Carty’s bat, Gould’s pitching lead Souderton past Springfield-Delco in District 1-AAAA 2nd round

FRANCONIA >> As Angie Carty walked to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, all coach Steph Rummel asked her to do was find some green and bring in a run.

Carty found the green alright, the green on the other side of the left field fence and she brought in that run, plus three more. The senior’s third hit was the last hit of the game, a walk-off grand slam that handed Big Red a five-inning 10-0 win over Springfield Delco in the second round of the District 1-AAAA softball playoffs.

“I just felt like I was on her, definitely and the fact I knew everyone in the lineup was hitting and the team was working together so well, it was almost like you didn’t think you were going to get out,” Carty said. “It was a mindset of everyone going up there thinking my team’s got my back and now I can go and do it. It was awesome.”

Souderton’s center fielder was one half of the senior duo that powered the Indians. The other half was pitcher Melissa Gould, an unexpected hero who pitched a gem, holding the Cougars to three hits after starter Alex Scheeler suffered a concussion last week.

“I wasn’t nervous, I mean not really, I’ve played softball all my life so it’s pretty natural to me,” Gould said. “I pitched in our senior night game (against Christopher Dock) and I just relied on that.”

That Dock game was Gould’s only game experience this season, plus a few innings in a scrimmage with Central Bucks East on Monday with both teams on a first round bye. But the senior has stayed ready all season, helping out in practice, throwing BP and anything else the hitters needed.

The first inning would be pivotal and Gould got it off to a good start, retiring Springfield’s first three hitters in order, fielding a comebacker for the last out. Gould said those three outs were big for her, allowing her to settle in and feel confident in what she was throwing.

“It was a lot of fastball and just changing the spots,” Gould said. “They were swinging too far away. I just tried to kind of go with it and see how it worked.”

The Cougars were off-balance all game with catcher Jenny Caggiano the only batter to have some success, going 2-for-2. Sheridan Hedrick had the other hit for Springfield, which saw the careers of a talented senior class come to an end.

After Gould shut out the visitors in the first, the bats went to work and proved they had her back. Carty led off with a well-struck double to right-center, moved on a Savannah Bostwick bunt and scored when Bri Neely singled up the third base gap.

Big Red got it going again in the third when Carty led off with a single and scored easily on Bostwick’s lancing double to left. Carty went to the plate four times Wednesday, going 3-for-3 with a walk, scoring three runs and driving in four on her slam.

“Coming out not knowing anything about someone means playing our game is what we needed to do,” Carty said. “Just keeping the bats going was important. This win could really push us forward.”

Neely followed Bostwick’s double with a single and Bostwick was able to come home when Shelly hit into a fielder’s choice with the second baseman home beating the throw home. Alyssa McCormick made it a three-run inning with a sac fly to center and Souderton was in control with a 4-0 lead.

Gould sandwiched that scoring spurt around 1-2-3 half innings in the third and fourth, and forcing the Cougars to hit easily playable balls for her fielders. The right hander said she was able to keep attacking with her same pitches and kept Springfield from making adjustments. While Gould only had one strikeout, she didn’t walk anyone and showed good location with her pitches.

“I can see in center where the pitches were going and if she threw a ball, she’d come right back with a strike,” Carty said. “She wouldn’t let herself get too deep in the count. The fact she kept coming back and let them hit it to us was awesome.”

Souderton threatened again in the fourth but didn’t score any runs. After Gould pitched around two baserunners in the top half of the fifth, Shelly got the offense going when she reached on an error. McCormick singled as did Jen Klepfer, driving in Shelly. McCormick singled when Jordan Peacock dropped a ball between three Cougar fielders, none of them calling for the ball.

No. 9 hitter Gigi Kehler drew a walk to load the bases to bring up Carty. In her previous at-bat, Carty had worked a walk, showing she was completely locked in at the plate.

“Every time you’re up to bat, you have to think yes, yes, yes until it’s no,” Carty said. “I’m trying to anticipate what’s going to happen next but it always has to be yes, yes, yes until it’s no.”

With a 1-0 count and the bases loaded, it was all “yes” for Carty, who launched the ball and it kept on going. The senior said she watched the ball drop then realized it was still rolling into the green beyond the fence and it hit her she had just ended the game.

Carty said it was her first home run since her sophomore season.

“She put one up there and I felt it, it was good,” Carty said. “It hardly felt like it hit my bat.

“I call it the sweet spot. It hits the sweet spot of the bat and it just went. I didn’t even realize it had gone over the fence until I got to second.”

Big Red will face top-seeded Upper Darby on Friday, with the winner clinching one of the district’s four state bids. Gould will most certainly be called upon to pitch again and Carty said the team is fully confident in her, even calling her classmate a nice weapon to have.

“We need to just keep playing with this momentum right now,” Gould said. “We’re coming in hot at the end of the season. I just need to make sure I have my spots dialed in.”