Pope John Paul's Murphy Backstops Chester County to Final Five

“Failure is not an option,” said Pottsgrove junior Jessica Kurtz, who shrugged off a bruised knee during Monday’s action to help lead the Chester County All Stars' two consecutive wins, eliminating two squads on Wednesday morning.

However, heat, fatigue, a hard-hitting Lehigh Valley squad and perhaps, most of all, ghost runners, took a toll on the very talented Chester County club, ending the team's hopes of a Carpenter Cup championship.

After rolling to back-to-back wins to start the day, Lehigh Valley and eight-run first innings put the brakes on Chester County’s roll to the finals with a 9-3 loss.

In international and Carpenter Cup play, when a rostered player is missing, the team must take an out for their spot in the batting order. The rule is meant to prevent sand bagging and the stacking of teams. However, on this day it was too much to overcome in the sweltering heat and offensive barrage launched in the first inning of the game to determine who would play SOL all stars for the title.

“It sucks to have to give up six to eight outs a game,” said Chester County Manager Brooke Tymeson. “In a tournament of this caliber, every out is so important. To have to give up any of them is hard enough, but it cost us 12 outs in the first two games, which we were able to overcome and still win the games.” 

Kurtz and Falcons teammate Taylor Robinson combined for a 3-for-6, run, two RBI performance in a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Catholic League All-Stars and continued to shred the ball in the second game leading the Chester County to a 3-2 extra inning win to eliminate Berks County.

“We have to come out and hit,” said Kurtz. “My knee is fine; it will have time to heal in the summer. We have really had fun playing with each other, and this team has come together in a very short time to really have some chemistry. It’s tough playing back-to-back, but we are used to doing it in tournaments.”

It takes more than bat to carry a team to a CC title; it requires some lights-out pitching against the best the area has to offer. Owen J. Roberts junior Maddie Galdi was happy to supply that.

In the first wins of the day, Galdi was unhittable as she pitched in both contests recording 6 K’s and earned runs while not allowing a base hit in seven innings of work.

Galdi, who had an opportunity in regulation to win the Berks county game, scored the game winner in the bottom of the eighth inning as she stole third and raced home as the throw got by the third baseman.

“I wanted to make up for striking out with the bases loaded," said Galdi. “I was so glad to be able to score the run there for us to win. I stole because the catcher bobbled the ball a little, but then when she threw the ball away, the third basemen was on top of me at first. I had to move her off me and score the run. This had been such a great experience, even though we have played some tough games today.”  

Even though the group fell short of their goal to make it to the final three teams left, it did not dampen the spirits of their head coach.

“I have coached in every Carpenter Cup and have had many teams,” said Tymeson. “This is by far the best team I have ever coached here. To win this many games against the quality of opponents here and give away a third of our outs is incredible. They have made it a point to tell us how much fun they have had. Believe me when I say it has been my privilege and pleasure to work with these remarkable young women. They have all bonded so well, like they have played together for years, which honestly does not happen every year.”

“I am very proud to have played with this team,” said Brittany Shoemaker, who had to get a note from her parents to play all week because Perkiomen Valley had its last day of school Wednesday. “It has been great to win games here and have a chance to showcase what we can do as a team and individuals. If we had everybody here today and could have stayed away from a couple of injuries, who knows what we could do.”

“I am so excited to be a part of this,” said PJP2 catcher Patsy Murphy. “Of course, it’s tough playing a lot of games in one day, but we all love to play softball. We all have built confidence in each other and really have gotten to know and respect each other for travel ball coming up and next season.”

“I will see most of these girls in the next few months playing travel,” added Courtney Wieland. “We all know each other just a little better than we did, and I cannot wait to see them at tournaments. Even though we didn’t get to the championship game, I am happy with the way we played.”

Schedule for Championship day

9 a.m.- Game No. 29- Mercer County vs. Lehigh Valley

11 a.m. – Game No. 30- Winner of Game No. 29 vs. SOL American and Continental

1 p.m. – Game No. 31- (If necessary) The same opponents as Game No. 30

9 a.m. game

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

R

H

E

Phila Catholic

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

1

3

1

Chester County

1

0

1

0

3

0

X

5

10

1

11 a.m. game

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

R

H

E

Berks County

1

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

2

7

2

Chester County

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

1

3

7

1

3 p.m. game

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

R

H

E

Chester County

1

0

0

2

0

0

0

3

7

1

Lehigh Valley

8

0

0

0

0

1

X

9

7

0

Composite stats from all three games today

School

Player

POS

AB

R

H

RBI

PG

Robinson

Of

10

2

6

2

PG

Kurtz

Of

11

0

4

3

PJP2

Murphy

C

4

1

0

0

PV

Shoemaker

Of

10

5

4

1

OJR

Galdi

P

4

1

1

0

PHX

Wieland

1b

3

0

0

0

Pitching stats

SCHL

Player

G

IP

R

ER

H

BB

K

W/L/S

OJR

Galdi

3

10

5

2

6

3

6

1W, !S