Delaware County stars bow out with loss

PHILADELPHIA — The biggest takeaway from this year’s Delaware County Carpenter Cup softball team: Those kids can hit.

“Yes!’ coach Meghan Brogan blurted out Wednesday night, after Delco was eliminated by Mercer County, 4-2, in a winners-bracket game.

“That’s the unfortunate thing, you know?’

After winning its first two games, Delco closed with back-to-back defeats, but was in position to win all four. They left a small colony of baserunners on in a 7-2 loss to defending champion Tri-Cape Monday and gave up a pair of one-run leads to Mercer.

It was there for the taking, but Delco couldn’t seize the moment.

“Were there two questionable calls? Absolutely,’ said Brogan, referring to some close calls that extended Mercer’s rally in the sixth inning and eventually led to two runs. “But let’s be fair: We had the bases loaded, we had the chance to score, and you’ve gotta be able to get somebody in.’

Springfield All-Delco Tori DePietro kept Mercer’s power bats at bay until the fourth inning when Jessica DeDomenico slugged an RBI double to tie the game. In the third inning DePietro hit a moonshot off DeDomenico to the left-field fence for a solo homer, giving Delco a short-lived 1-0 advantage.