Lansdale Catholic cant finish rally, falls to Hatboro-Horsham
LANSDALE — Monday’s non-league softball matchup between Hatboro-Horsham and Lansdale Catholic pitted two teams scrapping for their playoff lives in their respective leagues.
The game wasn’t brilliant for either side, but the Hatters use a big third inning to get past the Crusaders 8-5.
“It was a very subpar performance but we got out of here with a win and that’s lucky to do against a good team,’ Hatboro-Horsham coach Joe DiFilippo said.
It looked like the Hatters were going to be off to the races right away, loading the bases in the top of the first inning with only one out, but they failed to score as a fielder’s choice and a pop out kept Hatboro-Horsham off the board.
The Hatters had to wait until the third to get their next shot.
This time they cashed in to the tune of five runs on seven hits highlighted by an RBI double — which could easily have been a two-RBI double were it not for Jen Cader getting thrown out at the plate due to some communication issues — and a two-run home run from catcher Bridget Schaffer.
“Offensively we’ll keep plugging,’ DiFilippo said. “We jumped on them early but then we started to coast like it doesn’t really matter.’
To the Crusaders’ credit, they could have easily folded after the Hatters big inning in the third as their offense was struggling and defensively just were not clicking. And on top of that could not get a close call from the umpires all day long.
LC countered the Hatters big inning with one of its own in the bottom of the fifth as the Crusaders put up three runs on only one hit, taking advantage of three walks and an error. The Crusaders had their chances as it also loaded the bases in the sixth and seventh as well, but only managed to get one run apiece in the two innings.
“They battled back and made a game of it. You got to like that,’ Lansdale Catholic coach Paul Suder said. “We were one big hit away, one big swing.’
The Hatters leave Monday’s game with the win, but neither team feeling particularly happy. It remains to be seen whether the best ball is still ahead for both Hatboro-Horsham and LC, but they better find out quick as the end of the season is rapidly approaching and the time to start playing playoff-caliber ball is now.
“To me it’s always better to play your best softball at the end of the year with the playoff coming up,’ Suder said. “We definitely have done that, we’re playing much better now than we were playing earlier.’
