Volpe hits 200 K’s for season, North Penn blanks Upper Darby in District 1-6A 2nd round

TOWAMENCIN >> By the time North Penn’s Mady Volpe struck out three batters in a row to end Upper Darby’s fourth inning, history was on deck.

Said coach Rick Torresani: “For a high school kid to go over 200 strikeouts in 117 innings, that’s amazing. That’s unbelievable for a sophomore too. It’s exciting, and it’s neat to watch her pitch.”

Volpe hit No. 200 in the fifth and had 14 K’s in all — making it 206 for the season — to lead the second-seeded Knights to a 9-0 shutout of No. 15 Upper Darby in the second round of the District 1-6A Playoffs.

“We came out with a lot of energy,” said Volpe, who was so dominant, she struck out seven of nine batters during a stretch in the middle innings. “The bench really helped us out. We had a talk (Tuesday) about bringing the energy and it really helped us a lot.”

With the victory, the Knights head to the quarterfinals on Friday, as they will host No. 7 Haverford at 4 p.m. The winner clinches a spot in states.

“In the first inning, I struggled, but I bounced back. (Catcher Amanda Greaney) talked me up and she helped me a lot,” said Volpe, who surrendered just three hits, two walks and a hit batter. “I worked really hard this offseason — (200 K’s) was one of my big goals. I couldn’t have done it without Amanda.”

The right-hander retired the Royals in order in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

“She was right on with every pitch,” Torresani said. “She had her pitches going. She was throwing hard and she was placing them well. And we had good defense.”

With Volpe in command, the Knights (19-1) put a big number up on the scoreboard in the third.

Sophia Collins drew a walk, Victoria Juckniewitz smacked an infield single off third baseman Camryn Young, and Collins tagged up to score on a flyout by Greaney. Then, with two outs, cleanup hitter Elia Namey smashed a line drive over the center-field fence, pushing the Knights to a 4-0 lead.

“The timely hitting came through,” Volpe said.

“Elia got the timely hit and Jordan (Pietrzykoski) got the timely hit, with runners on base,” Torresani said. “If we can continue to do that, we’ll be alright.”

Pietrzykoski’s big knock came in the sixth, a grand slam to left to widen the margin to 9-0. The Knights had added a run in the fifth when Juckniewitz raced home on a wild pitch by starter Rebecca Sorrentino.

The Royals got hits from Lexi Witmer, Camryn Young (double) and Kaila Gavin, but Volpe was controlling things, pounding away with her fastball while mixing in the change-up and rise.

“We just hit one of our goals and, honestly, I think we can get really far if we just stay focused,” she said.
A tremendous season came to a close for Upper Darby, which finished at 13-7.

“We had a solid group of seniors this year, eight of them, so it was really nice to see them win that game Monday (against Plymouth-Whitemarsh) and get past the first round,” Royals coach Christina Tomczuk said. “I wish we could have gone a bit further but (North Penn’s) a good team.”

North Penn 9, Upper Darby 0
#15 Upper Darby 000 000 0 — 0 3 3
#2 North Penn 004 014 x — 9 6 1
WP: Mady Volpe (7IP, 0R, 0ER, 3H, 14K, 2BB, 1HBP).
LP: Rebecca Sorrentino (6IP, 9R, 0ER, 6H, 3K, 3BB).
HR: NP-Elia Namey, Jordan Pietrzykoski. 2B: UD-Camryn Young; NP-Amanda Greaney.
Multiple hits: NP-Victoria Juckniewitz 2-for-4, 3R.