Garnet Valley chills at the plate, loses to CR North in District 1 Class 6A semifinals

CONCORD >> Garnet Valley’s run to the District 1 Class 6A semifinals was due largely to an offense that averaged eight runs in the first three games of the tournament and a little over seven runs in its last eight outings.

Tuesday, the bats went silent.

Council Rock North pitcher Lauren Begg and outfielders Elena Calibeo, Riley Sheehy and Marissa Haynes had a lot to do with that as the No. 19 Indians advanced to Thursday district final with a 2-0 victory over the No. 15 Jaguars in the semifinals.

CR North (14-9) takes on top-seeded Central Bucks South, a 1-0 winner over No. 4 North Penn, in the district championship game at Immaculata. The Jaguars (16-8) travel to North Penn for the third-place game.

Begg stymied the Jaguars (16-8) on three hits, two of which came in the bottom of the seventh inning. They were the only baserunners the lefty allowed.

“We hit all year and for us to come out today and not hit, in the biggest game of the year for us, was a little disappointing,” Garnet Valley coach George White said.

Calibeo, Sheehy and Haynes played key roles in keeping the Garnet Valley hitters at bay. They combined for 10 putouts and robbed the Jaguars of extra bases several times, including an over-the-shoulder catch by Calibeo in left off of a drive by Garnet Valley’s Kelly McLaughlin to lead off the seventh inning.

“I’m not a strikeout pitcher,” said Begg, who only had two Ks. “Teams are going to put the ball in play and I rely on my defense to make plays and today they really backed me up. They were really impressive.”

Begg was perfect through three innings before Diane Torregrossa lined a single to left field to lead off the fourth inning. Garnet Valley would not get another hit until the seventh inning when Lindsay Hunt singled with one out and Anna Bechtold poked a two-out hit.

“That outfield was really good,” Hunt said. “You have to tip your hat to them. We hit the ball hard and put it in play. There’s not much you can do about that. It stinks. Maybe the next time we should adjust our mentality when we’re playing an outfield like that and focus more on hitting the ball on the ground and hitting the gap instead of trying to hit it out to the outfield with some power.”

The Jaguars, however, did have their chances. One out after Torregrossa’s single in the fourth inning, Hunt hit ground ball that CR North third baseman Taylor Briggs threw into right field. Torregrossa was held at third by White, but Hunt got caught between second and third. Torregrossa was thrown out at the plate.

“We talk about picking up the coach,” White said. “Things happen. It is what it is. We just didn’t hit.”

The Indians took advantage of a shaky start by Garnet Valley pitcher Becca Halford to supply Begg with all the offensive support Begg needed to get the win.

CR North collected three of its eight hits and tallied both of its runs in the top of the first inning. Julia Shiends singled home Sheehy for the first run and Calibeo drove home Shields with two outs. Halford settled down and kept the Indians at bay the rest of the way.

“We just have to forget about this and concentrate on the next game,” Halford said.