Seamen grips, rips as Interboro rolls over Academy Park
PROSPECT PARK >> When the game was over, Interboro’s Amber Seamen applied a bag of ice to her right hand, hoping to reduce the swelling.
The red bump looked like it hurt, but Seamen was no worse for wear … or so she said.
The junior catcher is one tough customer. After all, she’s a Buc.
“It’s all right,” she said.
Seamen took a foul tip off her exposed hand Thursday in the second inning of Interboro’s 10-0 victory over Del Val League foe Academy Park. Seamen was examined by the athletic trainer, but stayed active all six innings.
Considering the damage she did at the plate, it’s as if nothing happened. She looked good as new gripping and ripping.
Seamen went 4 for 4 with two triples, a double, an RBI and four runs scored, causing havoc at the top of Interboro’s lineup.
In her last at bat, Seamen realized she was a home run shy of the cycle. So she belted one over the head of left fielder Erika Leidy, but the howling
winds caused the ball to die mid-air. On a less windy afternoon, that ball is still traveling…
“(Assistant coach) Mr. (Mike) Martin was telling me to keep going,” Seamen said. “I would have been out.”
Seamen would have to settle for a triple, her second of the day. A natural catcher, she has a lethal arm and blocks mostly everything in the dirt, and she’s tipping the surface with her bat.
“She’s a great kid,” Interboro coach Chuck Pedrick said. “She’s what I call a hidden treasure. You know who was like that? Years ago we had a kid, a pitcher, Kelly Porter. She was the best-kept secret in Delaware County.”
In 2002, her senior year, Porter earned second-team All-Delco honors. Seamen was a second teamer last season.
“I don’t think she’s going to be a secret for much longer,” Martin added.
Seamen plays travel ball for the Delco Diamonds and spent time honing her skills at various softball clinics in the high school offseason.
“Yeah, you can tell,” senior shortstop Amber Huddell said.
When Seamen is setting the tone with her hitting, it’s infectious. The team rode her momentum at the dish Thursday.
“It just brings everyone up,” Seamen said.
Huddell, who will attend Eastern University in the fall, is a first-time starter on varsity. She went 3 for 4 with two RBIs.
“I’ve played shortstop all four years, mostly JV,’ she said.
Seamen entertained the thought of transferring after last season to another Delco school. The Bucs are glad she had second thoughts.
“I’m happy to be here,” she said. “This is where I belong.”
The Bucs (2-1, 2-0) ended the Knights (0-3, 0-2) with a five-run sixth inning, triggering the 10-run rule. Barb Carosi was 2 for 3 and Emily Gavin knocked in a pair of runs. Rachel Reifer allowed one hit — a squibber to second base that pinch hitter Raven Kemper legged out in the sixth inning — with seven strikeouts and one walk.
In other Del Val League action:
Chester 19, Penn Wood 0 >> Alex Maher belted three home runs and Nicole O’Donnell laced two doubles as the Eagles routed the Patriots. Chi scored 12 runs in the second inning, more than enough cushion for winning pitcher Makayla Donovan.
