Burns’ walk-off home run sends Lansdale Catholic to PCL semifinals

LANSDALE >> It was a jubilant — and surprising — trip around the bases for Lansdale Catholic’s Megan Burns.

“I was running to first and I hear my coach go, “Touch first, touch first,’ and I look and it’s over the fence,” Burns said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s over the fence.’ It was just natural, running around the bases I had a big smile on my face.”

With a runner on first and the Crusaders softball team even 4-4 with Bonner & Prendergast in the bottom of the seventh inning, Burns connected on the first pitch she saw, sending a ball out to center field that just cleared the fence for a two-run walk-off home run, giving second-seeded LC a 6-4 comeback victory over the No. 7 Pandas in the Philadelphia Catholic League quarterfinals Friday afternoon.

“It’s the best feeling ever,” Burns said. “It really is.”

Lansdale Catholic did not have a hit and trailed 4-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, but cut the margin to 4-2 with a run in the inning on an Olivia Davis RBI single. The Crusaders then pulled even with two runs in the sixth — Mary Picozzi leading off with a solo home run to center with Julia Marozzi scoring on Casey Meenan’s squeeze slap bunt.

“It’s really about keeping the energy throughout the game and I think that’s what we did,” Burns said. “But there were some times where we got a little bit down but then we said ‘Hey, relax, have fun, let’s do this.’”

After Picozzi retired the Pandas in order in the top of the seventh, Davis started the bottom of the frame getting hit by a pitch with Burns following with her game-winning longball that sends the Crusaders to the league semifinals for the third straight season.

“I think everybody was thinking we were going to bunt Meg Burns there that last at-bat, you’ve got the leadoff runner at first and you’ve got your leadoff batter up so you’re kind of bunting into two and three which is a good situation,” Lansdale Catholic coach Paul Suder said. “But she had a great practice yesterday. I was throwing batting practice kind of the same speed as their pitcher and she took me out three or four times. And I just got that feeling that she might find the gap there.”

LC faces No. 3 St. Hubert 5 p.m. — a 5-1 winner over No. 6 Archbishop Carroll — Monday at La Salle University in the second game of a doubleheader that starts with No. 1 Cardinal O’Hara taking on No. 4 Archbishop Ryan at 3 p.m.

“Regardless of anything to do with the districts we want to start playing better,” Suder said. “So that’s the next step. Just keep playing — playing better and hopefully that carries us through.”

Sam Lachette went 2-for-4 with an RBI double, Hayley Pugh was 2-for-2 and Molly Muldoon finished 2-for-3 with an RBI for Bonner & Prendergast, which was trying to reach the PCL semis for a third season in a row.

“Last year we were the two seed, went to the semis and they beat us,” Pandas coach Tom McNulty said. “So this year, we’re new, we’re rebuilding, we’re seventh seed, we come up here, we almost did it back.”

Along with her solo homer in the sixth, Picozzi claimed a complete-game win the circle for the Crusaders. The right-hander gave up four runs — all earned — on nine hits. She walked three, hit one batter and struck out 10.

“I was little nervous,” Picozzi said. “I knew we needed this game and so I had to keep calm and just throw strikes and do my thing.

Pandas starter Biz DeStefano took the loss, giving up six runs — all earned — on six hits in six-plus inning. She walked three, hit one batter and had one strikeout.

Lansdale Catholic went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first on a Marozzi RBI fielder’s choice. Bonner & Prendergast came up empty after loading the bases in the both the first and second but broke through in the fourth, plating three run with two outs.

Alexis Eagan hit a one-out single through the left side of the infield while Pugh’s two-out walk put two on for Lachette, who doubled to deep center to bring home Eagan. Madison Thompson followed with a single up the middle, scoring both Pugh’s courtesy runner Emily Dawson and Lachette for the 3-1 lead.

The Pandas added another run in the top of the fifth. Jacqlyn Niemiec started the inning with a double down the third-base line and two batters later scored on Molly Muldoon’s squeeze bunt single.

“Two big, two-out hits. And then a squeeze made it 4-1 and I thought we were good,” McNalty said. “But their tying run was on a squeeze, too. Same thing kid got a great bunt down.”

Meenan — who finished 2-for-3 — finally posted LC’s first hit in of the fifth, starting the bottom of the frame by dropping a single behind the circle. After Rebecca Tiley’s one-out base hit to right center, Davis’ single to the left side of the infield brought in Meenan from second.

In the bottom of the sixth, Picozzi wasted little time getting the Crusaders within 4-3, belting the first pitch for a leadoff home run to center.

“My coach sometimes he’ll kind of try and tell us location of where he can kind of see the catcher setting up,” Picozzi said. “And he was kind of pulling outside so I just turned a little bit. I just drove it.”

Marozzi drew a walk on the next at-bat, went first-to-third on Kaitlyn Leshak’s sacrifice bunt then scored the tying run when Meenan slapped a squeeze bunt single to infield’s right side. Meenan stole second to put the go-ahead run in scoring position but two infield line outs sent the game to the seventh even at 4-4.

Lansdale Catholic 6, Bonner & Prendergast 4
Bonner & Prendergast   000 310 0 — 4 9 0
Lansdale Catholic             100 012 2 — 6 6 0
WP: Mary Picozzi 7 IP 9 H 4 R 4 ER 3 BB 10 SO 1 HB.
LP: Biz DeStefano 6 IP 6 R 6 R 6 ER 3 BB 1 SO 1 HB.
2B: BP-Sam Lachette, Jacqlyn Niemiec; HR: LC-Picozzi, Megan Burns.
Bonner & Prendergast: Lachette 2-4, RBI; Molly Muldoon 2-3, RBI; Hayley Rugh 2-2; Madison Thompson 2 RBI.
Lansdale Catholic: Burns 2 RBI, R; Casey Meenan 2-3, RBI, R.