Lady Hatters Beat Perkiomen Valley Softballers With Nine-Run Sixth

COLLEGEVILLE, PA. — Former Hatboro-Horsham High School pitching ace Maggie Shaffer watched her alma mater put on a very uncharacteristic performance in the first round of the District One softball playoffs on Monday afternoon against Perkiomen Valley.

Shaffer and probably no one else who follows Lady Hatters softball had ever seen their favorite team play a game where 28 runs were scored, but Hatboro-Horsham was left standing at the end with a hard-fought, 16-12 victory.

Coming back from an early 6-2 deficit, the Lady Hatters rallied to take a 7-6 advantage and then broke a 7-7 tie with a nine-run sixth inning before hanging on for the four-run win.

Winning pitcher Kaeli Simmons, making her second appearance in the circle during the day came on with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh to coax Alex Haines into a routine fly ball to DeAnna Moyer to finally end a wild game that took two and a half hours to play.

Led by four RBIs and two assists to cut down runners at home plate from center field Jen Cader, five runs scored by Moyer and numerous other big hits from a cast clutch performers, the 21st-seeded Lady Hatters advanced to the second round in improbable fashion.

It marked the second straight year that Hatboro-Horsham (11-8) had ended Perkiomen Valley's season. The Lady Hatters beat the Vikings (15-6) in the second round of last year's district playoffs, winning 6-5 on a walk-off single by Nicole Casagrand.

H-H will travel to Fairless Hills on Wednesday — weather allowing — to take on No. 5 seed Pennsbury in a match between two of the heavyweights in PIAA 4-A softball. The Falcons had a first-round bye on Monday.

With the game tied at seven in the top of the sixth inning, Hatboro-Horsham used its biggest outburst of the season to give it enough cushion for the win.

The inning started harmlessly enough when the speedy Moyer (3-for-4, a triple, two walks and two RBIs) beat out a roller to third by an eyelash for an infield hit. With one out, PVHS reliever Rachel Helverson then pitched around Daria Edwards (2-for-3, a double, a triple, two runs, three RBIs and two bases on balls) for a walk.

That brought up Hatboro-Horsham's hottest hitter, Cader, who had already driven in a pair of runs by sacrificing herself with infield outs. But this time, on a two-strike pitch, Cader lashed a liner into the right-center-field gap for a two-run triple and the Lady Hatters never trailed again.

Ahead 9-7, Jackie Locke squeezed home Cader with what looked like an insurance run and was safe at first with a bunt single as Cader slid across the plate to beat a throw home.

Designated hitter Brynn Griffith singled through the hole to push Locke to third and then moved to second on the throw back to the infield.

Jamie Mroz came off the bench as a pinch-hitter and drilled a single to right-center for two more RBIs and it was 12-7.

A slap single by Megan Hallock (4-for-5, three runs) moved Mroz to second and Moyer tripled into the right-center-field gap for two more runs.

After a walk to Jaynie Black (1-4, a double, a run and three RBIs), Edwards blooped a double in front of a left fielder who was playing deep to score Moyer and Black and make it 16-7.

Perkiomen Valley wasn't done, however, adding a run in the bottom of the sixth to set the stage for the wild finish.

After Simmons had completed four innings of work, H-H brought starting pitcher Lexie Campbell back in for the seventh to try and finish off the game. It should have been a one-two-three inning, but an error on a soft roller near the circle put Abby Wild on base in between two routine outs.

A walk to Nicole Bangert was followed by four consecutive bloop singles and another walk to Brenna Sermarini to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate.

Simmons had to remember a similar situation at Souderton this season when a dropped pop-up was followed by a game-winning grand slam, but this time she retired Haines on a soft fly ball to Moyer in right and the Lady Hatters had their playoff win.

Hatboro-Horsham jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.

Moyer walked on five pitches to open the game, stole second and went to third on a passed ball with one out. Edwards tripled to deep center on a two-strike pitch to bring Moyer home and scored herself when Cader tapped the ball to first for an RBI ground out.

The weather turned weird for Campbell and the Lady Hatters in the bottom of the second and the Vikings took advantage of a brief and sudden rain storm, heavy winds and blowing dust to shock H-H with six runs.

PVHS ripped seven hits, but it was a misjudged fly ball in the wind that proved the most costly as Kelsey Impink circled the bases on a deep drive to right for the final three runs of the inning.

Hatboro-Horsham chipped away for two important, momentum-changing runs in the third as Hallock dropped a perfect bunt down the first-base line for a hit to start things and Moyer smashed a liner into right for another single after Hallock stunned the Vikings by going from first to third on a wild pitch.

With two outs, a brief bobble on Cader's sharp grounder to third was enough to score Moyer with the second run of the inning.

It was Andrea Baldus, starting her first game of the year as the second baseman, who helped start another important rally in the fourth. Her bunt single with one out, combined with an infield hit for Hallock and a walk to Moyer loaded the bases.

In one of the most important at-bats of the day, Black boomed a double over the heads of the PVHS outfield in right-center to clear the bases and give H-H a 7-6 lead.

A hit batsman, a sacrifice bunt, a stolen base and an Impink scoring fly allowed the Vikings to tie it in the bottom of the fourth, but PVHS didn't have a big enough answer for that nine-run sixth.

GAME NOTES

Maggie Shaffer, the daughter of Hatboro-Horsham pitching coach Jamie Shaffer, wasn't the only member of the 2011 state championship team to attend Monday's game.

Val Sadowal, the shortstop on that club, was also on hand to cheer on her alma mater.

Maggie Shaffer just completed her sophomore year at Guilford College in North Carolina. She finished 14-8 with a 3.13 ERA as the Quakers' top hurler.

Sadowal had a strong sophomore season at UConn, leading the Huskies in batting average (.331), slugging percentage (.576), on-base percentage (.437), OPS (1.013) home runs (six), doubles (nine), runs scored (21), total bases (68) and walks (21) as the team's starting second baseman.

Sadowal's coach, Karen Mullins, announced her retirement on Monday after 31 years at her alma mater.

Two sophomore players joined the varsity squad for the first time on Monday, shortstop-outfielder Meghan Fitzgerald and catcher-outfielder Emmy Rivkin, bringing the Lady Hatters' postseason roster to 18 players.

With Andrea Baldus starting at second base on Monday, 16 different players have started games for Hatboro-Horsham this season. Baldus, Megan Hallock and Jackie Locke combined to give H-H three bunt singles on Monday.

DeAnna Moyer scored a season-high five runs in the PVHS game, while Jen Cader became the first outfielder to throw out two base runners in the same game this season. Cader has five outfield assists this season and has established herself as one of the top center fielders in the state as a junior.

The meeting with Pennsbury on Wednesday will be the first time the two state powerhouses have met since the 2011 PIAA 4-A title game at Penn State. Hatboro-Horsham beat Pennsbury for both the District One and state championships that year.

Senior outfielder-designated hitter Charlotte Coulson and third baseman Daria Edwards are the only members of the Hatboro-Horsham program still remaining from the Lady Hatters' second state championship team. The two have been teammates since playing on an undefeated Keith Valley Middle School squad in eighth grade.