SOL/BAL completes win over Jersey Shore to claim Softball Carpenter Cup title

PHILADELPHIA >> Quinn McGonigle made it clear quickly that SOL/BAL was picking up right where it left off.

Five days after rain suspended the Softball Carpenter Cup final with SOL/BAL up 8-0 on Jersey Shore after two innings, play resumed Monday afternoon at FDR Park with McGonigle starting the top of the third with a leadoff single..

Two batters later, the Pennsbury freshman scored on Victoria Juckniewitz’s ground out — the first of three runs SOL/BAL tacked on to extend its lead to 11.

“Definitely jumping on them right away to keep us going and knowing that it wasn’t just them struggling a lot,” Upper Moreland’s Bean Hughes said. “Knowing that we were able to keep building our lead and assuring that we would be able to finish it.”

The scoreline never changed from there as SOL/BAL’s week-long odyssey through the tournament ended with it picking up the championship trophy after an 11-0 five-inning win over Jersey Shore for the team’s first title since 2012.

“I thought it was really good and relieving to already have eight runs already in and with then coming out right of the bat and getting an additional three runs in the first inning that we’re here,” Souderton’s Sam Nuneviller said. “We just really wanted to win it through the whole thing, so we were confident after Wednesday when we originally already had eight. So we were just like let’s finish this quick and easy.”

After Juckniewitz’s RBI ground out, SOL/BAL collected three consecutive two-outs hits — the last two a Hughes single and a double from North Penn’s Amanda Greaney that both plated runs.

North Penn’s Mady Volpe and Abby Burns of Souderton kept the Jersey Shore offense quiet the next three innings to seal the mercy-rule victory and earn the combined shutout.

“We were all texting each other like OK we’re going to win this, like we’re going to win it all,” Volpe said. “Obviously keep the focus the same but we all knew we were up 8-0, we have a big lead — don’t lose the lead. But I think coming on them quick, coming back scoring three runs was really big for us because we showed that we’re not done scoring runs.”

The championship was the second for SOL/BAL in the Softball Carpenter Cup’s 15-year history, tying the team for second all-time in titles with Berks/Lancaster Lebanon, Lehigh Valley and Jersey Shore.

“It is an elite group of girls,” Hughes said. “Each one of these girls is excellent at every position they play. And I did, I played with so many of these girls throughout the years of playing softball, travel but everyone is so good. Any time a ball gets hit to any one of these girls it’s like OK, she’s got it, you don’t have to worry about her bobbling a ball and making an error. It’s just really confident, I feel really confident.”

The victory over Jersey Shore was SOL/BAL second straight by double-digits, a dominant finish in the tournament after just getting into the quarterfinals last Wednesday following a 1-1-1 mark in three games last Monday.

“We just skimmed getting in and then after the first game when we played (Delaware South) , they had won every single (game), they were undefeated, so when we beat them 6-4, then we were like OK we got this in the bag,” Nuneviller said. “And then next game was 10-0 and then we had to come for this game and on Wednesday it was 8-0 and we finished it today with 11-0.

After knocking out defending champ Delaware South in the quarters, SOL/BAL bested Delaware North 10-0 in six innings in the semifinals. In the title game, SOL/BAL jumped out to the early 8-0 lead on Jersey Shore with four runs in both the first and second before heavy rains rolling through Philly halted last Wednesday’s action.

“More consistent offense and more consistent defense, too,” said SOL/BAL head coach Heather Boyer of the team’s play in the single-elimination rounds. “We did not give many free passes. In fact, I want to say — I would have to go back to double-check on Wednesday — but I don’t think we had an error in all three games. And the number of walks were very, very minimal as well. I don’t know if had many if any. So that was huge. We played very, very crisp defense and offensively they really started to hit the ball well. And we just took advantage of certain situations, you know put the ball in play and good things happen.”

With the final on hold, SOL/BAL players competed with their travel teams over the weekend, but regrouped to complete their work — a commitment Boyer did not overlook.

“Credit to them and their parents,” she said. “Behind every player that’s here are parents who drove back from their tournaments in Ohio and Virginia and New Jersey. Parents who changed their work schedules to accommodate their kids so they could be here so that they could experience this.

“You know, this isn’t a typical weekend tournament where if you get rained out Saturday you’re coming back Sunday and you just kind of expect it as a softball parent. This is a weekday, that impacts their entire daily lives, so it’s a big commitment that they made to us to do that, which is much appreciated.”

Already holding a comfortable lead, SOL/BAL pushed the margin to 9-0 three batters into the third Monday. McGonigle singled, went to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Kammy Kropinski of Plymouth Whitemarsh then scored on the Juckniewicz RBI groundout.

“I told the girls, too, at the beginning, Jersey Shore shows up, they’re not going to let you do this, just lay down and kind of let you run over them,” Boyer said. “They’re here to compete. So you need to take them seriously and you need to execute.”

Nuneviller followed with a single, stole second and came home on a Hughes RBI single to center — Hughes taking second on the throw home. Greaney then belted an RBI double to left center on the next at-bat to make it 11-0.

“It was kind of exciting, coming back, like OK, we’re up 8-0, we have to keep going strong but feeling pretty good about it,” Hughes said. “So it’s kind of really suspenseful, too, having that break and then most of us going and playing with our travel teams and changing environment and coming back, it was really awesome.”

Hannah Stone led off the bottom of the third with a double to left but Volpe proceeded to sandwich a groundout around a pair of strikeouts. In the fourth, Volpe walked the fist two Jersey Shore batters but worked out of that jam with three straight strikeouts.

“It was good, I felt good, I had a big lead,” Volpe said. “I knew just coming in it’s the same game, go out and play your best.”

Burns worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth — sealing the victory by reaching up to snag a chopper up the middle then throwing over to first.