Hatboro-Horsham stays hot in win over Upper Dublin
UPPER DUBLIN >> The Hatboro-Horsham offense is clicking on all cylinders just in time for the District 1-6A playoffs.
The Hatters ripped 19 hits and all nine spots in the batting order knocked in runs in Monday’s 23-3 Suburban One League American Conference win against Upper Dublin in five innings at Upper Dublin High School.
Alyssa Myers totaled six RBIs in the win, Britt Hubler four, Kylie Flagler and Brynn Griffith three, Alicia Tauber two and Rachel Carney, Kyleigh Dinnien, Maddy Yeager and Meghan Sonntag each knocked in one.
Hatboro blew the game open with an 11-run second inning. Fourteen batters went to the plate in that frame and they totaled nine hits. The other runs came in the first (two), fourth (two) and fifth (eight) innings.
“Hatboro-Horsham is a fantastic hitting team,” Upper Dublin coach Heather Boyer said. “If that wasn’t evidenced by their one-through-nine lineup … They hit the ball hard — really hard. It’s not like we had that many defensive miscues, they hit it hard. Hats off to them.”
“We’ve been really good offensively all year,” Myers said, “but we’re doing especially well the last couple of games.”
Myers finished 4-for-4 with a career-high two home runs. She stayed on a roll after hitting a home run and knocking in a few runs in Hatboro’s 12-1 win against Upper Dublin on Senior Night last week.
The Hatters (16-3, 11-2) still have a chance to tie Quakertown for the SOL American title, but their main concern is positioning themselves well for the District 1-6A playoffs. They entered this week No. 8 in the unofficial power rankings. The top 20 teams qualify for postseason play and the top 12 teams earn a first-round bye.
“I would assume if we end up 17-3 we should get a bye,” Hatboro-Horsham coach Joe DiFilippo said.
“We got a lot of swings up there (against Upper Dublin). We just have to get ready for next week. You never know who you’re going to get.”
“Hopefully we do really well and get a good seeding,” Myers said of the team’s goals for the final week of regular-season play.
Upper Dublin (10-9, 8-5) entered this week No. 27 in the power rankings. Even if the Cardinals won their final two games — Hatboro-Horsham and Upper Moreland — it would have been a long shot for them to jump up to No. 20.
“That’s been one of the complaints about the power rankings,” Boyer said about her team being ranked below teams with worse records. “It’s not necessarily based on records, it’s also based on your strength of schedule. Some teams that are on our schedule — league and non-league — have not been very successful this year, so ultimately that has an effect on your overall score.
“You can only control what you can control — win the games that you play. We didn’t win enough of them unfortunately, so I think it’s going to keep us out of the playoffs.”
Megan Muth homered for Upper Dublin’s first run against the Hatters and the other two runs scored on errors in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively.
The Cardinals have some positives to take out of this season despite not making the playoffs. They improved off a 6-13 record from 2016 and are only losing three players to graduation at the end of the year.
“Overall they’ve really had a great season,” Boyer said. “They’ve made huge strides. The fact that we’re sitting here talking about 10 wins is big compared to last year. They’re making progress in the right direction.”
Hatboro-Horsham 23, Upper Dublin 3
Hatboro-Horsham 2(11)0 28 — 23
Upper Dublin 010 11 — 3
WP: Mikayla Fedele 3 IP 3 K 0 BB 2 H 1 R 1 ER
LP: Erin Gallagher 2.1 IP 0 K 4 BB 10 H 13 R 13 ER
2B: HH: Britt Hubler.
3B: HH: Kylie Flagler.
HR: HH: Britt Hubler, Alyssa Myers 2. UD: Megan Muth.
Top Photo: Hatboro-Horshams Kyleigh Dinnien dives into home as Upper Dublin catcher Megan Muth fields the throw during their game on Monday, May 15, 2017. (Gene Walsh/Digital First Media)
