SPRINGFIELD — From Payton Feeney’s lethal fastball to a grand slam by Ava Craddock and a two-run shot from Ryleigh Frye, Springfield left no doubt in a 7-1 win over Garnet Valley Monday in the first round of the PIAA District 1 Class 6A softball playoffs.
Yet 15 strikeouts by Feeney, who had a no-no going into the seventh inning, and dingers hit so hard they chased spectators beyond the fence tell only part of the story.
Cougars coach Todd Odgers was a big fan of walks drawn by Julia Fegley and Jules Trivwell and a fielders choice by Adrianna Maccurio, setting up Maggie Poiesz for an RBI single in the second inning.
All of it set the table for Craddock’s jolt with two outs and the bases loaded. Losing pitcher Ashlynn Thompson had to throw strikes, and the Cougars were waiting. Not to be forgotten was Frye’s single to lead off the five-run second inning.
“The home runs are huge, but the walks are huge, too,” Odgers said. “Just being patient, making her throw strikes and when she doesn’t, we’ll take the base. It’s not just about the hits. Sometimes it’s about the walks, the sacrifices, knocking a runner in with a groundout. It’s the little things as we progress through districts that are going to matter so much as we progress through districts.”
Craddock went 2-for-3 with a run scored for the 10th-seeded Cougars (17-3), who hit the road Wednesday to visit seventh-seeded Downingtown East. Craddock and Frye both homered on the third pitch of their at bats against Thompson, who was replaced by Anna Sareyka after the second round-tripper.
“The first pitch was a strike, and it was on the outside corner,” Craddock said home run No. 6 for her on the season. “That’s not my pitch. It was an inside high pitch, and I waited on it. When she threw it inside, it was great.”
The Jaguars weren’t done, but they left a tough second inning with a lot of what ifs.
“I think we got ourselves behind a little bit there with base runners getting on,” Jaguars coach Allie Alkins said. “We had two outs when the grand slam came. If we had caught some of those foul ball popups that should have been outs in that inning we’re not even in that situation.”
The Cougars put the game away in the third inning on Frye’s two-run shot, her fourth of the season.
“I stepped out of the box after fouling a couple of pitches off, then moved back into the box,” Frye said. “Actually, I didn’t think it was going out. Then I saw all the people moving out of the way and I was like, ‘yeah!’”
Feeney supplied the rest of the entertainment for fans counting her strikeouts. She gave up two hits, a leadoff single in the seventh inning by Jenna Fulmer and an RBI double by Rylee Bailey. Those seniors played their last game for the Jaguars (11-10).
“This was a team who everyone thought wasn’t even going to make the playoffs,” Alkins said. “So the progress and growth that they made to get to this point I’m so happy about. I’m happy we ended up killing that no-hitter at the end of the game just to build that confidence back up. They just didn’t die and roll over there. It was good to see the fight in them. For the underclassmen, great experience and looking forward to next season. Tough one for the seniors.”
The Cougars, on the other hand, are in sync. A convincing first round win should help their confidence.
“We had a hard game Wednesday, but we’ve been playing great, especially with a young team,” Craddock said. “There’s only three seniors and one or two juniors. We’re a young team.”
“They’ve been playing so well as a team this whole year,” Odgers said. “I was just talking about it to them after the game about how impressive it is, how much they support each other, and how they come to practice every day looking to work on anything and everything. They’re always about getting better. In games they go from the first pitch to the last. And they just get after it. It’s fun to coach this team because of how hard they work. I know they’re going to bring their best every single day.”
