Penn Charter's softball team pounded out a 13-1 victory over Germantown Academy when the teams met at PC back in the middle of April. In last Wednesday's rematch at GA, however, the scoreboard still read 0-0 after five full innings.

Things changed rapidly after that, though, as the visiting Quakers put up 10 runs in the top of the sixth, then kept the Patriots scoreless in the home half of the frame for a 10-0 mercy-rule win. Senior pitcher Ryan Hatty went the distance for the PC victory, booking 10 strike-outs while giving up six walks and five hits.

Charter improved to 8-7 overall and 6-3 within the Inter-Ac League, while GA slipped to 9-6, 5-5.

The Patriots' program improved noticeably during the four-year tenure of Sarah Zimmerman, who stepped down as head coach after the 2024 campaign. Germantown Academy athletic director Tim Ginter, a former baseball coach, became interim head softball coach this spring.

GA will be graduating its starting battery in a few weeks. Pitcher Liv Reynolds is headed for East Carolina University, and catcher Jazz Manning will attend Swarthmore College. There are two other seniors, third baseman Alex Johnson, who will play softball at Dickinson College, and outfielder Maggie Burkholder, who will play field hockey at the University of Scranton.

Last week's GA-PC game was moved from Tuesday to Wednesday due to rain, and since the Patriots' regular grass field was still unplayable, the action switched to one of the school's artificial turf facilities. A gentle mist damped the venue through most of the game.

Reynolds and the Patriots only allowed six Penn Charter batters up to the plate over the first two innings. The last of them, junior Nora Prasad, stroked the ball to centerfield but was tagged out trying to stretch a base hit into a double.

In the bottom of the first, a hit by Johnson and a walk to Manning got two runners aboard with one out, and they moved to second and third on a passed ball. PC's Hatty struck out the next two batters to dispel the threat, and in the second, she gave up a walk and then fanned the next three GA batters.

After a scoreless third inning (junior Zoey Clark doubled for GA but was later tagged out on the basepaths), each team got two runners on base in the fourth, but all were left stranded.

Much the same happened in the fifth inning. GA errors helped the Quakers get runners on first and second with one out in the top half, but a strike-out and a foul pop got the Patriots out of trouble.

GA started the bottom of the inning with a single to center by Clark, and after two outs, she got to third as a ball put in play by junior Aubrey Daniel glanced off Hatty's feet in the circle. The inning then ended with a strike-out, and it was beginning to look like there was some sort of invisible barrier between third base and home plate.

If there was, it vanished in the top of the sixth inning. Patient PC batters waited out three walks to load the bases, and Prasad then cleared them with a double to left field. Later, junior Maddie Bergmann drove a two-run triple to centerfield, and bases on balls and some GA miscues also contributed to the Penn Charter surge. Eventually, Reynolds turned over the pitching circle to sophomore Paige Sipler, who would face the last three Quaker batters.

Charter now had just enough of a lead to end the game early (it was 10-0) if the Patriots were kept off the scoreboard. In the bottom of the sixth, Sipler helped her own cause by drawing a walk, but two strike-outs followed. Hatty also had a hand in the final out, scooping up a ground ball and making the toss to first base.