Springfield’s DePietro finds redemption with walk-off home run

SPRINGFIELD >> Monday was shaping up to be a frustrating afternoon for Springfield All-Delco Tori DePietro.

She was relieved in the midst of a rough outing from the circle. It was, perhaps, her least-memorable start in four varsity seasons.

One of the top talents in the county, and a two-time All-Delco, DePietro simply couldn’t find her rhythm and Garnet Valley made her pay.

Springfield’s ace was removed in the fourth inning after allowing six runs to a scorching-hot Garnet Valley lineup. Yeah, those Jags have been pretty relentless lately, winners of six in a row.

DePietro flipped the ball to rookie Jenna Casasanto with two outs. A freshman, Casasanto was making her pitching debut against a lineup that scored 75 runs the last six games.

DePietro moved to shortstop, where Casasanto had been playing. Casasanto shut the Jaguars out the rest of the way. Springfield chipped away at a six-run deficit, and in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and runners on first and second, DePietro had her shot at redemption.

It was as though this moment was reserved for DePietro, and she didn’t disappoint. She belted a pitch from Garnet Valley’s Allison Ferrante into deep center field for a walk-off, three-run home run. DePietro’s teammates mobbed her at home plate. A 7-6 decision over their Central League foes, it was the best win of the season for the Cougars (9-2, 8-2).

On the flip side, it was a stinging defeat for the Jaguars, who were playing as well as any team in Delco over the last two weeks.

“I knew that with two outs, this would be a big at bat. I was thinking just be patient. The first pitch I liked, I swung at,” DePietro said. “I don’t think (Ferrante) was getting tired or anything. She was throwing me inside the whole game, and I was waiting for the inside pitch.

“It was exciting to win in the last at bat.”

DePietro gave props to Casasanto, who retired 11 of the 13 batters she faced.

“I’m glad she could come in and throw well because they started hitting me,” DePietro said. “I was happy that she was able to stop that. I just made sure I always had her back out there and I know she always has mind.”

Springfield coach Todd Odgers was confident DePietro would do damage in that situation.

“I kind of expected it to happen to her … when she got up in that spot,” he said. “I just hoped that they pitched to her in that spot. I thought, if they pitch around her, I’d be OK with that, too, because Nikki (DePietro, Tori’s younger sister) and Ashley (Scarpato) were coming up behind her. But I’m just thinking… give her something that she can get after. She really took advantage of it and I’m not surprised at all. Tori has been doing that for four years now.”

The rally started with a walk from Hannah Sweeney, Springfield’s speedy center fielder and seven-hole hitter.

“I’m just trying to stay confident,” Sweeney said of her key AB. “I just know that I have to do what I can do get on base.”

After Ferrante struck out pinch hitter Lauren Quinn, Caitlin Chambers hit a seeing-eye single up the middle, her second of the day. Casasanto popped up to the catcher for the second out, leaving the game in the capable hands of Tori DePietro.

“We knew that we were going to do it this time,” Sweeney said. “A couple games ago (against Upper Darby), we couldn’t get it done. We knew we had to get it. It takes a couple of innings to get our bats going, but obviously we can be successful.

“It was good for (DePietro) to come back and help us out in the end.”

Garnet Valley (6-4, 6-4) had built a 6-0 lead when Casasanto entered in the fourth. It was only natural for the freshman to feel anxious, but she kept her cool.

“I was a little nervous, but I knew at that point that it was my job to hold them,” said Casasanto, who struck out three and allowed two singles in 3 1/3 innings of work for her first varsity win.

The one-two punch of All-Delco sluggers Sam Tomasetti and Reva Alderman gave the Cougars fits early. Tomasetti roped an RBI single in the first to give Garnet a 1-0 lead. In the third, after a Tomasetti single, Alderman crushed a two-run home run to left field. The bomb rolled all the way to the home plate area on the junior varsity field. It was Alderman’s county-leading ninth dinger of the season.

Riley Beebe, Diane Torregrossa and Tomasetti hit three consecutive singles in the fourth to extend Garnet’s lead to 4-0. Lindsay Hunt smashed a line drive off the mound and into center field for an RBI single, and Hope DiMario followed with a run-scoring knock to make it 6-0.

“I’ve been preaching all year that we let teams hang around,” first-year GV coach George White said. “We are up (6-0) and we coast through and think that’s going to be the final score. We just don’t have that killer instinct yet. Even in some of the games that we won, I’ve preached that. Today it came back to bite us.”

A couple of errors allowed Springfield to pull get within striking distance of Garnet. In the sixth, Victoria Ciacullo hit a bullet to left that was misplayed for a three-base error, scoring two runs and pulling Springfield to within 6-4.

In other Central league action:

Upper Darby 7, Penncrest 6 >> The Royals scored seven unanswered runs against the Lions to stay undefeated. Brooke Jones had a homer and three RBIs, while All-Delco Sam Witmer went 2 for 4 with two RBIs. UD plated the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh.

Sam Crann, Annalise McLarnon and Kailey Martin led Penncrest with two hits apiece.

Ridley 9, Strath Haven 0 >> All-Delco Leigh Ann Jenkins twirled a two-hit shutout with 13 Ks and was 3 for 4 with two triples and four RBIs. Also for the Green Raiders (6-4, 6-4) Kaci Smith was 3 for 4 with an RBI.

Haverford 10, Marple Newtown 0 >> Madison Lane (double) and Ali Murphy both went 2 for 3 for the Fords, who won their fifth straight. Jessica Epstein tossed a three-hit shutout with no walks.

Radnor 8, Conestoga 6 >> Raiders pitcher Brooke Nicander used two strikeouts to work out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh. Nicander supplied production at the plate with three hits, a run scored and two RBIs. Megan McGrath was a perfect 4 for 4 with a double, triple, three RBIs and two runs.