High School Softball: Perkiomen Valley Vikings Win on Spring-Ford Rams' Home Turf for Second Straight Season

It’s easy to win softball games when you are pounding out 15 hits or scoring 10 runs. It’s having the ability to buckle down and win games in white-knuckle fashion against a league rival that separates the great teams from the average.

As cold as it was, there was no snow in the air, but plenty of dirt was flying as senior Kelsey Lewullis slid home with the winning run in the top of the seventh as Perkiomen Valley handed Spring-Ford its first Pac-10 loss of the season.

“We didn’t do anything spectacular,” said Vikings Manager Dan McLaughlin. “We did a lot of little things right today, which is why we came away with a win instead of them. We didn’t want to start out in the league 0-2 after a tough loss to Methacton, so today was huge for us.”

The Vikings jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Brittany Shoemaker, who walked and was moved into scoring position on a Sara Sermarini sacrifice bunt, scored when Jess White ripped a double into the gap.

“It was big for us to win today,” said Lewullis. “This is always a big game for us, but today it was even more important after we played so bad against Methacton. We were pretty mad about the way we played the other day and wanted to come out and get a win today.”

The Rams tied the game in the home half of the third as pitcher Kristen Robinson blasted a two-out triple that hit the wall in the air, then scored when a ball scooted by Perk Valley catcher Andrea Conte.

The Vikings (1-1 league, 3-1 overall) kept the game knotted heading into the seventh, on an outstanding effort by junior Erin Hamm.

Following Spring-Ford getting their leadoff batter on for the second inning in a row,  Robinson ripped a ball past Shoemaker at shortstop to give the Rams runner at the corners with one out.

Vikings pitcher Tori Marcavage then overpowered Rams senior Stephanie Diegel, striking her out.

Becca James then drilled a 1-2 offering off the glove of Jess White at first base, enter Erin Hamm, who swooped in backing up White and managed to flip the ball to her a fraction of a second before James touched the bag and Robinson tied the game.

“Hammy made a great play there,” added McLaughlin. “All winter we worked on flexibility, quickness and agility. Most second baseman in the league would not have been able to make that play; Hammy is a great athlete.”

After Hamm fouled out to start the top of the seventh, Lewullis drove a ball into the gap, and scampered into second with a stand up double.

McLaughlin opted against bunting her over to third, but after Zeigler struck out, Lewullis moved to third on a ball hit back up the middle, setting the stage for junior Harley Pascavage.

As Pascavage stepped into the batter box with the Vikings season possibly sitting squarely on her shoulders, she responded by working a nine pitch at bat, and most importantly gave the Viking a chance to score as the fifth pitch of the sequence, got away from Diegel, allowing Lewullis to tear down the line scoring which gave Perk Valley a 2-1 lead. 

“I felt like I was going to throw up right on the plate,” said Pascavage. “I was hoping to be able to hit her home, but I just worked as hard as I could fouling off pitches until I got a good one to hit. When that pitch got by and we scored it really took the pressure off. I am so happy that we won today; we really played as a team and it will really help our spirit and morale.”

With two outs in the home seventh, Robinson got on base for the third time in the game for the Rams, but Marcavage slammed the door, getting Diegel to fly out to centerfield.

“Harley working the pitcher like that was so huge,” said Lewullis. “I saw the ball get free and just broke it toward the plate. All those pitches definitely tire her out, what a great at bat.”

Vikings Notes: Junior third baseperson Allysa Morales was missing from the varsity lineup on Wednesday, as she being the consummate team player, acquiesced coach McLaughlin’s request for her to help solidify the JV squad’s pitching situation. Morales pitched three scoreless innings and the JV had a much-improved effort thanks to her own sacrifice for the betterment of the team.

“It’s the kind of thing that doesn’t usually get any press,” said McLaughlin. “I asked her to pitch some innings for JV and she gladly did it. I am focused on one game at a time, but as a coach I always have to think about next year as well and she very well might be pitching at the varsity level next year.” 

Perk Valley  1 0 0   0 0 0  1  -2

Spring-Ford  0 0 1  0 0 0  0  -1

Pitching                        IP                H                R           ER         BB        SO

Marcavage (WP)    7            4            1            0             4            8

Robinson (LP)              7            3            2            1           3              3