Conestoga bangs out 11 hits while handing Villa its first loss
MALVERN—The Pioneers were just a day removed from a heartbreaking loss to Upper Darby, and now had to face one of the top pitchers in the area in Villa Maria’s Alyssa Viscardo, and her undefeated Hurricane team.
No problem.
Conestoga (13-5) banged out eleven hits—six for extra bases–against the Hurricanes’ ace, while their own ace, Lauren Lofland, threw a gem, and the Pioneers cruised to a 12-1 win over Villa (14-1) in five innings.
“The girls were all just saying that (Viscardo) was the best, hardest throwing pitcher we’ve faced all year,” said ‘Stoga coach Pete Ricci. “How did we have our best game of the year against her? But coming off a tough loss like we did yesterday—a game that probably cost us the Central League title—we came in here looking for some hits. The way these girls responded is remarkable.”
The Pioneers pushed across a run in the first, with Olivia Cepielik (3 for 4, 2 2B, HR, 3RBI) doubling and eventually coming in to score on a sac fly from Katie Mayock. But after going down 1-2-3 in the second, the Pioneers broke things open with a monster third.
Lofland reached with a single up the middle, but Viscardo was able to retire the next two hitters. Cepielik came up with two outs, and delivered her second double in as many at bats, scoring courtesy runner Richa Dhamankar in the process.
Mayock followed, and hit a bomb to center for a two-run homer.
“I’m pretty sure it was a curveball,” said Mayock, who finished the day with five RBI. “She was throwing a lot of curveballs to me, and I had some pretty ugly sings on more than a few of them. But I got that one.”
Rounding out the inning, Rachel Lopez walked, then came around to score on a double from Faith Walker.
‘Stoga did it again with two outs in the fifth, scoring five runs, highlighted by a triple from Mayock and doubles from Lopez and Walker (2 for 3, 2 2B, 2 RBI)
“To be able to hit the way we did against a pitcher like that is a big confidence boost for us,” said Mayock, who will be headed to St. Joe’s on a basketball scholarship next year. “It lets us know we can hit the good pitchers. Once districts start, all the teams are good, and all the pitchers are good. But we know we can play with anyone.”
Lofland, meanwhile, was dealing. Before Villa finally got on the board with a run in the bottom of the fifth, Lofland had allowed just three base hits—two infield singles and a little blooper just beyond the grasp of ‘Stoga shortstop Cepielik. She took the win with five strong innings, allowing one run on four hits. She struck out three—surpassing 100 Ks for the year—and did not walk a batter.
“It’s an amazing win,” said Lofland. “We’re all just really excited, especially after yesterday. Getting to 100 means a lot to me. I only had 42 last year as a freshman.”
For the Hurricanes, they will simply console themselves with an AACA title that is all but clinched, and get prepared for the post season.
“Obviously, you want to win, but I am really glad we got to play this game,” said Villa coach Nikki Hartshorn. “We wanted to test ourselves against a good 6A team. We haven’t really had too many real tests this year. But what matters most isn’t the result, but how we respond to it. We just couldn’t find the holes today. We got to see what we need to work on, but we’ll just get back to work and come out swinging in the next game.”
Conestoga 12 Villa Maria 1, five innings
Conestoga AB R H RBI Villa AB R H RBI
Overton—RF 4 2 2 0 Bruder—CF 3 0 0 0
Cepielik—SS 4 4 3 3 Becker—C 2 0 1 0
Mayock—1B 4 2 2 5 Delviscio—SS 2 0 0 0
Lopez—2B 3 2 1 0 Ciarrocchi—2B 2 1 0 1
Walker—3B 3 0 2 2 Viscardo—P 2 0 0 0
Rycyzyn—C 2 0 0 0 Woodcock—1B 2 0 0 0
Clement—CF 2 0 0 0 Keithly—RF 2 1 1 0
Lofland—P 3 0 1 0 Holyoke—3B 2 0 1 1
Dhanmankar—CR 0 1 0 0 Wilcox—LF 2 0 0 0
Lucci—LF 3 0 0 0 Totals 19 0 4 1
Totals—30 12 11 10
HR—Mayock, Cepielik 3B—Mayock 2B—Cepielik (2), Walker (2), Lopez, Holyoke
Conestoga 1 0 4 5 2—12
Villa Maria 0 0 0 0 1 –1
Pitching
Conestoga IP R H BB K
Lofland (W) 5 1 4 0 3
Villa
Viscardo (L) 5 12 11 2 5
