Kern’s blast, defensive gems lift Spring-Ford over Boyertown
ROYERSFORD >> He’s having a blast coaching this team.
Of course, winning only adds to the fun for Tim Hughes and Spring-Ford.
Wednesday night provided more of it.
Megan Kern hit a solo home run and provided two RBI while the defense stepped up to the task when it needed to as the Rams topped visiting Boyertown 4-2 at Ram Park for their fourth straight victory.
“We came out and did some good things,” Hughes said following the win. “They’re all doing fantastic, all 18 that we have. That’s what’s fun about it. They’re a great group of kids and I love coaching them.”
There wasn’t much not to love Wednesday night … especially defensively.
The Rams came up big in the field throughout the night, throwing out three potential game-tying or tie-breaking runners out at the plate. The defensive gems validated another strong mound effort from Sam Lindsay, who threw a complete game, allowing six hits and two earned in picking up her fifth win of the season.
“The plays we work on in practice going from (second)-to-(home) or (first)-to-(home) paid off tonight,” Hughes said.
“We played really well as a team,” center fielder Morgan Maziarz added. “We knew the situations we were in and executed well when we needed to.”
Kern’s game-tying blast that cleared the center field fence provided the spark the Rams needed offensively as the team pounded nine hits in the win. Maziarz’s RBI single in the fourth and Kern’s RBI groundout in the sixth provided the difference after the game was tied at two after three. Maziarz finished the day with two hits along with Abby Files (2-for-3), who reached base on two singles.
“Mr. Hughes has been saying all year long to hit the pitch where it’s located,” Kern said. “She (Kalil) was throwing outside today so we just had to wait on it a little bit more and rip it.”
“These kids are hitting the ball well,” Hughes said. “The other day against Pottsgrove (4-3 victory) it was Abby Files who hit a bomb. They’re just having fun and they’re playing well.”
Boyertown was led by Kody Streeter’s two-RBI night as her two-run double in the third provided all of the team’s scoring. Sarah Eidle finished with two hits while Mandy Kalil took the mound loss after allowing four runs (three earned) in six innings of work.
“That’s a good team,” Hughes said of Boyertown. “Brandi is a good coach, she’s intense. That team is going to win plenty of more games this year.”
It just wasn’t the Bears’ night Wednesday.
With the score tied at two in the fourth, Taylor Garcia reached second on a miscommunication between the Rams’ center fielder and right fielder, before Eidle’s bunt single put runners on the corners with no outs. The Rams defense then came up big as first baseman Jules Hughes took the throw from McConney on a groundout before firing home to nail Garcia at the plate to preserve the 2-2 tie.
The Bears were done in again via a play at the plate in the sixth after Lauren Waller tried to come home from second on a single to center by Eidle. Maziarz, who made it 3-2 with an RBI single that scored Bridget Sharkey, fielded the ball in shallow center and threw a laser to the awaiting Kern who applied the tag in plenty of time to nail Waller at the plate.
After Kern’s RBI groundout made it 4-2, the defense was at it again in the seventh. This time it was Lex Strunk who made the throw home after collecting a single that bounced off McConney at short. The throw was on target and in plenty of time to get Meghan Kovacs (leadoff triple) out at the plate and deny the Bears another scoring opportunity. Lindsay got the next two batters down via groundout to seal the win.
“In pressure situations we would sometimes tense up and panic a little bit,” Kern said. “But today we stayed relaxed and had fun.”
What’s more fun than winning.
