Archbishop Wood clinches PCL No. 2 seed with walk-off win over Archbishop Ryan

HATBORO >> Everything was on the line when Taylor Carter came to bat with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Archbishop Wood’s center fielder had a chance to do a lot of things for her team and with one swing, she did. Carter didn’t get a hit, but she put the ball in play, it deflected off the second baseman’s glove and the winning run scored, sending Vikings coach Kevin Rosini sprinting out of the third base box over to Carter at first.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was a win. After topping Archbishop Ryan 4-3 in an extra inning thriller Monday afternoon, that’s just fine with Wood.

“We’ve been working with confidence and we all just really want to win,” Vikings senior left fielder Jess Atwell said. “We’ve been working hard and putting all the effort in there so we want the payoff with a win.”

With the win, the Vikings clinched the No. 2 seed for the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs and will host Hallahan, a 4-1 winner over Little Flower, at home Thursday. The victory also put Wood in the driver’s seat to be the league’s District 12 representative in Class AAA unless Lansdale Catholic or Bonner-Prendergast wins the league tournament.

For three innings, not much was going right for Wood. The Vikings couldn’t do a thing offensively against Ryan’s Lexi Marasheski and the Ragdolls were slipping ground ball hits in the gaps against Wood hurler Marisa Browne. Ryan scored a single run in each of the first three innings, taking a 3-0 lead.

Then, Browne figured things out and pitched the rest of the game like the ace she’s been all season for the Vikings. After allowing five hits in the first three innings, she gave up just three in the next six and struck out seven against two walks against a very potent lineup.

“I was figuring the batters out and which pitches to throw and getting everything down,” the sophomore said. “I still felt pretty good but I needed to mix it up a little more because they were getting pretty solid hits. I was able to get it all together.”

Browne was at St. Basil’s last year, but since transferring to Wood, she’s been a huge part of the program’s rise. Atwell said Browne is as competitive as anyone else on the roster but the pitcher is also humble and doesn’t view herself as above anyone else.

“I can’t speak for the other coaches, but if she’s not the top pitcher in the league, find me someone who’s better,” Rosini said. “Every coach believes in their pitchers but find me a kid that’s busted it harder. She’s 10-1 in the league, she just topped 99 innings for the season, she’s thrown five shutouts and six innings of shutout ball today against a team that’s scoring 10 or 12 runs per game. She’s a battler and a warrior, she kept us in the game.”

Marasheski did a great job herself of keeping Wood from doing much on offense until the sixth inning. Then, with the top of the order coming to bat, things finally broke for the Vikings. Leadoff hitter Jules Donchez reached and advanced to second on an error, with Carter reaching on another error.

A single from Gia Lancellotti loaded the bags then a third error allowed Donchez to score, keeping the bases loaded when Andria Narisi reached. Third baseman Sophia Kent and Browne followed with singles to drive in two runs, tying it up. Wood wasn’t able to push the lead after a flyout to center and a second flyout led to a double play when Victoria Black made a great throw to catcher Sarah Ostaszewski for the tag at home.

“We wanted to put the ball in play and make them make the plays, just like everybody did last year,” Rosini said. “We put it play and put a little hack in their armor and all of a sudden, we put the heat on them. If you put the heat on and keep the game close, you have a shot.”

Ryan nearly erased all of that momentum in the top of the seventh. A one-out error let Kate Ostaszewski reach, bringing up her sister, Sarah. The Ryan catcher then got all of a pitch and screamed it into left-center where it landed then bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double. While the Ragdolls had two runners on, they hadn’t scored.

“I was nervous, it really did make me nervous,” Atwell said. “But we wanted it and we fought for it.”

Wood intentionally loaded the bases, a risky proposition. But Browne paid back her coaches’ trust by inducing back to back ground balls to Katie Barrett at shortstop. Barrett made two excellent plays, first throwing to home for a force out, then getting to a ball in the hole and throwing to Kent for the inning-ending and game extending force at third.

“It helps so much just to have a good defense,” Browne said. “I’m not out there on my own.”

Browne pitched around a runner in the eighth and ninth, setting her team up for its last chance to score before the tiebreaker rule would put a runner at second to start each half-inning. Last week, that scenario had hurt Wood in a 10th inning loss to Cardinal O’Hara so Atwell said the team was going to do anything to avoid it again.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Kirstin Wilson singled to put the winning run on. Atwell followed with a perfect bunt that she said was meant to move the runner but as she broke out of the box, she went all-in for the hit and got it.

Donchez turned the order over and then Carter delivered, pushing the Vikings to a position they’ve not been used to in recent years.

“We worked so hard all season long, we deserved to win this game today,” Rosini said. “These girls have worked their tails off all season long, played a lot of games in a short amount of time and we stuck with it. Sixth, seventh inning, they believed in themselves a little more. This whole group, there was so much today, I can’t even believe it.”