Pennridge’s Dockery shuts out Neshaminy in District 1-6A first round
SELLERSVILLE >> The adrenaline was pumping and Averi Dockery had her change-up working wonders, as Pennridge jumped into postseason play with a 6-0 shutout of rival Neshaminy Monday night.
“It’s amazing,” Dockery said of the Rams’ District 1-6A opener at Druckenmiller Park. “I love the girls. I love the team and I’m so excited to see where this can take us. I think we have a good shot this year.”
The win advances No. 13 Pennridge to Wednesday’s second round, at fourth-seeded Boyertown while a tremendous season came to a close for No. 20 Neshaminy.
Dockery went the distance, limiting the rival Skins to five hits and five walks while racking up 12 strikeouts.
“I stick to my mechanics and stick to what I know how to do and I don’t let the moment get too big,” she said.
Even when Dockery got into a jam, she was even tougher. With two on and nobody out in the fourth, she struck out three in a row. And in the seventh, with the bases loaded and no outs, she again fanned three straight, this time to end it.
Said the 6-foot-1 sophomore right hander: “It’s a game of thrill. It wasn’t the ideal situation (in the seventh) but we got out of it.”
Dockery allowed just a pair of hits in the first three frames, during which the Rams had pushed to a 2-0 edge.
“She just always seems to get stronger through the game,” Pennridge coach Wendy Iadonisi said. “In the sixth inning, she got ’em out in five pitches. She just really held her own and did her thing.
“(After getting out of the jam in the seventh), I told her she has ice water in her veins.”
Dockery also reached base all three times and belted a pair of doubles.
Olivia Crognale reached on an error and later came in to score on a wild pitch to make it 1-0 Rams in the first. Leadoff Ryleigh Lilly smacked a home run to left to make it 2-0 Pennridge in the third.
Dockery led off a big fourth for the Rams with a double, and RBI’s that inning by Ashleigh Kenworthy and Kylee Mangey helped widen the margin to 5-0.
Dockery doubled again in the fifth and was driven by an RBI single by Kenworthy to push the lead to 6-0.
“We’ve been playing so consistently the last two weeks that I wanted to make sure we came out and played the same way,” said Iadonisi. “Confident on defense and confident up at the plate.”
Senior right hander RyLeigh Bilbrey kept firing for six innings for the Skins.
“Their top of the lineup is very tough,” Neshaminy coach Tim Quense said. “But I think RyLeigh battled hard the whole game. We had a lot of young kids out there playing and they’ll learn from it. I think it’s tough for my seniors – it just dawned on them that the train has come to a screeching halt. It’ll be an emotional bus ride home.”
District 1-6A First Round
Pennridge 6, Neshaminy 0
(20) Neshaminy 000 000 0 – 0 5 3
(13) Pennridge 101 310 x – 6 8 0
WP: Averi Dockery (7IP, 0R, 5H, 12K, 5BB).
LP: RyLeigh Bilbrey (6R, 4ER, 8H, 6K, 1BB).
HR: P-Ryleigh Lilly. 2B: P-Lilly, Dockery 2.
Multiple hits: P-Lilly 2-for-4, R, RBI; Dockery 2-for-2, BB, 2R; Ashleigh Kenworthy 2-for-3, R, RBI.
