Moran, Haverford tighten Central race
LANSDOWNE >> Lindsay Moran’s season can be described in a few words offered by her Haverford High coach, Jill Marshall.
“She’s been dynamite all year,” Marshall said. “I’ve been saying it since the beginning of the year, the ball has just been flying off of that girl’s bat.”
Upper Darby experienced exactly what Marshall was talking about in Monday’s rivalry game pitting the Central League’s best teams.
Moran put on a show at the plate in leading the Fords to a 6-3 victory under the lights at Marshall Field. Haverford handed Upper Darby its first loss of the season and moved within a game of first place in the Central. To earn at least a share of the title, the Fords have to win out and hope the Royals stumble in one of their last two league games.
Moran, a junior left fielder with a natural power swing, homered, tripled and drove in four runs. There’s a reason why she’s batting cleanup…
“It’s not just in games, it’s in practice, or whatever we do and whenever we do it. Her swing is golden right now and she’s worked so hard to get there,” Marshall said. “There’s no other person who deserves to get those hits more than she does right now because she has worked so hard at it. She is killing it right now.”
Moran blasted a bases-clearing triple to the gap in right-center field to cap a four-run rally in the third inning and give the Fords (12-5, 12-12) a 4-1 lead. Her next at-bat was even better. Moran drilled a Rebecca Sorrentino changeup over the fence in left field for a 5-1 Fords advantage.
“We saw a lot of curveballs; I think the one that I hit was a changeup,” Moran said. “It came inside and I went after it. I’m not a fan of the inside pitch, but I’ve been working on it.”
Moran’s hot bat dampened the excitement over Upper Darby’s senior night. The Royals (14-1, 13-1) honored their six graduating players prior to the game: Carli Benozich, Erin Redden, Ashley Anderson, KeriAnne McGee, Marissa Campuzano and Marcelle O’Brien.
Considering the circumstances, it’s safe to say Moran hasn’t had two bigger hits in her life. The triple was the game-changer and the dinger was icing on the cake.
“Definitely not as big as that,” she said. “You’re not thinking too much, you just wanted the game to flow. I think we’ve been working really hard at practice because we knew this team was going to be tough offensively and defensively. They’re all-around the best team in the league right now.”
Well, not anymore. That honor belong to the Fords (12-5, 12-2).
“(Beating Upper Darby) makes it better,” Moran said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game and we’re friends with a lot of people on the team. We knew we had to come right out of gates and try to score some runs against them.”
Moran plays travel ball for the Delco Diamonds “with almost half that team,” meaning Upper Darby. So, yeah, it’s nice to gain bragging rights over your buddies…
“Oh, yeah, definitely,” she said.
Of course, knowing that Upper Darby is as deep one-through-nine as they are, the Fords eventually found themselves in some trouble in the latter innings. In the sixth, the Royals finally started to figure out Haverford starter Gabrielle Gentile, who hurled five-plus frames with two strikeouts and six hits allowed. Benozich and Brooke Jones each had an RBI in the fifth off Gentile to cut Haverford’s lead to 5-3.
And then Jess Epstein pitched out of serious danger in the sixth. Subbed in for Gentile mid-inning, Epstein walked into a nightmare situation for any relief pitcher: bags juiced and nobody out. She promptly retired the next three batters with no sweat, striking out McGee, getting Anderson to bounce into a 5-2 fielder’s choice and forcing Jones to lift a harmless fly ball to speedy centerfielder Ali Murphy.
Epstein, a senior, has pitched well all year alongside Gentile. Epstein preserved the win for Gentile and picked up the save.
“Jess has stepped up throughout the entire season. I was 100 percent confident in her there,” Marshall said. “Jess’ ball has a little bit of a natural rise, so I think that caught them off guard a little bit because Gabby pitches different. I told her when she got in there, ‘Everything that’s happened, you haven’t had controlled over. The only thing you have control over is this batter and that’s your focus right now. Just take it at-bat by at-bat, focus on your spins and focus on changing the ball not only in and out, but also changing the speeds.’ She did great.”
In the seventh, Haverford tacked on an insurance run when Danielle Nester smacked a single to center, scoring Madison Lane, who reached with an infield single.
“We’re second in the league, they’re first in the league,” Marshall said. “So, we knew this was going to be a good game going into it. We won because we played our game.”
In other Central League games:
Marple Newtown 4, Penncrest 1 >> The Tigers (3-12) upset the Lions (8-7) thanks to three-run double by winning pitcher Ceire Devlin-Mohan in the sixth inning. Caitlyn Spencer added two hits for MN.
Garnet Valley 5, Conestoga 4 >> Freshman Riley Beebe scored the winner from second base on an infield grounder off the bat of classmate Dianne Torregrossa in the seventh inning as the Jaguars (9-6, 8-6) won in walkoff style. Torregrossa singled twice and drove in two runs, while Hope DiMario went 3 for 3 with two RBIs for GV.
Radnor 11, Harriton 2 >> Meg McGrath powered the Raiders with a single, double, triple and three RBIs. Cate Remphrey reached base five times.
Ridley 10, Lower Merion 0 >> Leigh Ann Jenkins pitched a five-inning no-hitter with five Ks and helped her cause by going 3 for 4 with a double and three RBIs.
