Villa Maria’s season ends in extra-inning district quarterfinal loss

Malvern >> Villa Maria Academy, the No. 3 seed in PIAA District 1 5A softball, saw its season came to an end with a hard-fought 2-1 loss in 10 innings to Upper Merion in a District 1 quarterfinal Wednesday.
Twice the Hurricanes (13-6) loaded the bases with no outs and the score tied at 1-1 – once in the bottom of the sixth inning, then in the bottom of the ninth – but failed to score each time.
For No. 6 seed Upper Merion (14-8), its win means the Vikings get one of the four District 1 berths in the upcoming PIAA 5A state tournament.
“We just couldn’t get that one big hit at the right time,” said Villa Maria head coach Nikki Hartshorne. “This loss hurt. But every time we [failed to score], we came back harder, we raised the bar. Every inning I thought Alyssa’s pitching was the best I’ve ever seen. She earned every bit of success she had out there today.”
Villa Maria senior star pitcher Alyssa Viscardo, in the final game of her high school career, struck out 14 batters and allowed only seven hits and three walks. Of her 147 pitches, 96 were strikes, and she struck out many a Viking hitter on 3-2 and 2-2 counts Wednesday.
“It just hit me after the game that this is the last game I’ll be pitching for Villa Maria,” an emotional Viscardo said. “But I’m coming back here to visit after I graduate – it’s been a fun time. We really bonded this year.”
Viscardo, who will be pitching for the University of Hartford in the fall, struck out more than 500 batters in his Villa Maria career. Viscardo is one of five Hurricane senior starters who will be graduating in June – the others are Anna Ciarrocchi, Fran Delviscio, Riley Miller and Mary Willcox. Another graduating senior on the squad is Kevina Day.
“I will miss these seniors immensely,” said Hartshorne. “They were so much fun to play with, so much fun to coach – they were so dynamic as a bunch. I really believe that with all their strong personalities, they really well gelled well together – which is something that you can’t always get. They really set the tone for the team, and they had a season with which we can continue their legacy. They gave so much leadership and they gave the underclassmen what they need to carry on.”
Two of those seniors plated Villa Maria’s lone run in the bottom of the first inning Wednesday. The Hurricanes were trailing 1-0 when Riley Miller (which reached base her first three times up) beat out an infield hit. Two batters later, Delviscio banged a double to left-center, scoring Miller.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Viscardo led off with a double to left center. Delviscio grounded to shortstop, and Viscardo left second base, drawing a throw. While Viscardo got back safely to second, Delviscio was safe at first. Ciarrocchi bunted for a hit, and the bases were loaded. But the Hurricanes failed to score.
In the bottom of the ninth, Ciarrocchi led off with a double to right, then Natalie Bacallao beat out a bunt single to third. Willcox also beat out a bunt along the third base side, with Ciarrocchi holding at third.
With the bases loaded and no outs once again for the Hurricanes, a run scored here would have meant at least three more games for Villa Maria (and none for Upper Merion), but two force plays at the plate and a strikeout ended the rally.
Altogether, Villa Maria left nine runners on base, Upper Merion left eight. And in the first five innings, two batters were called out for being out of the batter’s box when making contact – one for Villa Maria, one for Upper Merion.
“It’s the details of the game; that one little missed signal, that one little missed play,” said Hartshorne. “Everything needed to be precise for today’s win, and that’s what happens when you go deep into Districts – everyone’s got to be on top of their game. [But] it was such an awesome game, it was such a pleasure to be here, in the moment. But this loss hurt.”
For Upper Merion, the memories of this game will be special.
“This is the first time in my 15 years at Upper Merion that we’ve gone to States,” said Upper Merion head coach Melissa Toto. “It might be the first time that Upper Merion [softball] has ever gone to States.
“We really played with heart today, played for each other. None of our girls would take personal credit for this win, because each of them could look at the girl next to her and say, ‘We wouldn’t be here without you.’”
Upper Merion scored a run in the top of the first inning. Vanessa Hutchinson and Lauren Del Giudice started the game with a couple of walks, then Hutchinson moved to third on Katelyn O’Brien’s fly out to right. When Del Giudice ran to second and drew a Villa Maria throw, Hutchinson raced home with the game’s first run.
On the mound, Viking starting pitcher Kayla Warren hurled seven innings, scattering six hits, allowing just one run and getting out of a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the bottom of the sixth with a double play and a strikeout. Olivia Barr pitched the final three innings, and facing a bases-loaded, no out situation in the bottom of the ninth, set the Hurricanes down 1-2-3.
“Kayla pitched great for seven innings, and then Liv came in to relieve and picked up right where Kayla left off,” said Toto. “They both did a great job pitching out of jams.”
In the top of the 10th inning, the Vikings’ Sammie Deskiewicz (Upper Merion’s last batter in the ninth) took second base to start the frame. Following two outs, Hutchinson singled past shortstop to score Deskiewicz to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the 10th, with a Villa Maria runner on second to start the inning, Barr got a strikeout, a groundout to first, and a fly ball to left, ending the game.
Toto said, “My girls wanted this game so bad, they weren’t letting anyone stop them. The whole team believed in themselves – they know how hard they worked to get here, and today they really delivered. We kept going and we didn’t get down on ourselves [in adversity]. Alyssa Viscardo did a great job, and [Villa Maria] backed her up, hit the ball well behind her.”