than their performance on the field. 

"Every day in practice was fun with this group of girls," said DiFilippo. "You never knew what to expect."

From bus trips to road games, to the riotously fun pizza party with Crestwood High, there was never a dull moment around this team. 

On the final day of practice last month, rain left the Lady Hatter diamond a mucky mess and made it difficult to do softball-related activities.

With mud puddles covering much of the infield, nearly the entire team took up the challenge to run into the water and dive headlong into the depths of this Hatboro-Horsham lake.

"I still have the scrapes to prove it," said DiFilippo.

It was a fitting conclusion to an exciting year. 

"I've had more fun with these girls this year than I've had with any other team," said DiFilippo. "This is a great group of girls."