Owen J. Roberts keeps playoff hopes alive with win over Phoenixville

BUCKTOWN >> The Owen J. Roberts softball team led by four runs early and by five heading into the final inning on Monday night. But it eventually took a spectacular catch in the outfield to nail down an 8-7 win over visiting Phoenixville in a Pioneer Athletic Conference crossover contest.

Maddy Harvey made a running one-handed grab to her left in deep center with two runners on to end the game after Phoenixville had scored four in the frame. Harvey also had three hits and eight players hit safely for the Wildcats, who kept their slim PAC playoff hopes alive and moved a step closer to a District 1-6A berth with two regular season games remaining.

Sam Walsh earned the pitching win with six strong innings and also came back into the game to record the final out. Nicole Kugler had three hits to lead the Phantoms, who stranded 13 runners.

“If she doesn’t catch that, it changes the whole outcome of the game,” OJR coach Jen Beaver said concerning the grab by Harvey.

Harvey didn’t have time to do anything but react to the shot off the bat of Aubrie Breisblatt with runners on first and second.

“Actually, I’ve had a couple like that when I had to catch a line drive,” Harvey said. “It was pretty nerve-wracking. It was kind of like after.”

Owen J. Roberts (9-5 Liberty Division, 10-8 overall) scored two in the first on a leadoff single by Casey Walker and run-scoring singles by Madison Twadell and Harvey. The hosts added two more in the second as Maddie Daubert led off with a single and Walker knocked in a run with her second straight hit and 106th of her career.

Meanwhile, Walsh threw her first 13 pitches for strikes and was helped out in the second when third baseman Jordan Sylvia grabbed a scorching liner off the bat of Emma Rakowski with two runners on board and fired to first for an inning-ending double play.

“In the beginning, I was throwing my better stuff,” Walsh said. “In the middle, they became more selective.”
Phoenixville (7-8 Frontier, 8-10) scored three in the third on an RBI single by Kugler and a two-run single through the middle by Katie Rutledge.

“They’re a really good hitting team,” Beaver said concerning the Phantoms. “I had a feeling that would happen eventually. You could tell they made some adjustments. Sam pitched a good game.”

The Wildcats seemingly broke the game open with four in the fourth as Morgan Twadell and Sylvia knocked two-run singles.

But Courtney Gable kept the visitors in the game with two perfect innings of relief and the Phantoms loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh. Hayden Perrone brought home a run with a groundout to short, Lauren Mull doubled home two, Kugler kept the game going with a two-out single and KendallBrown singled to left to bring in a run and make it 8-7 before Harvey’s clutch catch.

OJR came into the contest at 24th in the district rankings with 24 teams making the playoff field.

“Hanging on,” said Beaver, whose team will host Perkiomen Valley and visit Methacton to wrap up the regular season slate. “This week is pretty big for us. We can only control ourselves. We’re hoping to play well the next two nights. (Making districts) is in the back of our minds. Take it one game at a time. We’re just trying to control what we can control.”

“Every game from now on, we have the mindset of making PAC and district playoffs,” Walsh said. “Especially for the seniors. We had some slow spots in the beginning of the season, but we battled through it.”

Owen J. Roberts 8

Phoenixville 7

PHOENIXVILLE              OWEN J

                     ab   r  h bi                       ab   r  h bi

Perrone          4  0   0  1    Walker         3  0  2  1

Mull               5  1   1  0    Twaddell      4  1  1  2

Kuglar            5  1   3  1    Twaddell      4  2  2  1

Brown            2  0   1  1    Sylvia          4  0  1  2

Gable             0  1   0  0    Harvey         4  0  3  1

Breisblatt       5  0   2  0    Walsh          3  0  1  0

Rutledge        1  1   1  2    Towler          0  0  0  0

Duncan          3  1   1  0    Daubert        3  1  1  0

Rakowski      3  0   0  0    Skonczny     3  2  1 0

Woods           4  2   1  0    Murray          1  0  0  1

                                        Dibattista     2  1  0  0

                                        EFltnbrgr      0  1  0  0

                                        CFltnbrgr      0  0  0  0

Totals          32  7 10  5    Totals         31  8 12 8

Phoneixville                      003 000 4 — 7
Owen J. Roberts               220 400 0 — 8

E — Phoenixville 1, Owen J. 3; 2B: Mull, Harvey.

                                   IP     H    R   ER   BB  SO

Phoenixville

Brown                           4   12     8      7      1     2

Gable                           2     0     0      0      0     0

Owen J. Roberts

Walsh                          6     8     3      3      2     3

Towler                          1     2     4      0      1     0