Lepore’s RBI triple in 8th sends Souderton past Bensalem in District 1-6A first round

BENSALEM >> Eight innings were enough for Jess Lepore.

“At that point, I just kind of thought to myself, ‘You know what, this has got to happen,’” the Souderton junior shortstop said. “There’s two out, you got two strikes and I don’t want to play another inning.”

And the Indians didn’t have too after Lepore belted an RBI triple into left center field, breaking a 2-2 tie with Bensalem in the top of the eighth as 20th-seeded Souderton answered the No. 13 Owls’ late rally for an upset 3-2 win in the District 1-6A first round Monday afternoon.

“Just got to hit it anywhere and that pitch, that was a perfect pitch for me to hit,” Lepore said.

The district victory was the first for Souderton (12-8) since 2016 and advanced Big Red to a second-round matchup at fourth-seeded Downingtown West Wednesday.

“I think it means a lot cause we made districts last year and just fell short,” Indians coach Liz Parkins said. “We lost 10-8 (to Council Rock North) and that I think came down to the bottom of the seventh. But no, this means a lot, these girls have worked hard all year and had some games not go their way so that to have this one, them fight all the way to the finish, I think it sets a good tone for the rest of districts.”

Souderton jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a run in both the second and third but Bensalem (11-8) rallied back with a run on an error in the fifth then pulling even in the sixth on Maggie Formichelli’s two-out squeeze bunt single.

“The two-out squeeze play was nerve-wracking but that was playoff softball,” Bensalem coach Dan Schram said.

Lepore came up big defensively in bottom of the seventh, diving to snag a liner by Jessica Klein for the second out. The catch proved even more beneficial when Chloe Munyon doubled down the right-field line on the next at-bat. Souderton pitcher Abby Burns, however, forced extras by getting the next batter to fly out to right.

“I’m going to be honest with you that was just muscle memory,” said Lepore of her catch. “I’ve done that many times before in practice. We’ve practiced those and my body just kind of did it, I didn’t really have to think about it much.”

In the top of the eighth, the Indians first two batters went down on infield pop outs but Julia Kistler made it to first on a single to the right side of the infield. That brought up Lepore, who sent a ball into the left-center gap to easily score Kistler and get to third for a triple.

“Jess, she had an awesome day tonight,” Parkins said. “Defensively for sure, catching that line drive, laying out for it, just leaving everything on the field, it’s a completely different game if that gets through.

“And then she offensively she’s been pretty consistent but in the last couple game struggled just a bit with some timing so that’s what we were working through all game and this last at-bat she really got it and came up clutch for us.”

Burns retired the Owls in the order in the bottom of the eight with a strikeout and two fly outs to left. The freshman right-hander gave up two runs — one earned — on 10 hits in earning the complete-game victory. She struck out three and did not allow a walk.

“I was really trying to either jam them or have them hit it off the end of the bat,” Burns said. “And most times it seemed to work and other times it didn’t. But it’s a good team. I’m happy what I managed to pull off.”

Dani Sharpe took the loss for Bensalem, pitching the first three innings then returning to the circle in the eighth. She gave up three runs — all earned — on six hits in four innings, walked two and struck out one.

Formichelli — who pitched four scoreless innings from the third through seventh — was 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI while Munyon and Allison Goodman were both 2-for-4 for Bensalem, which played its first district game since 2005.

“I think what is great is we have built something this year, we’ve crossed the plain,” Schram said. “We’re had a lot of good teams over the years who just couldn’t get over the line for playoffs. And now, I told these kids they’ve built a life for themselves that other kids are going to come to Bensalem and achieve big things. We got over the edge.”

Riley York finished 2-for-4 for the Indians.

Souderton took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Jen Klepfer — who doubled to deep center with one out — scored as Sam Nuneviller tripled when her hit got past a diving effort by Owls center fielder Deja Seilhamer.

Big Red doubled its advantage in the third. Naila Neely hit a one-out double to left center then scored on an error on Alina Skrzat’s grounder up the middle.

A two-out Klepfer walk loaded the bases later in the inning but a fly out to center kept the Indians lead at 2-0. For the game, Souderton stranded 11 bases runners, at least one in every inning.

“Hearing that we left 11 on, I knew that we left a lot but hearing that number it’s something that we need to work on and not have happen in the future especially going forward,” Parkins said. “Just the fact that they kept fighting when we had the four or five scoreless inning after we put up a two-spot, they never stopped, they kept playing, they kept fighting.”

Bensalem cut the margin to 2-1 in the fifth. Formichelli and Angelia Micalizzi started the bottom of the frame with consecutive infield singles. With one out, Klein singled through the right side of the infield. Klein got hung up between first and second as the Indians threw home but a Souderton error trying to get Klein out at first allowed Formichelli to come home.

The Owls tied the game with a two-out rally in the sixth. After Goodman’s two-out single to center, Haley Keenan doubled to left center, putting runners on second and third. Formichelli then dropped a squeeze bunt and beat the throw to first for a single, scoring Goodman. A groundout to third on the next at-bat sent the game to seventh tied 2-2.

(20) Souderton 3, (13) Bensalem 2 (8)
Souderton          011 000 01 — 3   8 1
Bensalem            000 011 00 — 2 10 1
WP: Abby Burns 8 IP 10 H 2 R 1 ER 0 BB 3 SO.
LP: Dani Sharpe 4 IP 6 3 R 3 ER  2 BB 1 SO.
2B: S-Jen Klepfer, Naila Neely; B-Haley Keenan, Chloe Munyon; 3B: S-Jess Lepore, Sam Nuneviller.
Souderton: Riley York 2-4.
Bensalem: Munyon 2-4; Maggie Formichelli 3-3, RBI; Allison Goodman 2-4, R.