CB South edges North Penn on Tumasz’s double, advances to District 1-6A final

WARRINGTON >> It was the opportune time for Tara Tumasz to finally find some success against North Penn’s Mady Volpe

“This is our third time playing them and she’s been getting me with the high outside a lot, all the time pretty much,” Central Bucks South first baseman said. “And that was my first hit against her.”

Tumasz connected on a two-out RBI double to right center field in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring Alexa Ortman — who ended Volpe’s no-hitter with a single the previous at-bat —  as the top-seeded Titans reached their first district final in eight season with a 1-0 victory over the visiting No. 4 Knights in the District 1-6A softball semifinals Tuesday afternoon.

“I feel like we always start hitting, getting stuff done about the sixth or seventh inning, really,” Tumasz said. “And it always seems to be with two outs really.”

CB South (19-3) has just one baserunner heading into the six before Ortman’s gave the Titans their first hit with a two-out single through the right side of the infield then raced home from first base on Tumasz’s double. Kylie Kenney then made the run stand up in the top of the seventh to finish off her two-hit shutout and South had earned a spot in district title game for the first time since 2010 when the Titans won the 4A crown.

“It’s amazing because out of all my years I haven’t made — well actually we’ve lost the first round every time in playoffs, so to make it this far is amazing,” Kenney said. “And to win districts, it would be even better.”

Central Bucks South faces No. 19 seeded Council Rock North in the district final 4 p.m. Thursday at Immaculata University — the all-Suburban One League final guaranteeing the SOL its first district winner since Central Bucks East took 4A in 2013.

“(Assistant coach) Ellen (Goldstein) and I, we love these kids and they had a goal from the beginning of the season that this is where they wanted to be,” CB South coach Kevin Rosini said. “And they’ve fought hard and they’ve worked hard and they deserve all the credit in the world. Ellen and I are just along for the ride and this has been a great ride so far and I’m proud of these kids, I’m happy for them.”

Council Rock North claimed its fourth straight upset of the postseason by shutting out No. 14 Garnet Valley 2-0 in the other semifinal.

Volpe and Kenney kept both offenses in check in the third meeting between teams that shared the SOL Continental Conference title the past two seasons. The sides split their previous two meetings this year — the Knights avenging a 5-3 loss April 18 by topping the Titans 3-0 May 10. Since the shutout loss, South has now won five straight.

“I think they last time we played North Penn we were a little too amped up so we kept our composure this week and we didn’t make it as big a deal as North Penn did,” Kenney said. “So we just kept our composure and let the game go.”

North Penn (18-5) which scored a combined 23 runs in wins over Quakertown and Coatesville in its first two district games was shut out for the first time in 2018 and the first time since falling 1-0 in last year’s district quarterfinal to Perkiomen Valley. The loss also ended a four-game win streak.

“We had maybe more chances than they but again we just didn’t get the clutch hit,” North Penn coach Rick Torresani said. “And playoff softball, it’s good defense and good pitching and timely hitting. That’s what we didn’t get today.”

CB South, meanwhile, continues to found success in close contests improving their record to 8-1 in one-run games this season. Tuesday’s victory was the Titans’ second 1-0 victory in districts, having previously edged Central Bucks West by the scoreline in the second round.

“This is the way our team plays all season. We’re finding ways to win,” Rosini said. “Today, it was we just hung around, hung around, hung around, played good defense the whole time. And all of a sudden boom boom and we get our run.

The Knights stranded six baserunners and in the fifth could not score on a squeeze bunt by Tori Chiu as Jamie Beer — after a little confusion on the call — was out at home on a tag by Tumasz.

“They produced the run and we didn’t,” Torresani said. “Still wondering what he called at the plate there (in the fifth), whether he went safe or he went out or what. But anyway, it was a good game, you got to hand it to them but both pitchers played great and you know, we’ll keep moving on.”

North Penn, which was trying to reach its first district final since 2014, hosts Garnet Valley in the third place game Thursday with both teams guaranteed a spot in the PIAA tournament.

Kenney allowed just a pair of singles in her complete-game two-hitter, the South right-hander walking four, hitting one batter and striking out seven.

“The umpire was definitely calling the low balls and they weren’t chasing after them,” Kenney said. “So I was definitely trying to hit the lower zone to get ahead.”

Despite taking a no-hitter into the sixth, Volpe took the loss. NP’s freshman righty gave one earned run on two hits in six innings, walked one and struck out seven.

The only baserunner Volpe allowed before Ortman’s single was a leadoff walk to Alex DeLeon in the second. DeLeon went to second on Hines’ sacrifice bunt but was stranded there after a strikeout and a foul pop up to the catcher by the next two batters.

“She was throwing the ball really well. And she did really well,” said Torresani of Volpe. “She kept them off balance.”

Beer and Courtney Neal began the top of the fifth with back-to-backs walks with Paige Paciolla’s ground out advancing both runners. Beer attempted to score on Chiu’s squeeze bunt but with the infield drawn in, Tumasz grabbed the ball with her glove then went home and tagged out Beer.

“I fielded it and out of the corner of my eye I saw her coming and it kind of got stuff in my glove to the point where I didn’t think I could get it and flip it to (catcher) Maddie (McShane) in time,” Tumasz said. “So I kind of just went after her myself.”

The Knights still had runners on the corners with two outs, but Kenney worked out of the jam by getting Emily Groarke to fly out to shortstop DeLeon.

North Penn put a runner on in each of the last two innings. In the sixth, Elia Namey was hit by a pitch with two outs but Jordan Pietrzykoski flew out to center field. With the Knights looking to rally in the top of the seventh, Neal drew a one-out walk. After Paciolla popped out to DeLeon at short, Neal went to second on a wild pitch but Chiu ground out to Tumasz.

Amanda Greaney had North Penn’s first hit off Kenney, lacing a two-out single into left center but she was throw out at second trying for a double.

The Knights’ second hit came in the third with Chiu collecting a two-out infield single. Chiu went to second a wild pitch and after a Groarke walk, both runners advanced on a passed ball. Kenney, however, kept the contest scoreless by getting Victoria Juckniewitz to ground out back to the circle.

After DeLeon’s walk in the second, Volpe retired the next 14 South batters — starting off the sixth with back-to-back strikeouts. Ortman’s single was followed by Tumasz’s RBI double with Tumasz taking third due to an error on the play. But the Titans could not tack on another run as Maddie Rowley flew out to left the next at-bat.

Central Bucks South 1, North Penn 0
North Penn        000 000 0 — 0 2 1
Central Bucks South        000 001 x — 1 2 0
WP: Kylie Kenney 7 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 4 BB 7 SO 1 HB.
LP: Mady Volpe 6 IP 2 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 7 SO.
2B: CBS-Tara Tumasz.
North Penn: Tori Chiu 1-3; Amanda Greaney 1-3.
Central Bucks South: Tumasz 1-3, RBI; Alexa Ortman 1-3, R.