Council Rock North softball blanks Methacton in district opener
NEWTOWN – Council Rock North started the season with its third softball coach in three years. With the Lady Indians 2-0 triumph over Methacton Tuesday in the second half of a District 1 Class AAAA opener against the 20th-seeded Warriors, CR North won its second playoff battle in three seasons.
Taking the field with a 1-0 lead, the Indians’ padded their edge to 2-0 with a lone run in their half of the fifth inning. A walk and a two-base error gave the Rock runners at second and third, though Methacton nearly got out of the jam when starting pitcher Meg Stauffer induced a liner back to the circle then threw to third base for the double play.
North leadoff hitter Sabrina Crane then slapped an RBI single that gave the Indians that coveted insurance run.
“The unearned run hurt us,” said Methacton head coach Cathy Miller. “If you keep it to one run, you can somehow find a way to squeak one around.”
The Warriors had a chance to do some damage in the sixth when they loaded the sacks on an Annalese Olivieri double, a walk to Dani Duda and a single by Paulina Lowery.
Rock freshman reliever Jenna Kantzian bore down however and retired the side in order from there, inducing a popup to Abby Penjuke, and fanning Samantha Weil-Kasper and Gabe Doran.
“Give credit to Council Rock,” added Miller. “They didn’t give us a break and they did what they needed to do to win the game.”
Mother Nature and soaked field conditions prevailed Monday afternoon, May 23 in Newtown when a deluge of rain and thunderstorms swooped down upon the field at Swamp Road and the Newtown Bypass.
Play was called on the 4 p.m. pairing with the 13th-seeded Lady Indians leading 1-0 in the top of the fifth inning with one out. The rain stopped about 15 minutes after it started but by 5:30, game officials deemed the field unplayable.
The only offense thus far in the matchup was a two-out solo home run by CR North first baseman Kalli Segel in the bottom of the second inning. Segel hit her second home run of the season on the first pitch she saw deep over the center field fence.
“We knew that this girl was going to throw a first pitch fastball and our girls jumped on it,” said Indians head coach John Engelhardt. “We knew what she was going to do and I thought that we had a good approach.
“Sabrina Crane hit two balls hard; she gets on and we’re running all day on the catcher.”
“And we’re going to continue to run.”
The Warriors had a couple of chances to score on day one of the playoff opener but fell short on both occasions.
With the game scoreless in the first inning, Olivieri walked and Duda reached base on a single. Lowery followed with a single to right field.
Unfortunately for Methacton, the toss back to the infield by Indians outfielder Elena Calibeo caught Olivieri in a rundown between third base and home. The infielder was ultimately tagged out by CR North catcher Taylor Amazeen for the third out, ending the rally.
Penjuke – after a one-out double in the fourth inning – was left stranded on third base when catcher Samantha Weil-Kasper struck out and DP Gabe Doran popped up to short.
Methacton stranded a baserunner in each of the first four innings on day one of this game. Council Rock left only two runners on base on Monday.
Stauffer – starting pitcher for the Warriors – struck out two batters and walked one in four innings of work.
“My girls hit her hard,” added Englehardt. “I think we had the right approach at the plate. Some balls found fielders but overall I was really pleased with our approach at the plate.”
North senior Amanda Camp – Indians starting righthander – held Methacton scoreless through three innings before giving way to freshman Jenna Khantzian.
Camp got the win after limiting the Warriors to two hits in three innings, while Khantzian finished with seven strikeouts and two walks in four innings of relief.
“It’s a nice little combo. Amanda, being a senior, she’s mentally strong and she’s able to get us through,” commented Engelhardt. “Jenna is the type of kid who, with her speed, it’s better to have her come in and give us a change of pace.”
“We changed a little earlier than we going to because we saw that they were late on a lot of pitches. With Jenna’s speed, we thought we would be able to be even more successful with the change.”
Camp struck out three batters while walking two and giving up two hits – both singles. Khantzian surrendered the double to Lowery and also escaped with no damage done by the Warriors. She struck out two of the four batters she faced in the fourth inning.
North advances to face No. 4 seed Perkiomen Valley at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the home of the PAC-10 rival Lady Vikings while Methacton concludes its season at 12-9.
Miller guided the Warriors to a 12-8 regular season finish and a tied-for-third-place showing in the Pioneer Athletic Conference (PAC-10). Methacton went 11-7 in the PAC-10 this year after going 9-9 in the conference in 2015.
North has gone 16-4 overall, 12-2 in the Suburban One League (SOL), its only league losses suffered at the hands of SOL National division winner Neshaminy.
Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
Council Rock North 2, Methacton 0
(May 23-24 at CR North)
METHACTON 000 000 0 – 0 7 1
CR NORTH 010 010 X – 2 5 1
WP – Amanda Camp; LP – Megan Stauffer
2B – Abby Penjuke (M), Annalese Olivieri; HR – Kalli Segel (CRN)
