Lady Hatters Win Softball Clash With The Titans

There has been a lot to like about the beginning of the Hatboro-Horsham High School softball season, but the one thing that was missing was the expected power of senior third baseman Daria Edwards.

The strong pitching and defense that have defined the strong start were evident again on Wednesday in another battle royal with Central Bucks South, but Edwards proved to be the difference, with her three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth providing the offense in a 3-2 Suburban One League/Continental Conference victory.

Coming off a shutout a day earlier in a 3-0 win over Pennridge, Lady Hatter pitcher Lexie Campball was even more brilliant against Central Bucks South, getting within an out of another shutout against the heavy-hitting Titans on a day when the contest was switched from CB South to Hatboro-Horsham (4-1 overall, 3-1 in conference) because of better field conditions.

Campbell had a one-hitter and walked just two through six innings and started 20 of the 27 batters she faced on the afternoon with first-pitch strikes, using a lethal mix of drop curves, screwballs, hard stuff and change-ups to keep CB South off-balance.

But Titan starter Hailey Warner matched Campbell almost pitch for pitch as these two powerhouse teams — who have advanced to five of the past eight state championship games and taken three of those 4-A titles — battled to a scoreless tie for 4 1/2 innings.

Warner had allowed just two hits — a two-out singles by catcher Bridgett Shaffer in the second and first baseman Jackie Locke in the fourth — and two walks through four innings before Edwards and company finally caught up to her in the bottom of the fifth.

After Shaffer — returning to the line-up following a two-day bout with the flu — struck out on three pitches to open the inning, left fielder Jamie Mroz blooped the next Warner delivery over first base and just inside the right-field line for a single.

Right fielder Deanna Moyer walked on four straight pitches before Warner picked up her seventh strikeout of the game by fanning Megan Hallock for the second out.

Then Warner faced a dilemma.

Should she pitch to Edwards, the Towson University-bound senior and a dangerous hitter who hit nine home runs last season, or face a red-hot Jen Cader, who waited in the on-deck circle a day after leading the Lady Hatters with a pair of RBI doubles?

Warner had walked Edwards in the first and struck her out looking in the third, but she wasn't so fortunate in the fifth after starting the hard-hitting third baseman with a quick strike.

Warner's second delivery to Edwards was drilled on a line to the left-field corner as Mroz and Moyer jetted for the plate. But left fielder Sophia Boggs ran out of room as the ball soared several inches over the fence and just inside the foul pole for a dramatic three-run homer — Edwards' first four-bagger of the season.

It may have been 3-0, but the Lady Hatters and Campbell were not out of the woods yet against a CB South squad that had turned a 3-0 deficit into a 5-3 victory in its conference opener against North Penn ace Jackie Bilotti in the seventh inning.

Campbell needed only six pitches to retire the Titans in order in the sixth, but Taylor Martinelli (2-for-3) opened the seventh by whistling a liner just inside the left-field line for a double.

Edwards flagged down a Boggs pop-up and made a diving stop of a one-hop smash to third by Warner for the first two outs of the inning, but freshman right fielder Maddie Beber kept the game alive with a 3-2 shot up the middle for a single. 

That brought freshman third baseman Julia Formieola to the plate as the potential tying run with runners on first and second.

It didn't take Formieola — one of many CB South players who are veterans of the local Banshees softball program — to smoke a shot up the left-field alley for a double and two RBIs.

But Hallock used her head and arm to bring the game to a sudden end. Hallock cut off a throw from Mroz in the infield and made a dramatic fake like she was going to throw for Beber at the plate.

Instead, Hallock tucked the ball under her wrist, spun with a reverse pivot and threw back to second baseman Jaynie Black, who was blocking the bag as Formieola thought momentarily of advancing to third.

Taking Hallock's bait, Formieola only ventured a short distance off the base, but her head-first dive back to the bag was too late as Black applied the tag for the final out of the game.

Scoring opportunities were few and far between through most of this typically nerve-racking game between the two rivals.

After Edwards made a leaping snap of a Taylor Risich liner to third leading off the second, Marinelli singled, but was stranded at first.

Formieola arrived at first in the third when a one-out fly ball was caught and then dropped in the outfield for an error, but Campbell easily pitched out of trouble again.

CB South's biggest threat before the seventh came in the top of the fifth as Campbell appeared to be tiring. 

Campbell fell behind 2-0 for the first time all day against Boggs and eventually walked the left fielder on a 3-2 pitch.

After Warner sacrificed Boggs to second, first baseman Jackie Locke made a tremendous defensive play with a throw back to second to pick Boggs off second for a stunning double play.

That heads-up decision became even more important when Beber got aboard on an infield error off an errant throw and Formieola walked. But Campbell coaxed a grounder from Morgan Seader to Edwards, who stepped on third to end the uprising.

Base runners were even scarcer for Hatboro-Horsham through the early innings.

Edwards walked with two outs in the first, but was stranded on Cader's hard shot to center, while a walk to designated player Kylie Flagler and Shaffer's single to center with two outs in the second went for naught when Warner struck out Mroz on a called third strike.

Locke stayed at first in the fourth after lacing a two-out single into left when Warner retired Flagler on an easy grounder to short.

Hatboro-Horsham will be back in conference action on Monday at North Penn at 3:45 p.m. before traveling to surprising first-place Quakertown next Wednesday for a 3:30 p.m. contest.