Walkoff Win propels Lady Hatters to Elite Eight of State Tournament

In what was arguably their most exciting game of the 2011 softball season, the Hatboro-Horsham Lady Hatters escaped with a dramatic, 6-5 walkoff victory against Governor Mifflin in the first round of the state tournament playoffs. The victory valuted the Lady Hatters into the top eight teams in the state.

From the start of the game, it was clear that both teams were among the best in the state. Hatboro-Horsham's ace pitcher Maggie Shaffer ran into some trouble in the early innings, but kept working her way out of jams.

She allowed a single and a walk in the first inning, but ended the threat on a pop up and a strikeout. In the second, Shaffer allowed a trio of singles to load the bases with one out. She calmly retired the next two hitters on a pair of pop ups to the infield.

Meanwhile, Governor Mifflin's pitcher Jess Edler moved down the Lady Hatters in the first two innings, holding them without a hit.

But in the bottom of the third, the Lady Hatters produced a rally. Heather Lutz led off the inning with a double to left center field. Jackie DiPietro laid down a bunt single and promptly stole second, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Melissa Spinosa tried to bunt for a hit but was thrown out at first.

Chrissy James also bunted, but Lutz was thrown out at home trying to score. An intentional walk to Julie Wambold loaded the bases for cleanup hitter Danielle DiFilippo, who drove in the game's first on an infield single. Val Sadowl belted a line drive double to right field, scoring two, and plating the Lady Hatters with a commanding 3-0 lead.

Governor Mifflin cut the lead to 3-1 with a double and a pair of sacrifice bunts in the top of the fourth. They took a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth on a trio of runs, highlighted by a two-out, two-run single to right field.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Hatters threatened, as Lutz doubled with one out and a runner on first. But Maggie Shaffer was thrown out at the plate, preventing Hatboro-Horsham from tying the game. DiPietro worked a walk and Spinosa followed with the biggest hit of the game--so far. Her two-run triple to right field scored both runners and gave the Lady Hatters a 5-4 lead heading into the seventh and final inning.

Leading off the seventh was Edler, who had been intentionally walked by Hatboro-Horsham in her first three trips to the plate. For the first time all game, the Lady Hatters chose to pitch to Edler, and she made them pay, blasting a dramatic game-tying home run to right field.

"That was a big mistake pitching to her," DiFilippo said. "She is just a super hitter. She's an All-State player without a doubt. You're sitting in that situation, you're up by a run. If she hits a homer, the game is tied. If you walk her, you put the tying run on and chances are that she'll score so you know what, we took a shot."

Not only did Edler's blast tie the game, but the Lady Hatters still had to get out of the inning. Although Shaffer worked into another jam, allowing a pair of walks to put runners on first and second with just one out, she escaped the inning without allowing another run.

Heading into the bottom of the seventh, DiFilippo's squad needed just a single run to pull off a dramatic victory and advance into the top eight high school softball teams in the state.

The first two batters for the Lady Hatters grounded out and it appeared likely that the game would head into extra innings. But Sadowl hustled out an infield single to second base. Teammate Kelsey Koelzer followed with an identical infield single to second base, putting two runners on base with two outs for Shaffer. Shecame through, sending a line drive into center field, which scored Sadowl for the game-winning run.

'The only thing I can say about these girls is that they don't give up," Hatboro-Horsham's head coach Joe DiFilippo said. "I can't say I knew we were going to get a run (in the last inning) because I didn't know that, but I knew they wouldn't give up. I knew they'd go down fighting. I just want to play the next one. That was a good game. You got two good teams and that pitcher threw a heck of a game. It took us a couple of innings to get to her."

Needing just two more victories to clinch a spot in the state championship game, DiFilippo believes that his team can bring home their second state championship in the last four seasons, and his first as the team's head coach.

"It might be a lot more games like this," DiFilippo said. "I hope we can keep coming through. That's our goal. It's what we want and we'll give it our best shot."