Summit Impact Fall in Semi-finals

The Summit Impact were eliminated from the playoffs Wednesday at the hands of Madison-Honor Tree, 13-0. Honor Tree moves on to the championship game in fifth and sixth grade softball. The game was held at the field behind Madison Junior School.

The Impact completed a very successful season in which it won 10 games and only recorded five losses. Two of the losses were to a very strong Honor Tree team in the last six days.

"The season was a tremendous success," head coach John Calabrese said. "I am proud of all the girls and their accomplishments. They matured in ability and as young women."

The first inning saw Honor Tree take a 1-0 lead. The Impact did not have any base runners in their turn at bat, but Honor Tree loaded the bases and scored a run in theirs. A nice catch by Jackie Shepard at third base on a line drive ended the inning.

The second inning seemed to be almost a mirror image of the first. The Impact did not get any runs across and Honor Tree scored another run. Nice plays in the field by catcher Alex McDonald on a popped-up bunt attempt and second baseman Sarah Williams on a line drive were made by the Impact defense.

The top of the third inning represented the best opportunity for the Impact to make a statement. Down only two runs, Shepard hit a two-out triple beyond the left fielder. The Impact, however, were not able to score.

The bottom of the third and fourth innings saw Honor Tree combine for seven runs as they broke the game open.

"It was just a game where there were some unfortunate calls and missed opportunities," Calabrese said. "Honor Tree didn't let up and they played a very good ball game."

The Impact came to bat in the top of the fifth down by nine runs and in need of a rally. A leadoff walk by Claire Schaefer began the inning on the right foot. However, hard hit balls by Kayla Hoesly, Emmy Trone, and McDonald were all fielded excellently by Honor Tree, ending the inning. The Impact really began hitting the ball well in the last three innings, but it was tough to get anything past the Honor Tree defense.

The bottom of the fifth had Honor Tree add four more runs to their lead, but was highlighted by a nice defensive play at shortstop by Schaefer. The top of the sixth featured another Shepard two-out extra base hit, this time a double. She recorded both Impact hits in the game. The Impact played good defense the whole game and hit the ball well toward the end.

"We really had a great season," Calabrese said. "There was an amazing improvement from the beginning of the season to the end."