Gwynedd Mercy clinches share of AACA with win over Mount Saint Joseph

LOWER GWYNEDD >> Gwynedd Mercy Academy’s softball team had high expectations for the 2020 season it never got to realize.

The District 1-4A runner-up in 2019, the Monarchs felt poised to take the next step and reach the state playoffs last spring before Covid-19 ended their season before it began. A strong senior class departed, but the returning players didn’t see any reason why they couldn’t set the same goals for the 2021 season and are putting themselves in good position to make them happen.

Gwynedd Mercy Academy topped rival Mount Saint Joseph Academy 6-2 on Tuesday, celebrating Senior Day with a win and securing at least a share of the AACA title.

“We’re playing for them and we’re playing for that district title,” Monarchs senior third baseman Lauren Solvensky said of last year’s senior class. “We were so close sophomore year, so we’re really playing for that, we want to go all the way.

“We feel pretty great, it’s been a strong run so far but we’re still taking it game by game.”

Solvensky had a solid Senior Day, driving in three runs that included an important two-run single in the fifth inning. She, along with fellow seniors Carly Andrews and Jorden White and junior co-captain Madison Seidel have led an otherwise young roster to a lot of success this spring in many different situations.

GMA(14-2, 10-1 AACA) can secure the AACA title outright on Thursday if it can top Villa Maria Academy on the road, but that’s no given with how competitive the league has been this spring. The Monarchs currently hold the No. 1 spot in the Class 4A district rankings, but spots 2-4 are occupied by league opponents Villa Joseph Marie, Nazareth Academy and Villa Maria.

Seidel has been a driving force for the Monarchs in the pitching circle this spring. The right-hander, also a standout catcher with her PA Chaos travel team, was also the team’s pitcher as a freshman in 2019 and is just as driven as her senior co-captains to go at least a win further this spring.

On Tuesday, she struck out 14 batters while scattering five hits and had a 22-strikeout game in an extra-inning win over Nazareth Academy in late April that was one of the team’s signature victories this season. Seidel was also the one in the middle of team huddles between innings getting everyone else fired up.

“Energy is the biggest piece, this is such a mental game,” Seidel said. “It’s important to go in with a positive attitude and if you think your team is going to prosper, it usually happens.”

Gwynedd Mercy Academy didn’t need long to get going on Tuesday. After Seidel put up a zero in the top half of the inning, the Monarchs freshman duo of Jenna Morrison and Alexa Weiss started the offense. Morrison, the catcher, led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball before scoring on a single by Weiss, the shortstop.

Weiss moved up on a wild pitch and stolen bag, setting her up to score on a sac fly by Solvensky that gave the hosts a 2-0 lead early on.

In the third, Weiss collected another RBI when her triple to deep right-center again plated Morrison but she was denied an inside-the-park home run thanks to a nice relay by the Magic that ended with catcher Kylie McMullen making the tag at home.

“Our offense has been such a big factor,” Seidel said. “You can keep them from scoring, but if you’re not scoring any runs, you’re not going to win. Everyone’s been doing so well stringing hits together, getting runners on and taking the time to move them and not being selfish with their at-bats.”

The Mount (2-11, 2-9 AACA) has faced some hard luck this spring but the Magic battled all game on Tuesday. Senior Alex Ritter hit a double in the second inning that put runners on second and third with one out, but Seidel was able to lock in with a strikeout and ground ball to end that threat.

In the fourth, the visitors made things very interesting. Sophomore Emily Vinal, the Mount’s pitcher, laced a one-out single that got her to second with an errant throw before scoring when senior third baseman Clare Moxey clobbered an extra-base hit to the outfield. Moxey tried for a third base, drawing another errant throw that sailed out of play, allowing the senior to score and cut the lead to 3-2.

Seidel ended the frame without further damage and after holding serve in the top of the fifth, gathered her teammates for another pump-up talk before their at-bats.

“Sometimes we just need that reminder to keep our energy up,” Solvensky said. “We all have our bad games but we want to keep everybody up, keep the team’s energy up and picking each other up is really important for us. I think we’re really great at picking each other up on and off the field, it’s how we keep it going.”

In her talk, Seidel asked for some hits and she got them. Morrison hit a one-out single, Weiss was hit by a pitch and Seidel worked a walk to load the bases for the seniors hitting 4-5-6 in the order. Solvensky, the clean-up batter, filled her role by chopping a two-run single through the third base gap and Andrews drove in another with a two-out RBI single that plated Seidel for the final margin.

Solvensky has liked the growth the Monarchs have shown offensively in adjusting to different pitches and finding ways to score when they aren’t stringing multiple hits together. Aside from a crazy 23-10 loss to Nazareth and an 8-3 setback to Class 5A No. 3 West Chester Rustin, the Monarchs have solved every puzzle put in front of them.

“We struggled with staying up at the beginning of the season, we had one big loss, but we learned from that and realized energy is our key,” Solvensky said. “Keeping that up in games is really, really important”

A handful of Monarchs alumni were on hand Tuesday to watch the program continue its recent ascent. Seidel said it was a point of pride for the team to secure at least a share of the league title and be able to

“This is the best our team has ever been, so we want to show out,” Seidel said. “We don’t want people to think of Gwynedd softball poorly and we all love the sport. We want to get on the board in our school, we have other programs that are always winning so to do that with softball would be huge.

“We came out knowing we were going to be good, but I think for sure we exceeded our expectations. We’re a strong team and now we feel like we have a chance to compete and go pretty far.”

GWYNEDD MERCY 6, MOUNT SAINT JOSEPH 2
MOUNT SAINT JOSEPH 000 200 0 – 2 5 2
GWYNEDD MERCY 201 030 x – 6 7 2
3B: GMA – Alexa Weiss. 2B: MSJA – Alex Ritter, Clare Moxey.