Fast start propels Hurricanes to win over Villa Joseph Marie
MALVERN—Villa Maria (10-0) scored six runs in the first two innings, then let Alyssa Viscardo do her thing in the circle. The Hurricanes picked up their eighth shutout in ten games, topping visiting Villa Joseph Marie 6-0 Thursday afternoon in an AACA clash.
“The defense has really been doing a great job for us, and it isn’t easy for them when they aren’t seeing much action,” said Hurricanes’ coach Nikki Hartshorn. “With rain limiting practice time outdoors, and Alyssa throwing as well as she has, they really always just have to be ready to make a play.”
The Hurricanes put together a two-out rally to push four runs across in the first. Riley Miller reached on a one out single to left, and stole second. Then, with two outs, Villa rang up four straight extra base hits. Ana Ciarrocchi started the onslaught with an RBI double. Fran Delviscio followed with a triple, coming into score on a double from Viscardo and Emma Woodcock picked up the last RBI with a double of her own.
“We always want to score runs in the beginning of the game,” said Ciarrocchi. “It keeps the energy high and makes you feel a little more secure for the rest of the games. You can relax a little and just play. The games where you have to come back can be fun, but it’s nice when you don’t have to do it.”
Some heads-up baserunning led to a pair of runs in the second. With the bases loaded and one out, Ciarrocchi lofted a ball to center. Tee Keithly, who had led off the inning with a single, tagged and scored, with Marissa Bruder, who had beaten out a bunt to reach base, moving up to third. Seeing Bruder on third, Riley Miller, who reached on a walk, took off for second, stopping halfway, hoping to draw a throw. The Bears bit, and Miller got herself caught in a rundown long enough for Bruder to score.
“We have a lot of new players this year,” said Ciarrocchi. “Virtually the whole infield is new or at least in a new position. Watching the younger players coming through the way they have, along with everything else, I’m really happy with the way we’re playing so far.”
Viscardo, meanwhile, was in a groove, allowing just a bloop single and a bunt over the first five innings, while striking out nine Bears’ hitters over the same span. Viscardo picked up the pitching win going the distance, allowing just four hits for the shutout. She finished with the nine Ks, while not walking a batter.
“We’ve really been coming together as a team,” said Viscardo. “We’ve been on fire, and it’s been a lot of fun. I just hope we can keep riding this momentum we’re building.”
The Hurricanes are coming up on a big stretch of their schedule, with both league rivals, as well as non-league opponents like Conestoga and potential district playoff foe Pope John Paul II on the horizon.
“The way our schedule is set up, we run the gamut of opposition and really test ourselves,” said Hartshorn. “We go from playing (Class) 3A teams, to 4A teams like us, to 5A teams; from girls who throw really hard, to pitchers that use more offspeed stuff. So it’s constant adjustment, and these girls are making all the right adjustments so far. We’ve even beat three 6A teams this year so far.”
Villa Maria 6 Villa Joseph Marie 0
Villa Joes AB R H RBI Villa Maria AB R H RBI
Aquaro—3B 3 0 0 0 Bruder—CF 3 1 2 0
Gordon—CF 3 0 1 0 Miller—RF 2 1 1 0
Morell—C 3 0 0 0 Becker—C 3 0 0 0
Tsioupolis—SS 3 0 1 0 Ciarrocchi—2B 2 1 1 2
Hocker—P 3 0 1 0 Delviscio—SS 3 1 1 1
Reifsnyder—RF 3 0 1 0 Viscardo—P 3 1 1 1
Russell—1B 2 0 0 0 Woodcock—1B 2 1 1 1
Lyons—2B 3 0 0 0 Day—PH 1 0 0 0
Alexander—LF 2 0 0 0 Holyoke—3B 1 0 0 0
Totals 25 0 4 0 Wilcox—PH 1 0 0 0
Keithly—LF 1 1 1 0
McClatchy—PH 0 0 0 0
Totals 22 6 8 5
2B—Ciarrocchi, Viscardo, Woodcock 3B—Delviscio
Villa Joseph Marie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0–0
Villa Maria 4 2 0 0 0 0 X—6
Pitching IP R H BB K
Villa Joseph Marie
Hocker (L) 6 6 8 2 3
Villa Maria
Viscardo (W) 7 0 4 0 9
