April 17, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Springside softball bops Bears
by TOM UTESCHER

Natalie Klotz, Springside pitcher on the verge of strking out a player. For more photos, visit www.chlocalphotos.com. (Photos by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

With a pair of softball victories last week, Springside School leveled its Girls Inter-Ac League record at 1-1 while improving to 2-1 overall.

The Lions pulled out a 5-4 non-league win at Delaware County Christian School on Tuesday, then returned home to knock off a league rival, the Baldwin Bears, by a 9-1 count on Friday afternoon.

Despite a solo home run by Devin McInerney in the fifth, the Lions lagged behind Delco Christian, 4-2, going into the seventh inning. A two-out, two-run hit by Jackie Bergey tied the contest for Springside, then Natalie Klotz singled home the winning run. The winning pitcher of record, Klotz struck out two batters and gave up a pair of walks.

On Friday, Klotz logged one strike-out and five bases on balls for Springside, which got all the runs it would need for the victory in the bottom of the first. With one out, Alexis Giovinazzo drew a walk and then moved to third on a bloop single down the right field line by Mary Trocky. Trocky stole second, then both baserunners came home when Bergey belted a hit through the left side of the infield.

A sluggish response by the Baldwin outfield allowed Bergey to reach second base on the play, and she went to third as Ali Aversa beat out a throw to first for an infield single. An error by the Bears on a ball struck by Klotz let in another run, and Springside took a 3-0 lead out of the inning.

First basewoman Teghan Boyle makes the catch, sending Baldwin’s Rachel Besvinek back to the benches.

The home half of the second began with a solo homer by McInerney. Later, Bergey delivered an RBI hit and Teghan Boyle bashed a two-run single to give the Lions a 7-0 advantage. Baldwin’s lone run went on the board in the top of the third, when Jen Rothman waited out a walk and then scored on a double by clean-up batter Kellie Woods. The resulting 7-1 tally would hold up until the bottom of the sixth.

Here, Bergey singled with one out, but was forced out at second base as Aversa made it to first on the fielder’s choice. Mo Perry singled to give the Lions a second baserunner, with two outs now in the book. Boyle sent a hit into right field and was eventually tagged out trying to reach second base on the play, but not before two runs came home to complete the final score of 9-1.

In the top of the seventh, Springside would secure the final out of the game with a tag at home plate. After fielding a ball driven well out in left field, Aversa hit Giovanazzo, the cut-off man, at short, and she made the throw home to Trocky, the Lions’ catcher. Giovinazzo, only an eighth-grader, had started the game at second base, but moved to the other side of the infield when the starting shortstop, McInerney, was injured in a collision with a Baldwin player.