Mount parlays aggression into comeback over Penncrest in District 1-AAA quarters
SPRINGFIELD >> By the time Julie Burns struck out the last batter in the seventh inning, the Mount Saint Joseph middle infield pair of Angela Gervasi and Kailey Karabin had added another color to their uniforms.
On top of the black, purple and yellow, the shortstop and second baseman had added a thick coating of dirt brown to their attire. That alone said enough about the way the Magic had rallied back from three runs down in the sixth inning.
Mount’s aggressiveness and willingness to take a risk and go for it helped propel the Magic to a 5-4 win over visiting Penncrest in a District 1 Class AAA softball quarterfinal Friday afternoon.
“Whenever we’re in a slump, we start bunting just to give us the confidence we can make contact with the ball and get runners on,” Karabin, the senior second baseman said. “We’re a team of pretty good baserunners so as long as we get someone on, it usually lets us get something going.”
For five innings, it was all Penncrest pitcher Maya Hartman. The sophomore hurler had Mount out of sorts and frustrated, retiring the first nine hitters in order and pounding the outside corners of the strike zone.
Penncrest had just one senior in the field Friday in third baseman Sam Crann but saw a couple of untimely miscues aid Mount’s comeback effort.
“We made some mental mistakes instead of getting an out when we needed an out,” Lions coach Earl Evans said. “(Hartman) kept them off balance, they didn’t know what was coming. She had her spots for the most part, I’m very pleased with her outing.”
The Lions struck for two off of Mount starter Sophia Little in the third, with a pair of Magic errors aiding the visitors when Julia Eckels’ RBI single brought in a second run on an outfield misplay. They might have scored more if not for a double play by Mary Buckley and Gervasi and a called batter interference for the third out.
Penncrest also plated two runs off reliever Julie Burns in the fifth when catcher Kailey Martin belted a two-run double to score Samie Martin and Eckels. Eckels, Kailey Martin, Samie Martin and Emma Stauffer each had two hits for the No. 5 seed.
“I think we’re heading in the right direction,” Evans said. “We challenged these guys about midway through the season. We challenged them to dig deep and find a way to get things done. They took that from there and put together a real nice run. I’m proud of them.”
Mount made it a 2-1 game in the fourth thanks to a lot of hustle and some risk-taking by Gervasi, who bats leadoff. The junior, who’s main sport is soccer, bunted for a single to open the inning, then stole second and moved to third on a sac bunt by Daria Vining.
With Karabin at the plate, Gervasi started for home and prompted Martin to make a choice with the ball. The Penncrest catcher threw to the covering shortstop and that was the opening Gervasi needed, going all-in and scoring the run.
“I’m one of the faster players on the team and I usually make my own decisions when to go for it,” Gervasi said. “I just kept going, I zoned everyone out and kept going for home.”
Gervasi said there was an extremely positive vibe going on the Mount bench the entire game, noting the JV players and Little giving plenty of encouragement after stepping out of the circle. Other than the fifth inning, Burns was strong in the circle, allowing just one single in her other three innings of work with five strikeouts.
The shortstop’s bunt was the team’s only hit through five innings but there was plenty of confidence going out for the sixth. After No. 9 hitter Lila Moore put down a bunt for a hit with one out, Gervasi followed with a single of her own to put runners at the corners.
“Just getting a person base gets everyone going,” Gervasi said. “We practice that 24/7 with the bunts. To adjust, we started to stand closer to the plate because the umpire was calling outside pitches. Toward the end of the game, we stepped in and hit those pretty well.”
After Gervasi stole second, in a cloud of dirt, Vining put Penncrest in a tough spot when she grounded to second. The fielder’s choice throw to home was too late to get Moore and too high to stop Gervasi from aggressively going all the way.
A passed ball let pinch-runner Brigid O’Neill to reach second before Karabin singled her in to tie the game up.
“We all met in the middle, got fired up and said let’s keep a positive attitude,” the senior co-captain said. “Let’s cheer for each other, stand at the fence and even if you’re not on the field, be in the game.”
Karabin added some more dirt to her collection by stealing second with backstop Jess Burns up and it proved a key moment when the catcher laced a base hit into the outfield. As soon as the ball left Burns’ bat, Karabin was off.
“At first it looked like she was staying on first base and I really didn’t think she was going,” Gervasi said. “But she’s very aggressive and our team captain so she’ll take that risk.”
“I was just running as hard as I could,” Karabin said. “I saw the ball and I saw the catcher was going to have the ball but we have as much space as we can to get around that, so I did whatever I could to just get my hand on the plate.”
Karabin beat the throw in, giving Burns the go-ahead RBI and her sister three outs from a win. Julie Burns then went out and shut down the Lions, blowing the last strike by a swinging Eckels to move the Magic on to a semifinal with top-seeded Villa Maria.
The squads have met twice this season in the AACA, but the Magic players said even though it’s a big challenge, at least they have an idea what to prepare for.
“It’s going to be a tough game but we’re ready,” Karabin said. “It’s kind of intimidating when you face a new team so at least it’s kind of comfortable facing Villa, we know their pitcher really well so we can actually practice for her this weekend.”
