Having graduated one of the Inter-Ac’s outstanding pitchers, the Academy of Notre Dame arrived at Penn Charter last Tuesday with an 0-5 record in league play. Nevertheless, midway through the third inning, the Irish were tied with the host Quakers, 2-2.

Two innings later, the game was over. Penn Charter came alive for seven runs in the bottom of the third and six more in the bottom of the fourth, then the Quakers retired AND in order at the top of the fifth, coming away with a 15-2 mercy-rule victory.

“I had talked to them about trap games,” commented longtime PC head coach Doc Mittica. “Our game right before this was very intense, where we pulled out a 4-2 win over Springside. There’s a tendency to have a letdown when you go out the next time against a team that’s not as strong. During the game today I reminded them about that again with a few kind words, and they picked up their game.”

The victory over Springside Chestnut Hill Academy had been the 400th of Mittica’s distinguished tenure. His PC career has been intertwined with the Quakers’ traditional rival from Chestnut Hill. He noted that his 300th win had come against SCH in early May of 2015, and back in 1992, his first victory with the newly formed Penn Charter ballclub had come against the old Springside School.

Senior Averie Schnupp was the starting pitcher against Notre Dame last week, recording two strike-outs while not giving up any bases on balls.

One of three seniors on the roster this spring, Schnupp will attend Lehigh University. First baseman Abby Brown is headed for Penn State, while centerfielder Neilee Koslosky, a four-year starter, will travel south to the University of Tampa.

A strike-out and two ground-outs took care of Notre Dame at the top of the first last Tuesday, then with one out in the bottom half junior Madi Brooks hit a ball that was knocked down by the third baseman without the possibility of a play at first. An Irish overthrow on a steal attempt got Brooks around to third base, and when the batter, sophomore catcher Luciana Boggi, drew a walk, freshman Bella Olsen went in as a pinch runner.

On a double steal, Olsen was safe at second when Notre Dame’s throw to the base was dropped, and meanwhile Brooks came home with the first run of the day. After a pop-up for the second out, Brown drove the ball hard into centerfield, and on an Irish throw to home plate the speedy Olsen slid under the catcher’s tag attempt to give PC a 2-0 lead.

With only 12 players on the varsity roster this spring, Coach Mittica has had to cast players in multiple roles. He said that while Olsen and fellow freshman Francesca Luzi were both fast runners, neither of them knew how to slide.

“I knew I could use their speed as pinch runners,” he said, “so one day I took them over to the long jump pit and on some hills and taught them to slide. They picked it right up, and they’ve been valuable contributors for us.”

On the play where Olsen scored Brown had gotten to second base, but after Koslosky drew a walk, the inning ended with a ground-out.

At the start of the second frame, a pair of singles followed by a ground-out to Schnupp put Notre Dame runners on second and third. Another ground-out followed, but when PC then tried to catch the runner at second off the bag, the other runner on third base came home. Charter went down in order in the bottom half, and the inning ended, 2-1.

After Schnupp struck out the first Irish batter of the third inning, two singles put runners on first and third. A ground-out allowed Notre Dame to score a tying run, but it would be the visitors’ last of the day.

The Quakers began to look more like their usual selves in the bottom of the inning. It began with a smash up the middle by Brooks, who then went to third on Boggi’s base hit to right centerfield. Freshman Macie Bergman hit to the other side of the centerfielder, reaching second on a fruitless throw to the plate by the Irish. At 3-2, Penn Charter was now in the lead for keeps.

Brown walked to load the bases, then Kosloski poked a hit to shallow left that allowed two runs to score. Notre Dame went for an out at third but didn’t get it, leaving Quakers on second and third. Schnupp singled in a run to make it 6-2, then the bases were loaded again when an indecisive Irish infielder wasn’t sure where to throw a ball hit on the ground by McIntyre.

All bases were still occupied after freshman Alyssa Loffer singled in a seventh run, and junior Kamryn Kosloski (Neilee’s sister) ripped the ball past the shortstop to allow two more runners to cross the plate. The Irish then nailed down three outs in a row, but they now trailed, 9-2.

Notre Dame’s first batter of the fourth inning singled to center, but she was one of the victims of a double play right after that. The next hitter sent a line drive into the glove of shortstop Kamryn Kosloski, who then threw to first to catch the runner off the bag. Her throw was not right on target, but Brown did a nice job of stretching out to make the catch while still maintaining contact with the bag.

This was another example of the versatility required by this relatively small band of Quakers in 2021.

“Abby Brown had never played first base before, and she’s doing a great job,” Mittica remarked. “She has also turned into a real leader as a senior.”

At first, it seemed like Notre Dame was going to get off easy in PC’s half of the fourth inning, as a walk to Neilee Koslowski was sandwiched between two outs. However, during the process of the third PC batter striking out, Kosloski made a bid to steal second and wound up on third thanks to a throwing error by the Irish.

McIntyre directed an RBI single to left field, then went to third on a base hit by Loffer. The Notre Dame shortstop had a little trouble handling a ball put in play by Kamryn Kosloski, and the tally on the board rose to 11-2.

The Quakers needed to score just one more run to start thinking about bringing the mercy rule into play in the next inning. As it turned out, they got two runs home when Brooks belted a double deep to right center.

A towering bash to center by Boggi upped the running total to 14-2. Bergman’s double deep to right center was followed by a walk drawn by Brown to load the bases, and the 15-2 final score went up on the board when Neilee Kosloski dropped an RBI single into shallow center.

The Irish then picked up a strike out to escape the inning, but they’d need to score four runs in the top of the fifth to bring the lead back below the mercy-rule standard of 10 runs. They were facing a new pitcher in PC freshman Payton Handler, who is part of the regular rotation along with Schnupp and Kamryn Kosloski. At the time time, Bergman came in from third base to relieve Boggi as catcher.

The first two batters popped out to the first baseman, Brown. The second bloop was well foul of the first base line, and Brown showed good hustle in making the play. A ground-out to McIntyre at second ended the game.

The Quakers had had some shaky outings early in the season, but recently they’ve been playing solid softball.

“It took us a while to figure it out,” Mittica said. “We had to figure out who plays where, how to use the pitchers. We have some good hitters and some good defense, and we’ve learned to put it together.”