Upper Merion breezes past Nazareth Academy in District 1-AAA quarters

UPPER MERION >> After Friday afternoon’s 7-0 stroll past Nazareth Academy in the PIAA Class AAA quarterfinals, the Upper Merion softball team is now one win away from a place the Vikings softball program has never been — the state tournament.

Olivia Sborlini tossed five innings of six-hit, shutout ball and drove in five runs as the Vikings survived a top-of-the-first-inning scare, then bested the Pandas, many of whom were forced to arrive moments before game time after a senior graduation ceremony held at 2:00 Friday afternoon.

As for the Vikings, they’ll need one more win, over Bishop Shanahan, at a neutral site on Tuesday, to go into uncharted territory.

“That’s been our goal from Day One,” said Upper Merion head coach John Whitney. “The deepest the program has ever been has been the third round of districts back in 2004, with a team coached by Bob Crooks and that had (pitcher) Katie Luenger and my daughter (Shannon) on the team.

“Now we have a chance to get to states.”

But first, Sborlini had to do a little high-wire maneuvering. After fanning the first hitter she faced, Sborlini yielded successive singles to Lindsay LeVan, Georgia O’Conner and Bethany Liberatore.

But Sborlini wriggled out of the bases-loaded jam, catching Natalie Minitti looking, getting a pop up from Katie Driscoll, then in the bottom of the inning putting the Vikings up, 2-0, with a homer to center field.

“I think that really helped, getting out of that first inning,” Sborlini said. “I was a little more relaxed after we got out of that.”

Suitably relaxed, Sborlini clubbed her homer, then went on to toss three innings of hitless ball.

After escaping another three-hit inning in the fifth, Sborlini gave way to Nicole Kowalski, who shut down the Pandas over the final two innings.

By then, the Vikings had a 5-0 cushion thanks to Riley Kontra’s RBI single and Sborlini’s two-run double in the fifth.

“I was getting a little tired,” Sborlini admitted.

“It was a tough day to pitch,” said Whitney, referring to the oppressive heat. “(Sborlini) was pretty gassed, so we put Nicole in there, and she did a good job.

“And our defense played very well all day.”

“I just kept trying to hit my spots and keep the batters off balance,” Sborlini said. “Ski came in and was very good.”

And by game’s end the Vikings were standing where no other Vikings softball team had been — a win away from states.

As for the Pandas, head coach Danielle Vittitow was just as pleased with the play of her team.

“I thought we played well,” she said. “We stayed focused and our defense made some great plays. We did not let up.

“Even though things didn’t turn out well for us, the girls can be very proud of the way they played under some unusual circumstances.

“The ones who graduated and made it here for the game, it’s a testament to them. They left everything on the field.”

Meanwhile, the Vikings were looking ahead to Tuesday’s historic contest.

“We know if we win our next game we go to states,” Sborlini said. “No matter who it is we have to be ready.

“This is the year. We have to do it this year.”

VIKING NOTES: The performance of the Vikings softball team was not the only good news to come out of Upper Merion. Vikings graduate Chris Sanders, now a junior at La Salle University advanced to the NCAA Semifinals in the 800 meters with school record performance on Friday night in Jacksonville, Fla. Sanders ran the third fastest time in the 800 meters at the NCAA Quarterfinals on Friday night and has advanced to the NCAA Semifinals at the University of Oregon from June 9-11. His time of 1:46.65 broke his own school record of 1:47.78, set earlier this season at Princeton.