Hurricanes blow past Villa Joseph Marie

By Bill Rudick

Brudick55@gmail.com

MALVERN—Villa pitcher Maddie Abbot struck out a dozen and the Hurricanes played stellar defense behind her as Villa Maria (5-0, 6-2) shut out visiting Villa Joseph Marie (4-4, 2-3) by a score of 6-0 Tuesday afternoon.

“We have such a mix of extremes with seniors and young players, it’s great to see them coming together the way they have,” said Villa coach Nicole Hartshorn. “This was an all around team effort today. We had power hitters bunting when we needed, and hitting for extra bases when we needed that.”

The two teams were scoreless until Villa manufactured a run in the third. Marissa Bruder got things going when she bunted for a base hit. Bri Wright followed with a single up the middle to make it first and second, then Sarahrose Jonik brought Bruder home with a little blooper to short left.

“Marissa is a big asset for us,” said Hartshorn. “She is everything you want as a lead-off hitter, and then you saw what she can do with the glove running down that ball. She doesn’t make that play, it’s a whole different game.”

Abbot, meanwhile, was throwing BBs. The Lebanon Valley recruit was perfect through the first four, and finished the complete game shut-out allowing just three hits. She struck out twelve, and did not walk a batter.

“I got them swinging at the rise ball, but most everything was working well,” said Abbot. “This has been a really fun season. There’s so many young players, the future is really bright here, and this is going to be a great way to go out for the seniors.”

Abbot continues her march towards the state record for strikeouts in Class AAA, currently held by Chichester’s Meg Wimmer, who finished her stellar career with 748.

“Nothing can distract her from her train of thought,” said Hartshorn of Abbot. “She wasn’t getting the calls from the ump on the rise ball, but she just kept throwing it, knowing it was going to get her outs.”

Villa broke things open with three runs in the fourth, and another pair in the fifth.

Leading the way offensively for Villa was freshman Alyssa Viscardo, who finished two for three with a triple, scored twice, and knocked two in. Viscardo, a pitcher on her travel team and the heir apparent to Abbot, is happy to make her contribution playing shortstop and swinging a hot bat.

“I’m just having so much fun playing high school softball,” said Viscardo. “I’m so used to travel ball, I was honestly not sure I’d like playing high school softball. But this team is so much fun to play with, and Maddie is a senior, so I’m happy to do whatever coach Nikki wants me to do.”

Villa Joseph Marie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0—0

Villa Maria Academy 0 0 1 3 2 0 X—6

Villa Joseph Marie AB R H RBI

Booth—DP 3 0 0 0

Hocker—2B 3 0 1 0

Tsiouplis—SS 2 0 1 0

Buchanon—1B 3 0 0 0

Capozzi—P 3 0 1 0

Alexander—PH 1 0 0 0

Abel—LF 2 0 0 0

Russell—PH 1 0 0 0

Gordon—3B 1 0 0 0

Zaldi—CF 2 0 0 0

Accetta—RF/FLX 0 0 0 0

Totals 23 0 3 0

Villa Maria AB R H RBI

Bruder—CF 2 1 2 0

Rohr—PH 1 0 0 0

Becker—LF 4 0 0 0

Wright—2B 3 0 1 0

Jonik—C 3 1 1 1

Abbot—P 1 0 0 0

D’Acenzio—1B 1 1 1 0

Viscardo—SS 3 2 2 2

Delviscio—3B 3 0 1 1

Ciarrocchi—RF 2 1 1 0

Cosgrove—PH 1 0 0 0

Totals 24 6 9 4

3B—Viscardo 2B—Delviscio

Pitching

Ville Joe’s IP R H K BB

Capozzi (L) 6 6 9 3 3

Villa Maria

Abbot (W) 7 0 3 12 0