North Penn blanks CB South, moves into tie for 1st in SOL Continental

TOWAMENCIN >> Handed the game ball by coach Rick Torresani, a still-smiling Elia Namey spoke of just how much she and her North Penn teammates wanted this game with rival Central Bucks South.

“We’ve been waiting for this for so long, since we lost the last time (5-3 to South back on April 18). We came in with so much energy,” Namey said, as a celebration began to break out behind the backstop. “All day long, we’ve been texting each other, saying ‘we gotta get this.’

“We were hyping each other up and we came in with our heads in the game the entire time.”

In the sixth inning, Namey’s RBI double down the left-field line unlocked a tied game dominated by pitching and defense. North Penn pushed ahead 1-0 on the rip by Namey, added two more runs that frame, and then right-hander Mady Volpe finished off a gem, closing things out for a 3-0 victory over the Titans.

The win sent the Knights into a first-place tie with South at the top of the Suburban One League Continental Conference, with both squads at 8-3. North Penn is at Pennridge Tuesday and South is at home that day, against Central Bucks East. If both the Knights and Titans earn victories in their final conference games, they would share the title for the second year in a row.

“Just for the morale of these girls, after that loss to Souderton Area — we had won nine in a row going in, this was huge. They bounced back,” said Torresani, who is on the verge of guiding North Penn to its third conference title in four years. “It was just a well-played, playoff-type atmosphere.

“And the team that got the clutch hit was gonna win, and we just happened to be that team.”

Big Sixth

A one-out single to center by Victoria Juckniewitz (3-for-3) gave the Knights a runner on in the sixth, and after Amanda Greaney drew a walk off South starter Kylie Kenney, Namey came through.

“I knew we needed that hit right there,” said Namey, the Knights’ cleanup hitter, “just so we could break the 0-0. We got the hit and we just rolled on it. We didn’t let up.”

“Good spot — bottom of the sixth. And Elia coming through with that hit was just awesome,” Torresani said.

Jordan Pietrzykoski blooped a double to center to score pinch runner Gianna Costello, making it 2-0, and then Jamie Beer laid down the suicide sqeeze to bring in pinch runner Erin Cliver, boosting the margin to 3-0.

With Volpe in command, that was more than enough.

Volpe Locks It Down

Volpe surrendered just a pair of hits over her seven innings of work, striking out seven and walking four.

Not leaving any room for drama, she retired the side in the seventh. The freshman worked her inside pitches and threw a curveball and riser that the Titans had trouble with all afternoon.

“This team, we really have something special,” the right-hander said, as she and her teammates got ready to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Pietrzykoski. “The energy, the support, and everyone just has each other’s back. And that’s what a team is.”