Neely, defense help Souderton top Lansdale Catholic

FRANCONIA >> The ball left the bat of Lansdale Catholic catcher Rebecca Tiley’s bat and seemed destined to drop in shallow center field for a hit.

It only seemed that way until Bri Neely did something about it. The Souderton senior center fielder came charging in from her post deeper in the outfield and made a running snag of the ball, picking up the third out of the top half of the first inning and leaving two LC runners stuck.

If that wasn’t enough, Neely led off the home half of the inning with a triple as kept the energy flowing.

Neely had three hits and added a few more defensive plays to a solid Souderton effort as the Indians built a big lead then fended off a late LC charge in a 9-5 non-league softball win Monday afternoon.

“We had to fix what we messed up last time and we had to come out strong,” Neely said. “We needed a positive mentality and strong energy and that’s exactly what we got today.”

The Indians had a rough ending to last week’s slate of games when they gave up a big lead in a loss to William Tennent as the defense wasn’t able to get the job done. There were still a handful of miscues on Monday, but for the most part, the Indians (6-3, 2-3 SOL Continental) were pretty surehanded in the field behind senior pitcher Alex Scheeler.

Neely, who is committed to play at the University of Maine next year, reached base in her first four plate appearances and scored three runs. After tripling in the first, she scored when LC (6-4, 4-2 PCL) tried to throw out a base stealer to start a three-run frame. An inning later, she singled and later scored on a wild pitch as Souderton again plated three runs for a 6-0 lead.

“Bri is one of our energy sparks,” Souderton coach Liz Perkins said. “Whether it’s offensively or defensively, her speed and the ground she covers in center field definitely does a lot for us. The girls feed off each other so when she makes a big play, we’re able to come in and get the three runs.”

Monday’s win doubled Souderton’s win total from all of last season and Neely pointed to comfort and chemistry as a two main reasons why. Perkins echoed her senior co-captain in saying last year, her first as the team’s coach, was a feeling out process for everybody.

Having an offseason together, which included a heavy amount of work in the fall, has seemed to really pay off so far.

“The attitude is much better, the mentality is much better and we’ve come together as a team,” Neely said. “We’re more communicative with the team and our relationship with the coaches has improved too, they’ve been more energetic, motivating and inspiring.”

“We have good chemistry and it’s translating on the field,” Perkins said. “Starting early really allowed us to know each other before getting thrown into March and having all these new faces around so we really got comfortable with each other.”

LC, which started just three seniors, is about where coach Paul Suder expected it to be. The Crusaders’ two league losses came to Archbishop Ryan, a usual power and Bonner & Prendergast, the defending PCL champ, in a 10-9 extra inning setback.

Likewise, they were neck-and-neck with Central Bucks West last Friday before falling on a late home run in a 4-2 setback but overall, Suder is pleased with his team’s progress. With so many underclassmen vying for spots, there’s a focus on development in non-league games like Monday’s.

“We didn’t make them put a lot of balls in play, there were a lot of walks and usually what comes with the walks is you get an error,” Suder said. “Mary (Picozzi) is a only a sophomore and you see how hard she throws, so why stick her out in left field when you can have her out there to try and work it out.”

Picozzi struggled with her command most of the game, but she still struck out six hitters in her five innings of work. Suder also noted sometimes it’s more valuable to learn from an off day against a quality opponent than it is to dominate a team that’s a few levels below where LC is at.

So far this season, LC has shown it can hit the ball but it took a few innings to get that going on Monday. After two hits in the top of the first, LC didn’t register another hit until the fourth but finished with 12 total hits including four in a three-run sixth inning.

Picozzi went 3-for-4 at the plate while Tiley and Julia Marozzi each had two hits. Pinch-hitter Julie Waller had a two-run single in the sixth.

“I think we can hit the ball with anybody,” Suder said. “We came alive when stopped trying to pull the ball. (Scheeler) is keeping everything away and we were trying to pull the ball. The breaks work for both teams and it seems like when you have a pitcher throwing strikes, you get more defensive breaks.”

Souderton had its share of solid defensive plays on Monday. In the second inning, second baseman Emma Hallman was able to track down a pop-up in shallow right field and was able to double off the runner at first for an inning-ender.

Shortstop Jess Lepore made a great sliding play in the fourth to get the lead runner and turn a well-hit ball by Tiley into a fielder’s choice out. Neely added another gem in the fifth by throwing a ball from center to home where her younger sister Naila tagged out a runner to end the inning.

“I just think it was a good day, you have good days and bad days but today, it was just really connecting,” Neely said. “I think we needed a day like today and this confidence will carry into the rest of the week.”

SOUDERTON 9, LANSDALE CATHOLIC 5
LANSDALE CATHOLIC 000 203 0 – 5 12 3
SOUDERTON 331 110 x – 9 7 3
3B: Bri Neely (S). 2B: Jen Klepfer (S). Multiple Hits: S – Bri Neely 3-4; LC – Mary Picozzi 3-4, Rebecca Tiley 2-4, Julie Marozzi 2-4.