Pennsbury rallies to edge Souderton in District 1-6A second round
FAIRLESS HILLS >> It was one of the first things that stood out when the always-treacherous 24-team PIAA District 1 Class 6A softball bracket was released late last week.
Although a Pennsbury team that is ranked No. 1 in the area had received the top seed, you just knew the Falcons could be headed for a difficult opener against fellow-Suburban One League member Souderton.
Sure enough, Pennsbury got all it could handle on Wednesday afternoon before prevailing, 2-1, over Souderton in a great pitchers’ duel.
Pennsbury (20-1) will return to action on Friday in the quarterfinals against the winner of the Quakertown-Methacton game that will be completed Thursday. Quakertown was leading, 4-1, Wednesday when rain halted play.
How strong was the pitching in this game?
Consider Pennsbury’s junior righty Ainsley McClure cranked up a four-hitter with eight strikeouts. Also a junior righty, Souderton’s Abby Burns was terrific as well with an eight-hitter and eight strikeouts.
It wasn’t difficult to spot the critical moment in the game. In the sixth inning both teams had their lead-off runner on second base with no outs and the score tied at 1-all.
While Pennsbury was able to cash in on Taylor Askey’s clutch two-out RBI double, Souderton’s Megan Kummery never even advanced to third after starting the inning with a bloop double over shortstop.
“That was the difference,” agreed Pennsbury coach Frank McSherry, who has over 700 victories on his resume and at one point won seven district titles in a row. “Ainsley came up huge for us. She was able to make the pitches when she needed to.”
Just like when these teams met earlier in the year in a game Pennsbury won in nine innings, Souderton took the initial lead. It came on a home run by Burns that was high above the fence and just inside the left field foul pole. Burns’ homer came in the fifth and with the way she was throwing Pennsbury looked like it could be headed for an early exit.
“We always have a good game with them,” said Burns. “They have a lot of great hitters. I was just trying to mix up my pitches and keep them off balance. I guess they figured me out.”
After hitting into some tough luck early in the game, Pennsbury tied it in the bottom of the fifth when Jess Rowe stroked a two-out single and Katelyn Martell followed with an RBI double to right center. The relay throw home was in plenty of time, but the ball got away and Rowe was able to tag the plate on a slide by.
“None,” replied McSherry when asked if he had any hesitations about waving Rowe home. “There were two outs, and they have to make a throw and apply a tag. A lot of things can happen on a play like that.”
After Souderton failed to take advantage of its scoring opportunity in the sixth, Pennsbury got the game winner on Askey’s double. Scoring on the play was the lightning-fast Pressley Foote, who easily stole second base after pinch running for Rowan Mulholland. The inning started with a Mulholland single.
Souderton did not go quietly and started the seventh with a single by Kendall Clemmer. As his her way, McClure reached back and retired the next three, including two on a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.
“Souderton always comes to play,” said McClure. “Their defense was on point. In the first game against them I threw a lot of change-ups. Since they had seen that, today we went with more risers.”
It was a struggle, but Pennsbury lived to fight another day. Souderton, meanwhile, ended its year at 14-8.
“No about it I was worried about this game,” said McSherry. “Souderton only lost to Hatboro, 1-0, beat Neshaminy and took us to extra innings. They are a good team with a very good pitcher.”
Pennsbury needs to win one more game to advance to states. It can do that by winning its quarterfinal round game or by winning in the first round of the consolations should it lose on Friday.
Pennsbury 2, Souderton 1
Souderton (14-8) 000 010 0 – 1 4 0
Pennsbury (20-1) 000 011 x- 2 8 0
WP-McClure. LP-Burns. 2B-Clemmer (S), Kummery (S), Raub (P), Askey (P). HR-Burns. RBIs: S-Burns. P-Martell, Askey.
