Softball Done with Hatboro-Horsham Loss

The Spring-Ford High School softball team was the sole survivor in the postseason of all of the spring sports. After Thursday's game against Hatboro-Horsham, they too have fallen.

"We didn't get enough hitting going on," said head coach Tim Hughes. "But you know what? We went out there and it's an old saying, I hate to lose more than I love to win. The kids tried hard and Hatboro-Horsham is a good team. A few mistakes here and there and you can't do that with them. They capitalized."

The Hatters put a 8-1 performance together at North Penn High School in order to capture the fifth and final spot for the state tournament. How did they do it? Knocking the ball out of the park... Count 'em... not one, not two, but three times - the third was a grand slam by Maria Spinosa in the top of the fourth.

Other homeruns included a first-inning homer by Chrissy James and a second-inning shot by Heather Lutz. But the Rams were only down 2-1 after a Becca James RBI-single in the bottom of the second. Spinosa's rare feat pretty much sealed the deal for the Hatters.

"That was a great hit," said Hughes. "The girl had a nice at-bat."

One key part to the loss had to be the absence of outfielder Bri Kofer. Kofer has been undeniably one of the best hitters on the Rams squad in the postseason. She had a stomach virus and was restricted to the bench.

"That hurts," Hughes said. "She hits well and that's big in spots. I don't think the girls got down. I put a freshman out in left field and a freshman was pitching. I think they still played their best. You can't make too many mistakes against good teams, or else you're going to get your butts kicked."

The Hatters will head to the state tournament, while Spring-Ford says goodbye to seven seniors and a successful regular season.

"To leave it on a positive, this is a 20-win season for us," said Hughes. "We were 20-5. They came back a bunch of times during the season. I want them to remember this loss, especially the underclassmen, but let's not look back and dwell on it too much."