School record six triples leads Pope John Paul II to 10-2 win over Tribe

The endless barrage of Seattle-like weather this spring has prevented the Golden Panthers from being able to hold regular practices. This has forced the girls inside to work on hitting the ball, and little else.

On Wednesday afternoon, those hours of batting practice paid huge dividends as Pope John Paul II set a school record with six different players recording triples in a 10-2 thumping of Upper Perkiomen.

The Golden Panthers hit parade was led by third baseman Meg O’Connor, who went 3-for-3 with 2 runs scored, 2 RBI and a triple. O'Connor also recorded four assists in the field.

“Every time it rains, we have to play in the gym,” said leadoff hitter Amanda Light, who was 1-for-1 with 3 runs scored, two walks and a triple. “We have spent days in there just hitting the ball. It gets boring but it has really helped us in games.”

PJP2 got on the board in the first when O’Connor rapped a base hit, driving in Light, who had drawn a walk to start the game and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Kate Eliff. O’Connor later scampered home as Monica Levins drew a throw to second and forced Upper Perk to get her in a run down to end the inning, but only after PJP2 had snagged a 2-0 edge.

Through five innings, senior pitcher Nikki Troisi allowed just two Indians to reach base, retiring 12 of the first 13 batters she faced.

Troisi struck out eight while issuing two bases on balls, scattering five hits in the victory. The Golden Panthers to within one game of Perkiomen Valley, which lost to Owen J. Roberts.

“It has been challenging this season getting to know the hitters in this league,” said Troisi as she pitched for Kennedy-Kenrick in the Catholic league the last three years. “I have had a lot of help from the girls that played in the PAC-10 last year. I think they were playing us a little shallow. There is a lot of room in the outfield here and we were able to hit in the gaps today.” 

The Golden Panthers put on a clinic of discipline and execution as they successfully converted all four sacrifice bunt attempts and only left four runners on base for the entire game. They drew five walks, had two batters hit by a pitch, and 11 hits.

“We had some trouble last game getting hits when we needed them with girls on base,” said junior Meg O’Connor. “Today we came out and really attacked the ball aggressively, and we made good decisions running the bases. This season has been so much fun. We have all really come together as a team and are just starting to get momentum going.”

“I thought it would take a lot longer for us to really come together,” said manager John Bilella. “I’m not talking about playing together on the field. They have really meshed as a squad on and off the field. There is none of that them and us mentality that I saw when we had merged with another school before. It’s a tribute to what kind of kids we have here, they are something special.”

In the fifth inning, Pope John Paul II blew open a 3-0 game by scoring five runs on four hits in the frame, three of which were triples by Nikii Troisi, Jane Rogers and Patsy Murphy, to end any thoughts of an Upper Perk comeback.

If the Golden Panthers were flying under the PAC-10 radar early on, their wins over Spring-Ford and Upper Perkiomen have put an end to that.

“People know about us now,” added Bilella. “We have some big games coming up and hopefully, if the weather cooperates, we can build on the momentum we have right now. I said earlier in the year that this is the most talented team I have ever coached. We are solid one through nine in the lineup. Every one of our girls was a starter last season, so we have nine kids that can play and it ought to be very interesting as we start the second time through the league.”   

BATTING

PITCHING

2B- Steinman, Unstead  3B- Light, Eliff, O’Connor, Troisi, Rogers, Murphy