Interboro’s Kerwood nearly perfect, but Penn Wood getting there

PROSPECT PARK — Penn Wood didn’t get a hit off Interboro hurler Billie Kerwood in Tuesday’s Del Val League contest.

Kerwood hardly broke a sweat. She walked two and struck out 13 for the Bucs.

In the seventh inning, Penn Wood catcher Sallay Thollie lined out to second baseman Nicole Scibello, who went down to one knee to make a nice grab for the second out. Ameenah Ballenger skied one to medium left field for the first out.

Other than those two instances, the Patriots did not make good contact off Interboro’s sophomore ace.

Nevertheless, the fact that Penn Wood fell 2-0 to Interboro is a bit of an accomplishment. Earlier this season, the Patriots defeated the Bucs for the first time in … well, maybe ever. It’s worth noting that Kerwood was not in the circle that day for the Bucs; nonetheless, the victory was huge step forward for Penn Wood, which had been the Del Val’s cellar-dweller for decades.

After years of futility, longtime coach Dan McBride can see the change happening in real time. No, the Patriots aren’t world beaters, but they have a decent shot at qualifying for the District 1 Class 5A playoffs. They were ranked 10th as of Monday morning. Ballenger is the team’s ace pitcher and big slugger. Her emergence as a legit player with upside is the main reason why the Patriots are 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the Del Val League following Tuesday’s defeat.

McBride has coached the Patriots for nine seasons and hasn’t had many softball players come through the program.

“I think we had four or five wins one year, which was our most. We then regressed a little bit. After the regression, there were a couple of years where there were one or two wins and even zero wins,” McBride said. “But we never had a pitcher. If Ameenah doesn’t come along, we’d still be struggling.”

In addition to Ballenger, the Patriots have a sure-handed shortstop in freshman Katelyn Tong, who fielded both grounders that were hit to her and showed off a good arm to first.

“I rely on her for everything,” Ballenger said. “I know I don’t have to strike everyone out.”

Every day is a new challenge for McBride, but the team is getting much better. It’s not just Ballenger or Tong that give him hope for the future. There is some real potential on the Penn Wood softball team. McBride believes he has young ladies in the program that are making progress and will turn into solid ballplayers.

“We’re all juniors, a couple freshmen and two seniors. It’s a slow process, but it’s getting there,” McBride said. “Ameenah’s sister (freshman Zaikiah) is out in right field and she can hit the ball. The kid out in center field, Amiyah Parker, you should keep an eye on her. She never really played before, but she’s getting it. She had a nice at-bat today where she grounded up the middle. She’s very athletic, she’s coming along, and you know she’s going to be a hitter next year. “

Ballenger is the queen of the show. If she’s hitting the ball and dominating from the circle, the chances are good that Penn Wood is winning the game. On Tuesday, she was outdueled by Kerwood, who was unhittable. Ballenger went 0-for-2 with a walk, and struck out five while allowing only four hits and two earned runs.

Losing 2-0 and keeping Interboro to four hits can be viewed as a positive. After all, how many times throughout the years has Interboro put up 10, 15 or 20 runs against Penn Wood?

Well, not anymore. Not with Ballenger on the team.

The “good games” and handshakes from coaches and opposing players ring hollow to Ballenger’s ears. Excuse her for not keeping her expectations in check. Simply put, Ballenger’s wants to win and Tuesday’s result wasn’t satisfactory. Beating Interboro the first time “felt good, but now this feels bad,” she said.

“We can do it,” Ballenger said. “We’ll go into our huddles and say ‘it was a great game,’ but it my head, it wasn’t because you can do better than that. I kind of don’t want to hear it.”

Due to the Easter Monday holiday, Penn Wood did not hold an official practice the day prior. So, Ballenger called up her teammates and told them to convene at Aldan softball field. She held an impromptu team practice, which tells you how serious Ballenger is about winning this year.

“We had spring break this past week, so we haven’t practiced a lot. My dad kept saying to me that if we win (Tuesday), then beat AP and Chi, you get the Del Val. We didn’t have school, so I just forced them outside,” Ballenger said. “I took a bunch of the girls to Aldan field … and I did a bunch of practicing drills. I did soft toss with them. We worked with the left fielder and that paid off. We just have to practice more and practice before every big game. In school we do that now, especially this year, but before we would just practice every other day.”

Interboro scratched out a run in the first inning. Hailey Wittorf singled, stole second base, and scored on a wild pitch. Kaitlyn Hill led off the fifth inning with a single, swiped second base and scored on a groundout by Kyla Valver to give the Bucs a 2-0 advantage, which was more than enough cushion for Kerwood.