Pitching powers Owen J. Roberts into PAC final over Boyertown

BOYERTOWN >> Nat Alldred knew she’d be getting back into the pitchers’ circle at some point this season.

She couldn’t have timed her return any better.

Alldred crushed a two-run homer and combined with freshman Amelia Atkins on a three-hit shutout as No. 4 seed Owen J. Roberts upended defending champions Boyertown 11-0 in five innings in Monday’s PAC softball semifinals.

The win sends OJR (13-9) into Wednesday’s title game against No. 2 Upper Perkiomen, who topped Spring-Ford in the evening’s first semifinal. The ‘Cats are in search of their first PAC title since 2009.

OJR outslugged Upper Perk 11-6 in their regular season meeting.

Rehabbing a shoulder injury meant no pitching for Alldred during the regular season, so she played other positions while providing a power bat for the middle of the lineup for Owen J. Roberts.

But she pitched a couple innings last week as a dress rehearsal of sorts before starting Monday’s semifinal.

“I knew towards the end of the year, I’d be able to get back into pitching,” said Alldred. “It was good timing.”

Before Alldred ever took the circle, however, she sent an 0-2 offering from Boyertown starter Kyra Neiswender over the right-center field fence, giving the Wildcats an early 2-0 lead and a lasting burst of confidence at the plate.

“I don’t let either one [hitting or pitching] affect the other,” said Alldred. “Obviously, the home run doesn’t hurt but I think our energy was the main factor. We started off hot and kept it going.”

Alldred’s home run was all the offense OJR would need, but it was far from all they would receive. The Wildcats put up crooked numbers in each of the first four innings and a single run in the fifth, as a relentless 13-hit attack led by Alldred and sophomore third baseman Liza Flavin (two hits, three RBIs each) also featured a fourth-inning home run by second baseman Jackie Skonieczny.

Natalie Alldred RBI single ups Owen J Roberts lead to 8-0, top 3 1 out pic.twitter.com/phVwqxuOd1

— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) May 15, 2023

The final hit, however, came off the bat of freshman pitcher Atkins, who took over for Alldred in the bottom of the third inning and held Boyertown at bay. A one-out double from Bears center fielder Aubrey Gilbert was no trouble in the third inning, and Atkins got the Bears down in order in the fourth.

Before returning to the circle to finish the game in the fifth inning, Atkins took the first pitch she saw just inside the left-field foul pole. Her first high school home run extended OJR’s lead to 11-0 and gave the Wildcats the rare feat of two pitchers combining for a shutout and each slugging a long ball.

“Yeah, first time I’ve done anything like that,” laughed Atkins. “I don’t always want to see a lot of pitches when I’m up at bat. So

first pitch, I saw something I liked, and I guess I got a good swing on it.”

Good swings were hard to come by for Boyertown, who found themselves frustrated by not only Alldred and Atkins but some outstanding OJR defense as well, as second baseman Skonieczny, shortstop Rachel Epps, and outfielders Sophia Grillo and Bella Winnick handled 12 fielding chances flawlessly.

Playing without injured starting pitcher Ella Hurter, Boyertown was unable to find any offensive response to the OJR onslaught.

“Some days you have it, but we didn’t today,” said

Boyertown coach Kim Musselman. “We did not come up with the hits to give ourselves a chance to get the momentum to swing our way.”

At a record of 18-3, the Bears have sewn up a first-round bye in next week’s District 1-6A Tournament and will host a second-round game on May 24.

When Alldred took to the circle, she said she knew she’d be going two innings regardless of the situation. While the 8-0 lead helped, Alldred said she’d feel comfortable turning the ball over to Atkins – or junior Ashlyn Kunkle, or freshman Grace Przborowski, all of whom have seen time in the circle this season – regardless of the game situation.

“I tried to help out where I could,” said Alldred of her absence from pitching, “but really, it was about each of them, knowing they could do it and going out and getting it done.”

With their pitching staff complete once more, the Wildcats can approach Wednesday’s title game – and any playoff tilts that may follow – with confidence in both their depth in the circle and an offense that appears to be getting hot at the perfect time.

“It would be huge for all of us – freshmen through seniors – but we can’t get ahead of ourselves,” said Atkins. “We need to come out focused, like tonight, and play our best game.”

“Upper Perk’s a really solid team,” added Alldred. “But when we’re playing aggressively, and hitting like we can, we’re a hard team to beat.”

Owen J. Roberts 11, Boyertown 0, 5 inn.

 

Owen J Roberts					Boyertown
	ab	r	h	bi		ab	r	h	bi
Grillo	3	3	2	0	Gilbert	3	0	1	0
Flavin	4	1	2	3	Dulin	2	0	0	0
Alldred	3	1	2	3	Laboy	1	0	0	0
Atkins	1	1	1	1	Neiswender	2	0	0	0
Cerimele	2	0	1	1	Schildt	2	0	0	0
Egan	4	0	1	1	Mathias	2	0	0	0
Epps	4	1	2	0	Butler	2	0	1	0
Winnick	2	1	0	1	Carey	2	0	0	0
Stofko	0	0	0	0	Homa	2	0	1	0
Skonieczny	3	2	1	1
Streeter	3	1	1	0
Totals	29	11	13	11	Totals	18	0	3	0

2B — Epps; Butler, Gilbert. 3B-Epps. HR-Alldred, Skonieczny, Atkins. HBP-Skonieczny; Neiswender.

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Owen J Roberts
Alldred (W)	2	1	0	0	1	2
Atkins	3	2	0	0	1	1
Boyertown
Neiswender (L)	2	5	5	4	2	2
Carey	3	8	6	6	3	2