Late Comeback Gives Lady Hatters Softball Win vs Quakertown

RICHLAND TOWNSHIP, PA. — There are moments in postseason play where softball teams are forced to score runs in their final at-bats to pull out wins.

Hatboro-Horsham High School just didn't anticipate it was going to have to do that on Thursday night at Veteran's Park to escape with a season-saving 8-6 victory over Quakertown. 

Trailing 6-5 in the top of the seventh, the Lady Hatters (8-6 overall, 7-6 in the Suburban One League/Continental Conference) erupted for three runs, with a 20-foot roller up the first-base line by Jackie Locke providing the winning runs.

Locke, who helped HHHS to an early 2-0 lead with a two-out RBI single in the first, fought off a two-strike pitch from lefty reliever Alyssa Wilkinson and dribbled the ball less than midway between first and home, scoring Daria Edwards, who had walked with the tie-breaking run and sending an alert Jen Cader, who had gotten on with an infield hit to second.

First baseman Emily Scott picked up the ball just as Locke arrived and attempted to tag Locke for the second out of the inning, but the ball fell out of Scott's glove and Locke began to backpedal away from her back towards home plate.

As Scott turned and retreated for the first-base bag to record the out, Cader never stopped running, hustling around third and racing all the way home for an important insurance run.

Megan Hallock got the last-inning rally started by slapping a single to center and working her way around to score and tie the game at 6-all.

Following the three-run uprising, the Lady Hatters hunkered down for the always-interesting bottom of the seventh.

Having lost three games during a five-game, four-loss stretch on the final play of the game, H-H allowed the tying runs to get on base when Emma McLaughlin reached on an infield hit — one of seven Quakertown hits that didn't reach the outfield grass — leading off and Megan Lee walked with two outs off reliever Kaeli Simmons.

With runners on first and second, starting pitcher Lexie Campbell returned to the circle and coaxed Becca Robison into a grounder to second base. Jaynie Black moved quickly to her left, slid to her knees to corral the sharp, three-hopper on a tough play and then threw accurately to Locke at first for the final out.

The Lady Hatters reacted like they had won a playoff game, mobbing Campbell and Black in a wild celebration on the field.

The win kept alive Hatboro-Horsham's hopes of receiving a District One playoff berth and left Quakertown (6-10, 3-10) with a sad finish to nice Senior Night festivities.

Quakertown honored its three seniors, Robison, Scott and Maddie Mulhall before the game and surprised the Lady Hatters in a classy display by introducing Hatboro-Horsham's trio of seniors, Charlotte Coulson, Daria Edwards and Megan Hallock and giving each of them a bouquet of flowers.

The announcement of "Darla" Edwards drew huge laughs as the four-year varsity stalwart and one of the top prep softball players in Pennsylvania was introduced.

HHHS will get to honor its trio of seniors in its final home game and final conference contest, next Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Hatboro Little League complex on Blair Mill Road. There are two non-conference games to get through first, Friday afternoon at home at 3:45 p.m. against Bensalem and Monday at the same time at Norristown.

The Lady Hatters got off to a much-needed quick start when Black walloped the first pitch she saw to the right-field fence for a one-out double. Cader slammed a two-out double off the barrier in center to score Black and Locke laced her RBI-single to left to make it 2-0.

The first of two perfectly-placed bunt singles by Tara Baglivo, leading off the first, helped Quakertown steal some of the momentum back quickly. An error and a pair of fielder's choices eventually allowed Baglivo to score.

An infield hit by Madi Shourds with one out in the second, another infield error and Robison's hard, RBI-single to center gave the Panthers a 2-2 tie after two innings.

H-H took the lead again in the third when Black was plunked on the left foot by a pitch and Edwards whistled a shot down the third-base line and into the left-field corner for an RBI-double, with Black showing off some fine base-running skills to come home.

The Lady Hatters appeared poised to break the game completely open in the fourth when a strategic blunder stopped them in their tracks and provided Quakertown with a huge jolt of emotion.

Campbell opened the inning by ripping a single to center and advanced to second on designated player Brynn Griffith's high hopper to the left of the pitcher's circle. Jamie Mroz beat out an infield hit with another high bouncer to third to get Campbell to third, where she alertly scored on a wild pitch.

With Mroz on third and one out, DeAnna Moyer walked and coach Joe DiFilippo gave her the sign to continue running midway to second base. With the top of the order — starting with Hallock — due up, DiFilippo for some reason tried to steal a run from third instead of relying on his strong bats.

Instead of a run, Mroz was thrown out at home plate and catcher Maddie Calder landed hard on Mroz's ribs and right shoulder, injuring the H-H left fielder.

And to complicate matters further, Moyer was then thrown out by Calder at third base for an inning-ending double play.

Hatboro-Horsham's 4-2 lead quickly disintegrated into a 5-4 deficit in the bottom of the fourth when some well-placed grounders by the Panthers and poor communication from the Lady Hatter infield helped Quakertown pick up three consecutive infield hits and a run.

Baglivo had the hardest of those three hits, with a sharp grounder off Campbell that Edwards stopped, but couldn't make the play on from short. Lee then caromed a grounder off Hallock at third base and Robison was safe at first with an RBI after Hallock made a diving stop, but couldn't throw anyone out from third base.

The dangerous clean-up hitter Mulhall, who had hit a two-run homer off Nicole Casagrand last year in a game at Quakertown, scorched a hard shot through the hole at short for the base hit that provided the Panthers with two more runs and the lead.

Hatboro-Horsham tied the game in the top of the fifth on a slap, infield single by Hallock, a stolen base and Black's smoked-RBI-single to center, but Quakertown came back to take the lead off Simmons, in relief of Campbell, during the bottom half of that frame.

Baglivo beat out another great bunt and scored when Lee hit a double to left over the head of freshman Kylie Flagler — playing her first game in the outfield all season. Flagler had replaced the injured Mroz.

Simmons recovered to strand Lee at third and kept the Lady Hatters in the game by retiring Quakertown for 2 2/3 innings.

Hatboro-Horsham stranded Simmons, who had the first of her two base hits, at third in the sixth when Flagler struck out and Moyer hit a comebacker after a Griffith sacrifice and a wild pitch.

But that set the tone for a wild seventh inning as the Lady Hatters pulled off a comeback win.

Hatboro-Horsham piled up 12 hits, with Hallock, Black, Cader and Simmons all providing two hits.

The JV Hatters got the bats working early in the first game of the doubleheader on Thursday, scoring four times in the third inning on the way to a 5-1 victory behind the complete-game pitching of hard-throwing Taylor Sciuba.

Catcher Lisa Lang was 4-for-4 and center fielder Megan Fitzgerald was 3-for-3 to lead the JV Hatter offense. Fitzgerald, Sciuba and left fielder Jessica Eble were among those with key hits in the big third inning uprising.