May 3, 2007 Issue
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Classified Chestnut Hill Local Online Editor Don't Miss an Issue, Tell us what you see or Winner of One |
Springside out-slugs Crusaders
On several occasions when Springside School seemed on the verge of breaking open last Wednesday’s non-league softball game, the Lions handed runs right back to their hosts from The Christian Academy, keeping the Crusaders in contention. Taking a precarious 11-9 lead into the seventh inning, the Lions (4-4 overall, 1-4 Girls Inter-Ac League) scored three times at the top of the frame, then held the line on defense to take away a 14-9 victory. The Christian Academy (TCA), which had 13 hits to Springside’s 14, slipped back to the .500 mark, at 3-3 on the season. A day earlier, Springside secured its first league victory of 2007, overcoming visiting Episcopal Academy, 5-4. After two innings, the Lions led 2-1 thanks to a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the first, and an RBI hit by Teghan Boyle tacked on another point for the locals in the third. EA tied the contest at 3-all in the top of the sixth, but after the home half began with a ground-out, Springside’s Natalie Klotz and Lauryn Kesselring each drew a walk. The runners advanced to second and third on a sacrifice grounder by Erica Swan, setting up a two-run triple down the left field line by Devin McInerney. Episcopal got one run back in the last of the seventh, but the Lions hung on for the win. At The Christian Academy in southern Delaware County, Springside’s five-run first inning began with a double by McInerney, who then came home on a bunt by Mo Perry. TCA then compounded its own problems by committing two fielding errors and tossing the ball out of play to help the Lions collect three more runs. The visitors picked up their fifth point on a Swan single to center. The Crusaders scored three times on three hits in the second inning, as the Lions helped out with a fielding mistake and a pair of off-target throws. The two ballclubs matched one another point-for-point over the next three innings, each scoring one run in the fourth, one in the fifth, and four in the sixth. The first two times, Springside scored on a hit by Perry and on a wild pitch, while TCA received an RBI triple from Abby Bean and then benefited from a walk and an error to eventually score on a fielder’s choice in the fifth. Emily Bilger, who’d scored the Lions’ run in the fourth frame after getting on with a single, drew a walk to begin the visitors’ half of the sixth inning. She moved to second as McInerney beat out a throw from short for a base hit, and the two runners stole ahead to second and third. Bilger came home on a sacrifice grounder by Perry, and McInerney crossed the plate on a single up the middle by Mary Trocky, who later went along for the ride on a two-run homer to right centerfield by Ali Aversa. The Crusaders got all four runs back in the bottom half, though, three of them scoring on Leah Kiehl’s home run to left center. As the seventh stanza got underway, a single through the right side of the infield by Swan was sandwiched between a pair of strike-outs for TCA pitcher Kelsey Coppola. McInerney whacked a two-run homer to left field to put the visitors up 13-9, and when Perry hit what might have been a single to shallow center, the ball got by the Crusader fielders and the speedy Springsider circled all the bases to score Springside’s 14th run. On the flip side of the inning, TCA’s first two batters grounded out, and after lead-off hitter Christy Fuselli singled, she was forced out at second when Bean bopped the ball to McInerney, the Lions’ shortstop. In the win, Springside’s Klotz struck out nine batters and walked three, while Coppola ended up with six strike-outs and one base on balls. |
