Coinciding times nothing new for Helverson family
For 10 years the question of “who’s going with who” filtered its way through the dinner conversation mid-week.
Now, entering the PAC-10 Championship on Thursday, that question makes its way back into the conversation for the parents of Perkiomen Valley’s Brock and Rachel Helverson, who will play for the baseball and softball championship, respectively, at the same time (7 p.m.) and at different locations (baseball at Boyertown, softball at Spring-Ford) Thursday night.
“I asked my mom,” Rachel said. “…She doesn’t know who’s going with who yet. But I do know that someone will be with me and one with my brother. There hasn’t been a game I’ve played that at least one of my parents wasn’t at, same with Brock.”
For 10 years, Cindy and Scott Helverson have become masters at juggling softball and baseball schedules, the duo travelling separately with Brock or Rachel to various tournaments throughout the year. Their strategy remains simple: try to keep things equal between the two.
“It’d be Wednesday and one of us would bring up the tournament or game we had,” Rachel said. “Who’s going to be with who this weekend? Who’s farther, which car are we using? Who’s taking this car or that car? There wasn’t much strategy that went into it. They’ve always tried to split it up so we would equally see them.”
“They switched off,” Brock said. “Usually my mom comes with me but now it’s more random,”
And when there’s an opportunity, seeing both on the same day is always a priority.
Moments after Brock and the Vikings celebrated their 2-0 win over Spring-Ford in the semifinals, the parents were on the move from Bear Stadium, arriving at Spring-Ford in good time to see Rachel and the softball team rout Boyertown, 10-0, in the five-inning nightcap.
That plan of attack won’t be viable Thursday night, but for the Helversons, there is always a secondary plan.
“My dad will text my mom play-by-play with what’s happening,” Rachel said. “They always send each other play-by-play texts.”
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Brock made the drive from Boyertown to Spring-Ford with catcher Matt Szczesny after his game Tuesday but Thursday’s coinciding times will also make it impossible for the Helverson duo to watch each other play.
They’ll be sure to wish each other luck.
“Brock and I are weird,” Rachel said. “We don’t really tell each other good luck, we just make fun of each other. Say things like ‘don’t strike out, you weirdo’ or when he’s pitching I say ‘make sure you don’t hit someone, bud.’ That’s pretty much our good luck to each other.”
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As for Thursday’s PAC-10 title tilts:
Softball
Pairing >> Spring-Ford Rams vs. Perkiomen Valley Vikings
Date and Time >> Thursday, 7 p.m.
Site >> Ram Park, Spring-Ford High School
Records >> Spring-Ford 14-4 PAC-10 regular season (17-4 overall). Perk Valley 15-3 PAC-10 regular season (18-3 overall).
Semifinal results >> Spring-Ford 4, Owen J. Roberts 2. Perk Valley 10, Boyertown 0.
Facts and Figures >> Perk Valley and Spring-Ford split regular season games, the Vikings winning a rain-shortened contest at home on April 1 before the Rams topped them 5-2 on April 25. … The Rams’ lineup change proved vital in the team’s semifinal victory as Maggie McConney, who moved from clean-up to leadoff, went 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Pitcher Sam Lindsay allowed only four balls into the outfield and held OJR to four hits. … Perkiomen Valley capitalized on four Boyertown errors and eight hits to come away with the mercy-rule victory. Pitcher Emily Oltman yielded two hits and struck out two with Kelsey Impink adding three RBI. … The game will be a rematch of last year’s PAC-10 final, the Vikings topping the Rams 7-0 last season.
Baseball
Pairing >> Boyertown Bears vs. Perkiomen Valley Vikings
Date and Time >> Thursday, 7 p.m.
Site >> Bear Stadium, Boyertown High School
Records >> Boyertown 15-3 PAC-10 regular season (17-4 overall). Perk Valley 15-3 PAC-10 regular season (17-3 overall).
Semifinal results >> Boyertown 2, Owen J. Roberts 1. Perk Valley 2, Spring-Ford 0.
Facts and Figures >> Boyertown and Perk Valley split regular-season games. Bears won April 8 matchup, 4-3; Vikings took rematch, 5-4. … Pitching was key to teams’ semifinal-round victories. Boyertown saw Andrew Bauer and Pat Hohlfeld combine on four-hitter, Hohlfeld offering one inning perfect relief for save. Perk Valley got a combined three-hitter from Brock Helverson and Tyler Strechay, with Strechay providing 1-2/3 innings perfect relief (two strikeouts) for save. … The game will crown a new league playoff champion, with 2015 finalists (Owen J. Roberts, Spring-Ford) eliminated in semis. … Bears got top PAC seed on tiebreaker of head-to-head competition against teams below them. Boyertown 2-0 against third-place Spring-Ford, Vikings 0-2.
