Upper Darby falls in district rematch with Owen J. Roberts
BUCKTOWN >> There was a consensus on the hills of the Owen J. Roberts softball field Tuesday evening.
“We wanted this one,” said shortstop Bridget Guinan. “All of us remembered what happened last year.”
Still motivated by last year’s season-ending loss to Upper Darby in the second round of districts, the Wildcats finally had their shot at revenge.
And they took full advantage.
No. 13 Owen J. Roberts pounded out 17 hits and plated runs in all but one inning en route to a six-inning 14-4 win over 20th-seeded Upper Darby during the opening round of the District 1 Class 6A playoffs Tuesday evening.
“We didn’t get a lot of hits against them last year,” said catcher Casey Walker, referencing OJR’s 3-1 loss against the then top-seeded Royals last spring. “We came into this one ready and motivated at the plate.”
The Wildcats bats’ looked plenty motivated, helping them to cross three runs in the bottom of the first inning and another in the second before eventually breaking it open with a four-run fourth. That was enough cushion for starter Brittney Dellaquila, who held UD to four runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks. She also struck out five.
Third baseman Brianna Smith finished with three doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored while first baseman Darby Stuart plated three runs on three singles with a pair of runs scored. Leadoff hitter Camryn Glenn finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI while Guinan had two hits and an RBI.
“This past week we’ve really been working on hitting and making sure we were ready to go for this one,” said OJR coach Jen Beaver. “That’s one thing we really focused on. Hopefully it will continue to help us out.”
The Wildcats (15-7) will need to swing the big bats again Wednesday as the win sets them up with a game against No. 4 North Penn at 4 p.m. Meanwhile, Upper Darby’s season ended earlier than it ever expected.
While OJR was racking up the runs early on, the Royals (11-10) left plenty of runners on base. The Royals stranded seven runners, including a bases-loaded, one out situation in the third inning.
Defensively, UD didn’t help itself too much, either, racking up five errors.
“Missed opportunities,” said head coach Christina Tomczuk. “You can’t do that in the playoffs. We made too many errors and left too many runners on, especially in that (third) inning.”
Leadoff hitter Sarah Sullivan finished 3-for-4 with a two-run home run in the fifth inning to put the Royals on the board, while shortstop Camryn Young had a pair of hits. Starter Rebecca Sorrentino was tagged for 14 runs (nine earned) on 17 hits and three walks.
Similar to how the Wildcats approached Tuesday’s game, Tomczuk hopes the lingers in her players’ minds.
