North Penn hits 3 home runs, rolls past Souderton in 5

TOWAMENCIN >> The North Penn softball team’s offense wasted little time in its season opener Monday afternoon.

Two batters into the bottom of the first inning, Jordan Pietrzykoski gave the Knights a quick 2-0 lead belting a two-run home run over the fence in center field.

“We were working really, really hard all fall and all winter and I knew V (Victoria Juckniewitz) was on second, I just had to move here,” Pietrzykoski said. “So, it just kind of fell into place.”

By the end of the frame, North Penn had tacked on three more runs and kept on adding from there in a cold and rainy Suburban One League Continental Conference matchup with visiting Souderton. Amanda Greaney and Elia Namey joined Pietrzykoski in hitting home runs for the Knights as they rolled past the Indians 11-0 in five innings.

“These kids have been dying since we lost to Parkland (in last year’s PIAA-6A quarterfinals) to come out and play,” North Penn coach Rick Torresani said. “And they’re really excited about the season and they’re just ready to play. And they came out today, they didn’t care about the weather or anything, they just wanted to come out and play.”

Namey finished a triple short of the cycle, going 3-for-3 with a double and a three-run home run to center in the third while Greaney went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer to left center in the fourth for the Knights, who gave the game ball to longtime Abington coach Ellie White, now a NP assistant.

“What we tried to do different this year rather than last year is just come out with a lot more confidence than we usually have” Namey said. “We have the most the most confidence in this team I feel like than we’ve have ever. And were really excited to get started. We wanted to get off on a good note before we headed to Florida for spring training.

Pietrzykoski went 2-for-2 with three runs, the senior second baseman just missing a second home run in the fourth, hitting a ball off the top of the right-field fence and racing around the bases for a triple. Carley DiGiuseppe was 2-for-3 with an RBI as North Penn (1-0), which now heads down to Orlando for a five-day trip beginning Wednesday that includes a pair of games with Dallas High School Saturday.

“It’s going to really nice, getting to play every day down at Disney and in that weather,” Namey said. “It’s going to be a great bonding experience and also just reassure what we want to do the rest of the season.”

Jen Klepfer and Riley each hit a double for Souderton (0-1). The Indians tried to extended the game by putting runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth but NP right-hander Mady Volpe ended the contest with a strikeout.

“North Penn, they always have a strong hitting team and our bats were quiet today,” Souderton coach Liz Parkins said. “So it’s kind of hard to win that’s the scenario. But our players, they played well, they stated positive the whole time, they kept their heads up. And like I said, even though our bats were silent everyone wanted to be here and they did fight.

Volpe earned the shutout victory for Knights, allowing three hits, walking one, hitting one batter and striking out eight.

“We couldn’t really throwing anything with Mady other than her fastball and maybe her changeup here and there because of the weather — she couldn’t grip it,” Torresani said.

Souderton starting pitcher Abby Burns took the loss, the freshman righty giving up 11 runs — nine earned — on 11 hits. She walked one, hit one batter and struck out a pair.

“She gave up the longball but overall I thought she did pretty well,” said Parkins of Burns. “She kept her composure and again just got to get here some game experience.”

The Indians finish the week with a SOL non-conference road game against William Tennent 3:45 p.m. Friday.

After Pietrzykoski’s two-run homer put the Knights up 2-0 in the bottom of the first, Greaney and Namey followed with back-to-back singles while an error on Jamie Beer’s sacrifice bunt loaded the bases. Volpe made it 3-0 when her sacrifice fly to left plated Greaney’s courtesy runner Rachel Lowry. A Sophia Collins ground out scored Namey while DiGiuseppe’s RBI single brought home Beer for a 5-0 advantage.

In the bottom of the second, Pietrzykoski drew a one-out walk and Greaney singled to put two on for Namey, who blasted a three-run homer to left center to make it 8-0 Knights.

“I knew she was throwing outside. I love outside,” Namey said. “I mean, I just was waiting for that pitch. And I wasn’t swinging as hard as I could, I just kind of swung in it, that’s what happened.”

North Penn posted its final three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Pietrzykoski led off with her triple to right then scored when Greaney collected the Knights’ third homer — a two-run blast to center. The next at-bat, Namey doubled to right center. Namey took third on a wild pitch and scored on Beer’s RBI sac fly to right for a 11-0 lead.