Big Bang: Bangert’s homer highlight of PV’s 10-3 win over Quakertown

GRATERFORD >> She came into the game with two hits in her past three games. 

Funny how a few days in the cage can change that.

Freshman Ashley Bangert came alive, going 2-for-3 with one of Perkiomen Valley’s four inside-the-park home runs to supplement the pitching of Abby Wild as the Vikings clinched their second straight PIAA-AAAA berth with a 10-3 victory over Quakertown Friday afternoon.

“Feels amazing,” Wild said.

“A win today gave us at least three more games at the minimum,” Perkiomen Valley head coach Dan McLaughlin added. “It’s something to be proud of. Last year was the first year we ever made states so to make it in back-to-back years is not an easy thing to do. It’s something to be proud of, but we aren’t content, we still have more work to be done.” 

Wild led the way with four hits, (the Vikings finished with 14) but it was the four inside-the-park home runs that became the turning point. Senior Rachel Helverson provided the first with a deep blast to straightaway right field and crossed home standing up to make it 2-1 in the in the first inning. Bruni (two hits, two runs) and freshman Jordan Sell each added round trippers in the second and fifth to complement the most entertaining one of the game, stemming from Bangert’s bat.

Leading off the second inning with a 2-1 lead, Bangert took a 1-0 fastball to deep right field, the ball rolling to the base of the fence as the freshman — who admittedly isn’t the fleetest of foot — rounded the bases and made her dash for home, sliding ahead of the tag from Quakertown catcher Maddie Moyer to make it 3-1.

“When I saw Coach Dan screaming at me as I was rounding second, I didn’t know if I was going to make it,” Bangert explained. “He was saying ‘You have to run fast!’ I was thinking ‘How do I run faster, I’m already running my fastest?’ Then I was trying to get to the outside of the plate but I kind of flopped.

“My whole team was there for me, they kept saying to hit it to right center. We knew we had to watch the pitcher, evaluate her because we knew we had to wait on the ball and drive it. Right center is a big thing for Coach Dan.

“She was getting in a rut because she pulls the ball a little too much so we’re working on keeping her foot in and staying back on the ball, yesterday and before practice,” McLaughlin said. “Looks like it worked.”

Perkiomen Valley will face Upper Darby in the District 1-AAAA semifinals Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

Quakertown, playing without four of its five starting seniors for the second consecutive game, fell one win shy of a state berth after winning its first playoff game since 1988 in a 2-1 win against North Penn Thursday. Senior Spenser Gray finished the game with two hits and two runs scored as the Panthers trailed 4-3 entering the bottom half of the third.

“This team has tremendous character,” Quakertown head coach Rich Scott said. “Even though we’re missing four of our senior starters — Spenser Gray being the only senior here­ — we showed tremendous character. With the freshmen we have, no one expected us to be here today, no one expected us to beat North Penn. I told the girls yesterday, I had all the confidence in the world that we could, they believed and they did.

“(Today) these girls did not quit, they did not give up at all and I’m very proud of them for that.”

Wild and Perk Valley were just too much.

The junior righty pitched another sensational game, yielding only five hits and three runs while striking out nine and walking two. Wild worked the minimum in three of the seven innings for the second straight contest and effectively ended a Quakertown rally in the third, getting Paige Mott to strike out with runners on first and second and two runs already across in the inning. Wild now has 25 strikeouts in her last 20 innings since coming on in relief during the PAC-10 Championship loss to Spring-Ford.

“The curveball was working today,” Wild said. “I mixed a couple change-ups in and I was just trying to mix it up and keep them off balance because they (Quakertown) have good hitters and they’re a dangerous squad.”

The bats supported her as well.

Kelsey Impink, Noelle McCullough (RBI) each added two hits as the Vikings scored two in the first, second and third innings to take a 6-2 lead before putting a four-spot on the board in the fifth, Sell’s aforementioned inside-the-park home run capping off the scoring.

“It feels great being able to help my team,” Sell said. “Coach Dan, when he called me up here, he said that he needed my offense and I have the support of the girls and it feels really nice to help contribute.”

“Abby was pitching well. We weren’t supporting her well in the field so we had to do it with ours bats,” McLaughlin said. “We had to keep the pressure on them because we knew they were shorthanded, we knew what they did yesterday even when they were shorthanded and we had to keep the momentum away from them.”