The good news on Tuesday was that the Hatboro-Horsham High School softball team couldn't have asked for a much better senior night celebration at the Hatboro Little League complex with a 11-1 victory over Central Bucks West to finish off Suburban One League/Continental Conference play.
The bad news was that a 2-1 victory by Central Bucks East over Central Bucks South up the road in Buckingham earlier in the afternoon left the Lady Hatters firmly on the bubble for a District One playoff berth.
That CB East win means that the Patriots clinched no worse than fourth place in the Continental Conference when it concludes its regular season on Wednesday at conference champion Souderton, one spot ahead of HHHS.
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Hatboro-Horsham (10-7 overall, 8-6 in conference) has one final chance to make an impression on the District One selection committee when its travels to Garnet Valley on Wednesday for a non-conference, regular season game.
North Penn coach Rick Torresani, the Continental Conference representative on the District One selection and seeding committee, said last week that he will push for five teams from the conference — typically the toughest loop in PIAA 4-A play — to be included in the tournament.
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"I think Hatboro-Horsham deserves to be in the field," said Torresani, who survived two one-run games against the Lady Hatters this season, one in extra innings where two bad umpiring decisions gave North Penn all three of its runs in a 3-2 victory.
If you were judging by the Lady Hatters' performance this week, it would be hard to disagree. With a 15-2 victory over Norristown on Monday and an 11-1 trouncing of CB West (1-15, 0-13) on Tuesday, H-H could be peaking at just the right time.
Hatboro-Horsham wasted little time in taking control of Tuesday night's game after honoring three seniors, Charlotte Coulson, Megan Hallock and Daria Edwards and their families in pre-game ceremonies before the contest.
In a nice show of sportsmanship, the Lady Hatters also gave flowers to the senior members of the CB West team, something that Quakertown did for Coulson, Edwards and Hallock last Thursday at the Panthers' senior night.
All three H-H seniors contributed in a six-run outburst in the bottom of the first.
After a walk to DeAnna Moyer, Jaynie Black's infield hit and a wild pitch, Edwards followed with a shot that was speared on one wicked hop at third for a single that loaded the bases.
Jen Cader laced a base hit through the hole at first to plate Moyer and Black with the first two runs of the game, sending Edwards to third and advanced to second herself on the throw to the plate.
Jackie Locke worked the count to 3-2 before belting another single to center as Edwards and Cader scored easily to make it 4-0.
Starting her first varsity game as the designated player, Coulson narrowly missed a base hit up the middle on a 3-2, two-hop shot that was flagged down at short and turned into a force play, but she came around to score after doubles by Kylie Flagler and Hallock.
Hallock, hitting from the right side for the first time since her game-winning home run at Central Bucks East in the opening game of the conference season, not only picked up Coulson, but also plated Flagler on her shot to the left-field fence that increased the lead to 6-0.
That was more than enough support for the pitching duo of Lexie Campbell and Kaeli Simmons, who limited the Bucks to just six base runners on six hits. Only three of those hits even reached the outfield grass and only one of those was hit hard.
Campbell was sharp with her screwball and drop curve in three scoreless innings, allowing three soft hits — one on a bunt — before handing things over to Simmons for the final two innings.
Simmons gave up the only convincing hit of the game to CB West in the top of the fifth on a sharp single to center and was touched for a run when Hallock couldn't hang on to a shallow, fly-ball double after a long run in left field.
Hatboro-Horsham increased its lead to 7-0 in the second when Locke and Coulson — who had paired frequently as run producers during their days on the JV Hatters in the past two seasons — put together a two-out rally.
Locke walked to start the trouble and Coulson doubled after working another 3-2 count with a looping liner over third base to pick up her first-ever varsity hit and RBI.
Hallock's speed was a major contributor to another solo run in the third when CB West was forced to hurry a throw for a two-base error. Moyer's sharp single through the hole at first brought Hallock home to make it 8-0.
Freshman Brynn Griffith, who has suddenly developed into a power hitter late in her freshman season, was stranded at third in the fourth after a booming double off the left-field fence, but the Lady Hatters were able to put the game away in walk-off fashion in the fifth.
Needing three runs to invoke the 10-run rule, Hallock got aboard on a fielder's choice and quickly stole second with one out.
Moyer crushed a ball to the fence in center, but Amanda Wolfgang — one of the CB West seniors — made a spectacular catch to rob her of extra bases. Infield hits by Black and Edwards pushed Hallock across the plate to increase the lead to 9-1 and set the stage for Cader's game-ending dramatics.
Getting the green light on a 3-0 pitch, Cader rifled a shot to the center-field fence and raced all the way to third as Black and Edwards scored to give the Lady Hatters a 10-run victory.
Black led all hitters with a 3-for-4 performance, while Cader, Edwards and Locke all contributed a pair of hits.
In the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader, the JV Hatters showed some offensive firepower in a six-inning, 9-1 victory over the Bucks.
Emmy Rivkin got H-H off to a quick start in the first with a one-out shot to center and then stole second base. Rivkin scored on a sharp single to center by Lisa Lang to make it 1-0.
The JV Hatters added two runs in the second with Rivkin being the catalyst again, as she scorched a double off the fence. Lang's single pushed Rivkin to third and Megan Fitzgerald lashed a two-run double to push the lead to 3-0.
That was all that H-H pitcher Taylor Sciubba, fresh off her first varsity performance and a win against Norristown on Monday, would need, as she allowed only one run.
In the third, Hatboro-Horsham completely broke the game open with a pair of infield hits by Cameron Fisher and Dani Repkoe and a booming double off the barrier by Courtney Anderson that nearly sailed over the fence for two runs and a 5-0 lead.
Anderson scored on Stephanie Eble's RBI single and Rivkin added another run later in the inning when Lang beat out an infield hit for an RBI.
Dependable Bria Cashman closed out the JV Hatter victory in the sixth with a two-run double.
