Sports
Hatboro-Horsham Lady Hatters Win Softball Championship
Girls wrap up phenomenal season with a Continental Conference championship 5-2 victory Monday.
Most first-year head coaches struggle to finish with a winning season. Hatboro-Horsham's head coach Joe DiFilippo just captured the Continental Conference championship, as the Lady Hatters concluded their season with an 18-2 mark, including a 12-2 record in conference play.
"It's a great feeling," DiFilippo said. "These girls worked hard and they deserve it. Every day someone stepped up. I've been coaching a lot of them since they were 12 and we were playing in travel tournaments in South Carolina. I wasn't always easy on them."
In Monday's game, the Lady Hatters easily defeated the North Penn Knights 5-2 in a game that really wasn't as close as the score indicated.
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The Hatters got on the board in the top of the second when Val Sadowl belted a double to center field. Kelsey Koelzer followed with a line drive off the right center field wall, and Sadowl scored for the game's first run. Pitcher Maggie Shaffer dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Koelzer to second and Heather Lutz followed with a walk. Jackie DiPietro laid down a bunt single to load the bases, and Melissa Spinosa provided the Lady Hatters with a 2-0 lead on an RBI single to third.
The Lady Hatters added three more runs in the top of the sixth. Pinch-hitter Maria Spinosa singled to right center field. With one out, Daria Edwards singled to second. DiPietro followed with her third hit of the game, a two-run triple. Melissa Spinosa laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, scoring DiPietro for the team's fifth run.
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Although the Knights scored two in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly and an error, the Lady Hatters held on to win easily.
Shaffer, a junior, pitched a complete game, allowing nine hits and just one earned run. Coach DiFilippo described her performance as unflappable. "I've never really seen her get hit hard," DiFilippo said. "She has great movement and control. It works out very nice."
The Hatboro-Horsham Lady Hatters, champions of the eight-team Continental Conference, will enter into a postseason tournament featuring the top 24 teams in the Suburban One tournament. Seeding will occur on Thursday.
