Defensive-minded North Penn rallies past Haverford

TOWAMENCIN >> For a softball team, defense is always critical but it’s especially important early in the season.

Whether it be an early league contest or a non-league date with an unfamiliar opponent, being able to make a timely play in the field at a crucial point in a game can go a long way toward the outcome. Tuesday, North Penn softball was not at its best defensively and it showed in a loss to Suburban One League Continental foe Central Bucks East.

Friday, on a windy and chilly afternoon, the Maidens’ defense was there for them after a little bit of a slow start. With the defense working hard behind pitcher Bri Battavio, North Penn clawed back and thanks to a couple of impact hits, defeated visiting Haverford 4-3 in a non-league tilt.

“We knew we were going to play against small-ball all game so if we could figure out how to defend it I knew we could win,” Maidens shortstop Katie Beer said. “Bri was putting the ball in the right locations, it was giving us groundouts and easy outs for us to make.”

Maidens coach Rick Torresani made one big defensive change for the game and it paid off majorly. Junior Kariam Bou played at first base, the position she spent most of her time at while playing youth baseball in her native Puerto Rico while Courtney Neal took over for Bou at third base.

Bou, who started the season on the hot corner, had been asking Torresani if she could move back to her natural spot and after giving it a go in practice during the week, the veteran coach relented. In return, Bou solidified the move by making two good reads on pop-ups in foul territory and showed a lot of range stretching off the bag at first to grab her teammates’ throws.

“She started playing there in practice and after seeing it, I said you’re staying there,” Torresani said. “She had a big smile on her face. And, she’s starting to hit the ball too.”

The Fords caught North Penn off guard early with their proficient bunting. Four of the first seven batters put down a bunt, two of them reaching and the other two moving runners that eventually scored. After taking a 1-0 lead in the first, Haverford pushed it to 3-0 on a two-run single by Amira Gallagher.

Fords pitcher Gabrielle Gentile kept the Maidens off-balance for two innings with her spin-heavy stuff but once the top of the lineup came around in the third, North Penn got back into the game. Bou, who went 2-for-3 at the plate, led off with a single and two walks loaded the bags for catcher Jovanna Alfonsi.

The senior put a double just out of reach for the left fielder, but a base-running miscue only plated one run for North Penn. Beer was able to scratch across a second with an RBI groundout, but North Penn still trailed 3-2 after three.

“They bunted and bunted really well but as the game progressed the girls started getting their act together and that’s typical North Penn,” Torresani said. “We always come back at the end and it’s usually a one-run game. I was proud of them for the way they hung in there.”

Battavio, a junior in her first season as a full-time starting pitcher, held the Fords in check after the second with the defense helping her out. She stranded runners in the third, fifth and sixth innings with Alfonsi gunning down a base-stealer in the third and for the game’s final out in the seventh.

Neal at third made two good stops on grounders, Battavio forced a big out to end the sixth when she got a weak comebacker with two on and Beer had a couple of stops in the hole. No matter what, their target was always Bou at first and the junior kept making every grab.

“I know that if I put it anywhere near first, she’ll stretch real far and get it,” Beer said.

The top of the lineup again got the production going in the fifth when Bou and Neal reached then advanced to third and second respectively with two outs. Beer was able to come up with the timely hit, sending a ball up the third base gap to score Bou and knot things up.

“I went up with two outs and a runner on third, so I knew I just had to put it in play,” Beer said. “We needed that run to tie the game so I just concentrated and put the ball in play.”

After Battavio held the Fords off in the sixth, the Maidens kept their roll going in the bottom half of the frame. Outfielder Melanie Lauro took a pitch off the leg to give North Penn a runner, moving to second with two outs and Bou coming up.

Gentile left a pitch a little up in the zone and Bou didn’t hesitate, sending it for a ride through the wind into center field for the go-ahead double.

North Penn shut it down in the seventh with a ground ball to third, a strikeout by Battavio and Alfonsi throwing out a runner to pick up the win. More important was the defense, an effort that will have to become commonplace as the Maidens head into the thick of SOL play.

“To come back and play like this is huge,” Torresani said. “That’s what I was looking for win or lose, that we played good defense.”