Radnor needs late-inning heroics to advance

PHILADELPHIA — Holly Pachella isn’t one for fielding a throw on a hop — she admits it’s a weakness of hers.

Radnor’s senior catcher takes no issue with grabbing the ball out of the air and applying the tag, though. That’s her strong suit.

And when she hauled in an on-the-money relay throw from Raiders shortstop Katie Jordan with the game — and District One tournament advancement — on the line Friday, Pachella helped her team survive for at least one more game of softball.

Her tag on Nazareth Academy’s Maddy Miller ended the bottom half of the seventh inning in a wild way, and allowed fifth-seeded Radnor the chance for a five-run outburst in extra innings, enabling the Raiders to take a District One Class AAA quarterfinal clash in eight innings against No. 4 Nazareth Academy, 8-3, at Philadelphia’s Fluehr Park.

Nazareth’s Tamara Jennings initially wacked a Brooke Nicander pitch to deep center with Miller on first base. Raiders center fielder Brooke McClatchy scampered back to pick up the ball, before firing it to Jordan for the cutoff.

Queue the waterworks.

“I literally started crying,’ Pachella said. “I was so overcome with emotion.’

Pachella had reason to be, as Radnor trailed by a pair of runs entering that seventh inning. With three outs to spare, the Raiders (13-9) began to chip away.

First, McClatchy worked a leadoff walk, and Jordan followed up with a base hit. Following a fielder’s choice, Pachella singled to drive McClatchy home, before scoring herself when Nicander was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to knot the score at 3 apiece.

Following the game-saving play at the plate in the following frame, Ashley Davis legged out a double to kick off Radnor’s rally in the top of the eighth, while McClatchy knocked her in for the eventual winning run.

After her team batted around in the eighth and handed her a five-run lead entering Nazareth’s half of the inning, Nicander retired the opposition in order to wrap up the victory — and a semifinal matchup with Chichester Tuesday.

“We put everything out on the field today,’ McClatchy said. “In the beginning, we were just kind of like ‘˜As long as you do your best, whatever the outcome is, you have to know that this season was great, that we did what we could to bring home the win.’ Clearly, that showed on the field.

“It was really interesting to watch; I’m speechless. It was the most incredible thing I’ve ever taken part in.’

After fielding a team last spring that won a District One crown and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs, the Raiders entered this season with a young group and limited expectations.

“I went into (Friday) thinking ‘˜We have nothing to lose,” Pachella said. “We all thought this would just be a rebuilding year and that whatever we did, it was going to be good. I think we’ve surpassed everyone’s expectations.’

Nicander, a sophomore in her first year as a varsity mainstay, hung tough in her second postseason pitching appearance. After battling control issues early and allowing a pair of runs in the second frame, she settled down to finish off the complete-game victory.

“The umpire’s strike zone kind of changed wildly a lot, and it got me very agitated,’ she said. “But (Pachella) calmed me down and so did the coaches, and the next inning I went back out there and tried to adjust … I definitely didn’t want to lose because I would’ve felt like it would’ve been on me.’

“But I’m happy that we won,’ she added with a laugh.

McClatchy plated three runs for the Raiders out of the leadoff hole, while Pachella finished with a pair each of hits, runs and RBIs.

“(Friday) was not our day,’ first-year Nazareth coach Danielle Vittitow said. “Today it was Radnor’s day, and they had that one amazing inning and we couldn’t come out on top. I felt from the beginning of the game, we really came out hitting the ball hard, but they got every hop.

“A few runs against a team with that kind of fire isn’t always going to be enough.’

Radnor moves to the semifinal round to face No. 1 Chichester, which dispatched Upper Moreland, 9-1. Chichester will see a Radnor team that has nothing to lose. From McClatchy’s perspective, any further victories for her team count as a pleasant bonus.

“We’ve surpassed everything,’ she said.