Delaware County shakes off rough start to win pair

PHILADELPHIA >> An inauspicious debut in the Carpenter Cup didn’t deter Delaware County Tuesday afternoon at FDR Park.

Dropping a 6-5 decision in the bottom of the seventh inning to Suburban One/Bicentennial actually breathed life in the squad. Sure, a heartbreaker in the morning wasn’t ideal, especially when they had to sit around for two hours before given the chance to redeem themselves later in the day. But the walkoff loss also gave Delco’s players the confidence that, yes, they can hang with the best teams from the tri-state area. That nail-biter was a sign of things to come. Delco continued to show fight the rest of the day. They had no gimmies coming their way.

“We definitely thought we should have won that first game,” Penncrest’s Olivia Rigby said. “That set us up for the rest of the day.”

Delco won its final two contests Monday in walkoff fashion. First, Garnet Valley’s Hope DiMario had the winning hit

in the bottom of the seventh to complete a furious six-run rally against Philadelphia PCCAF, 6-5. Then, at around 7 p.m., Amber Seamen (Interboro) drilled a line drive down the first-base line to score Hayley Coale (Chichester) as Delco outslugged Mid-Penn, 13-12.

Whew, what a day.

“A lot of us play with each other, we know each other, and that makes it fun,” said Seamen, who had three hits and three RBIs in Delco’s two victories.

Of her clutch hit that kept Delco’s Carpenter Cup hopes alive, Seamen added, “She (Mid-Penn pitcher Courtney Coy) was throwing strikes, so I swung. A lot of the girls were hitting her.”

Delco returns to FDR Park Wednesday to play Chester County at 11 a.m. The winner will play Lehigh Valley at 1.

Hope DiMario (Garnet Valley) wins it with a walkoff single to LF. Delco scores six runs in the 7th to win 6-5. pic.twitter.com/VzQLKwQURP

— Matt Smith (@DTMattSmith) June 21, 2016

Delco pounded out 13 hits against Mid-Penn. Coale tripled down the right-field line to score Haverford’s Heather Lazer, who knocked in Rigby with a run-scoring double earlier in the frame. That set the stage for Seamen’s heroics.

Delco rallied after coughing up a 9-1 lead,. Mid-Penn grabbed a 10-9 advantage in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Emily Lieb. Battling through a shoulder injury, Ridley’s Leigh Ann Jenkins pitched 1 ⅔  innings to record the win. She relieved Bridget Bailey (Interboro) in the sixth and escaped further damage.

Nikki DePietro (Springfield) coaxed a bases-loaded walk in bottom of the sixth to tie it. Alas, Mid-Penn struck for two unearned runs in the seventh to grab a 12-10 lead.

Delco wobbled a bit, but never fell down.

“We know that we can win, so I think it’s really great to see when we finally all come together,” said Rigby, who was an on-base machine all day. In Delco’s two wins, she was 5 for 7 with four runs, an RBI and two walks. “It takes a real team effort to pull out these wins today.”

Rigby set the tone throughout the day for Delco batting leadoff and provided strong defense in center field.

“I like the leadoff spot,” Rigby said.

“She was on base all day,” Delco coach Pat Rafferty said. “We went with her today and followed her lead.”

The one-two punch of Rigby and Lazer, who batted second, caused plenty of havoc. Rigby and Lazer both scored three runs against Mid-Penn. Sam Witmer (Upper Darby) collected two hits and two RBIs, while Lindsay Moran (Haverford) was 1 for 1 with two RBIs and a run scored. Moran executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to drive home a run in Delco’s three-run first inning, and blooped a single to left field to during Delco’s six-run outburst in the third.

“They’ve put in a lot of work. We’re not just showing up here and playing,” Rafferty said. “They’ve been building that rapport for the last three weeks. Hot days, two-hour practices, and they put the work in. It showed today and says a lot about their dedication.”

DiMario slugged a single to the gap to beat Philadelphia PCCAF. Delco trailed 5-0 going to the seventh and looked sluggish most of the game.

“We knew we had to string it together because we weren’t really hitting that much in the beginning,” said DiMario, who a second baseman. “We found a way to put it together in the end.”

Marple Newtown’s Nicole Atkins struck out six Philadelphia PCCAF hitters. She started both of Delco’s wins.
NOTES: The Inter-Ac League won its opener over Philadelphia PCCAF, 6-4, before falling to Suburban One/Bicentennial, 13-2. The Inter-Ac will play Tri-Cape Wednesday at 9 a.m… Delco Christian junior catcher Ronnie Falasco had a huge day for Suburban One/Bicentennial, which finished 2-1. Falasco banged two singles in the win over Delco and was 3 for 4 with a double, triple and five RBIs against the Inter-Ac.