Motivated Lady Hatters Look Forward to Pennsbury Softball Matchup

If you are one of those superstitious, or Karma types, there is a lot to like about Hatboro-Horsham High School's softball matchup against Pennsbury on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the second round of the PIAA 4-A District One playoffs.

Let's start by taking readers back to Monday evening, following a wild, nearly two-and-a-half hour, 16-12 victory over Perkiomen Valley and an exhilarating bus ride back home.

Right before the Lady Hatters pulled into the HHHS parking lot, a double rainbow appeared across the street from the school, a fitting conclusion to jubilant day.

Skipping ahead to Tuesday, Hatboro-Horsham (11-8) concluded practice the same way it had on Sunday evening, with a trip for some good-luck ice cream at the Dairy Queen , located on Horsham Road.

Nothing like some Blizzards and waffle cones to get your mind focused on the task at hand.

And finally, we rewind back a week to last Thursday's District One seeding meeting.

If every story needs a villain, we present one Frank McSherry — the veteran Pennsbury coach and the holder of more state softball hardware than anyone in Pennsylvania prep athletic history.

McSherry still, seemingly, has a burr in his saddle over Hatboro=Horsham's victories against Pennsbury in the respective 2011 District One and PIAA 4-A championships — denying Pennsylvania's most successful high school softball coach even more hardware.

McSherry allegedly told observers at the seeding meeting that he was already scouting Perkiomen Valley for Wednesday's second-round match-up and the Falcons' postseason opener.

If an already motivated Lady Hatters squad needed any more locker-room, bulletin-board material, it received it like a thunderbolt from this crusty, but veteran coach.

It was a quote that caught the eyes of the Hatboro-Horsham players.

"Everyone is expecting us to lose and saying we don't deserve to be here," said senior left fielder Megan Hallock of the 21st-seeded Lady Hatters. "Well, we got here and we're going to stay here."

Another senior, reserve outfielder and designated hitter Charlotte Coulson, actually scouted Pennsbury last year at the annual regular-season-ending game in Bristol against arch-enemy Neshaminy.

"If Pennsbury thinks that, then it is (the Falcons') misfortune that they have to play us now and we could end their season," Coulson said.

Among the players Coulson watched 12 months ago was new Pennsbury starting pitcher Casey Boltersdorf, who started for Pennsbury's junior varsity team last season.

Ironically, North Penn coach and Suburban One League/Continental Conference playoff representative Rick Torresani said a couple of weeks ago that McSherry was one of the key players to win over in Hatboro-Horsham's fight to earn a postseason bid.

And, whether McSherry downplayed the Lady Hatters, or not, there was a Pennsbury presence scouting H-H on Monday afternoon at Perkiomen Valley.

Now that we have the scene set, its time to focus in on Wednesday and the game itself.

Pennsbury struggled at times during the regular season, particularly out of conference, earning the No. 5 seed in the district tournament with a 13-7 overall record and an 11-3 conference mark that was good enough to share the SOL/National Conference co-championship with No. 1 seed William Tennent.

Hatboro-Horsham started strong with a 6-2 record, but had trouble closing out wins in the late innings and dropping one-run decisions in an uncharacteristic 10-8 regular season.

After winning outright, or sharing the past five SOL/Continental Conference titles, the Lady Hatters slipped to fifth in the state's toughest loop, but they have won four out of their last six games after 3-5 stretch in the middle of the season.

H-H's record is misleading, however, with five of the eight losses coming by just one run and three of the losses being of the walk-off variety. The Lady Hatters could have easily been 16-2 in the regular season and one of the top seeds in the tournament.

Hatboro-Horsham was also hurt by losing two games against Conestoga and Crestwood — teams that the Lady Hatters crushed last season — to bad weather early in the year.

For a pair of heavyweight softball programs, known for producing great pitching, this has been a different kind of season. Hitting has become a major element of both teams and their success.

With the graduation of three-year starter Val Buehler — not to be confused with that screen legend named Ferris Buehller — to La Salle University, the Falcons have turned the circle over to the left-handed Boltersdorf.

Boltersdorf has had her speed limited by a broken finger on her pitching hand and has been forced to rely on off-speed stuff, particularly her drop curve, to survive.

Boltersdorf also likes to live on the inside part of the plate, meaning that location will be crucial for against the middle of the Lady Hatter lineup.

But then Pennsbury, which closed the year with an eight-game winning streak, has ridden heavy hitting to its success this season.

McSherry reflected on that offensive prowess last week for the Suburban One Sports website.

"It’s been special,” McSherry said. “As positive as we want to be and as much as we want to sell that positive attitude to our team — which you always have to, we’re also realistic and we see things. When you graduate nine seniors and have two starters coming back and the rest basically question marks, you’re saying, wow, how are we piecing this together?"

It took the Falcons longer than usual to hit stride, but they closed the year on a roll and ended the regular season with a 10-6 victory over a Neshaminy club that had beaten Pennsbury three consecutive times.

“It took awhile to piece things together, it really did," McSherry said. "We tried a number of things, and for whatever reason, something clicked in the kids, and gosh, they’re hitting the ball like crazy."

The emergence of sophomore Marguerite Salamone has sparked the Falcons. Salamone went 3-for-4, with a homer, a double, three RBIs and four runs scored against Neshaminy in last week's game and finished with a .500 batting average for the season.

Two veterans who Pennsbury relies on are right fielder Faryl Groder and first baseman Dani Litwin. Groder is the only senior starter on a team that advanced to the state semifinals before losing 3-1 to eventual state champion Canon-McMillan last season.

Ironically, a young Hatboro-Horsham squad, with just three seniors, has more playoff experience than the Falcons.

Shortstop Daria Edwards has gold medals from the 2011 district and state championships, as a four-year varsity player, while center fielder Jen Cader, catcher Bridgette Schaffer, third baseman Jaynie Black and right fielder DeAnna Moyer all played in last year's district playoffs.

Cader and Edwards both played significantly in Hatboro-Horsham's run to the state quarterfinals in 2012.

The biggest place of inexperience for the Lady Hatters is in the circle, where starter Lexie Campbell and reliever Kaeli Simmons pitched their first postseason games on Monday.

H-H is coming off its biggest offensive output of the season, pounding out 16 runs on 16 hits. It was the sixth time in the past 13 games that the Lady Hatters had scored in double figures.

Hallock was 4-for-5, with an RBI and three runs scored, while Moyer went 3-for-4, with a triple, two RBIs, two walks and a season-high five runs scored. 

Edwards added a double and a triple in three at-bats, with two walks and three RBIs, while Black had an important, bases-clearing double and Cader delivered a triple and four RBIs.

Coming off the bench, Jamie Mroz had a two-run, pinch-hit single during H-H's crucial nine-run sixth inning outburst.

There were some eyebrow-raising lineup changes on Monday as well.

Andrea Baldus was inserted into the lineup as the starting second baseman for the first time and responded with hustle on defense and a 1-for-3 performance at the plate. Her bunt single, leading off the fourth inning, sparked a three-run rally that gave H-H a 7-6 lead.

Some things that could play into the Lady Hatters' favor on Wednesday are the facts that Pennsbury is playing for the first time in a week, is coming off that emotional win over Neshaminy in its rivalry game and is meeting a team that already has the benefit of a postseason victory under its belt.

The second-round games have been notorious for producing upsets over the past few years, none bigger than North Penn's rout of defending state 4-A champion Central Bucks South last year.

All five Continental Conference teams will be in action on Wednesday after Hatboro-Horsham, North Penn and Central Bucks South all scored first-round wins on Monday.

No. 9 North Penn rallied for a 5-4 victory at home over No. 24 Council Rock South, while No. 15 CB South also need a late-innings comeback for a 10-8 triumph against No. 18 Owen J. Roberts. Former Hatboro resident Jackie Bilotti not only picked up the pitching win for North Penn, but she also stroked two home runs.

North Penn travels to face Continental Conference rival and No. 8 Central Bucks East, the defending District One champion. North Penn ousted CB East in the state quarterfinals last year after CB East had eliminated Hatboro-Horsham in the district quarterfinals.

CB South will take on No. 2 seed Avon Grove, while third-seeded Souderton — the Continental Conference champion — draws No. 14 West Chester East.

If Hatboro-Horsham survives on Wednesday, it will meet the winner of the matchup between No. 4 Spring-Ford and No. 13 Council Rock North on Friday at 4 p.m. The Lady Hatters would be on the road no matter who wins that game.

GAME NOTES

Current varsity players Lexie Campbell, Jackie Locke, Charlotte Coulson, Jamie Mroz, Kaeli Simmons, Meghan Fitzgerald and Emmy Rivkin were all coached by a former Pennsbury pitching star, Brooke Muth, as members of the 2013 H-H junior varsity squad. 

Muth pitched Pennsbury to its last state title with a win over Latrobe in 2007. A year later, Hatboro-Horsham won its first state crown with a victory against Latrobe in the 4-A championship game.

There are two common opponents for Hatboro-Horsham and Pennsbury this season.

Hatboro-Horsham dropped a tightly-played scrimmage to Neshaminy to open the year, while Pennsbury split two games with Neshaminy. Neshaminy won the first meeting with Pennsbury 9-6, before losing the regular-season finale 10-6.

Pennsbury swept Bensalem during the season, winning 1-0 and 8-6. Bensalem toppled Hatboro-Horsham 10-3 in a late-season game in Horsham.

Should Hatboro-Horsham get to take on Spring-Ford in the quarterfinals, the Lady Hatters will go in knowing that Perkiomen Valley spilt games with the No. 4 seed.