Methacton tops Upper Merion for much-needed win

LOWER PROVIDENCE >> Two softball teams looking for some good fortune met Wednesday afternoon at the Pawlings Road complex in Audubon.

Both Methacton and Upper Merion scraping the bottom of their respective divisions in the Pioneer Athletic Conference, are both looking for something positive in the season’s early going.

But Wednesday, only the Warriors found it.

Behind the strong pitching of Ashley Narke and the run-scoring production of Sam Weil-Kaspar and Erica Triantafilou the Warriors prevailed, 7-1, to earn a much-needed win.

“We’ve been struggling all year, defensively,” said Methacton head coach Cathy Miller, “and today we played very well defensively.

“We got some offense, and we played well defensively. We finally put it together.”

The offense came early, with Triantafilou chasing home Lauren Rhoads, who doubled, and Weil-Kaspar chased home a pair with a single.

Taylor Angelillis chased home a pair of runs in the third to stretch the lead to 5-0

With the five-run lead, Narke took over, holding the Vikings scoreless through four, finally yielding a run via Alyssa Adinolfi’s RBI double.

But Angelillis got that run back with an RBI single following Emily Berske’s two-out triple in the sixth.

Two runs followed in the sixth, one via Angellis’ RBI single following Emily Kuberski’s two-out triple.

By game’s end, the Warriors were back in the winner’s circle and the Vikings were still struggling.

“We have a very inexperienced team,” Miller said. “We have juniors and seniors, but only a couple of them have played varsity softball before.

“This was a nice win for us, and maybe this will get us going in the right direction.”

Meanwhile, Upper Merion head coach John Whitney was still left shaking his head.

“We’re young, but we’re getting better,” the coach said. “Give credit to Methacton. Their pitcher did a good job shutting us down and their offense took advantage of what we gave them.”

Methacton 7, Upper Merion 1
Upper Merion   000 010 0 — 1
Methacton         302 002 x — 7
WP — Ashley Narke
LP — Kayla Warren
2B- Alyssa Adinolfi (UM); Lauren Rhoads (M)
3B — Emily Kuberski (M)