Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Molly Moore delivers in clutch against Hatboro-Horsham
WHITEMARSH >> Plymouth Whitemarsh pitcher Molly Moore knows that Amya Lundy is the toughest out in the Hatboro-Horsham lineup.
In the first inning of their Suburban One League Liberty Division matchup Thursday, Lundy gave the Hatters an early lead with a base hit down the left field line.
When the senior UMBC commit returned to the plate in the third inning with two outs and a runner on first, Moore couldn’t get a pitch passed her. Lundy fouled off five pitches – including two hard-hit balls down the left field line that were a few feet away from being doubles and a ball that easily cleared the fence but was on the wrong side of the foul pole.
With a full count, Lundy watched Moore’s changeup go by and was called out looking. The Colonials scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning and that was all the offense needed in a 3-1 win at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.
“She’s always been a good hitter,” Moore said. “I struggle against her because she fouls off everything. It’s hard when you get in those deep counts to really work through it, but that changeup outside got her frozen and the umpire helped me a little. It was good.”
“Amya is an absolute weapon in the box,” PW coach Mike Perez said. “We’ve known this for three years and I’ve never seen a pitch that she can’t hit. It’s always a battle. We try our best to move it around, change up speeds and she just hits everything. That was a huge, huge at-bat for us. She is definitely a dangerous piece of their lineup.”
Joslyn Perez led off the bottom of the third inning with an infield single before Caelin Kosvitch worked a one-out walk. Moore ripped a two-run double into the right-centerfield gap to put PW ahead, 2-1.
“I had two strikes on me when I hit that hit,” Moore said. “The ball was high. I’m not even going to lie, it was a little lucky.”
“That was huge,” Mike Perez said. “That was a big hit. She’s one of the biggest gamers I know. I knew she’d be up for this game in the circle. She’s always been clutch for us all year long.”
Maddie Carr entered as a courtesy runner for Moore and scored on a Sam Skivo single up the middle to make it 3-1.
“I don’t think Amya’s at-bat really put a downer on us,” H-H coach Jen Tooley said. “I just think once they saw the three on the board with them, that might have been – it’s not something we’ve faced a lot, being down like that. We battled, we definitely battled.”
That was all PW (13-5, 11-3 SOL Liberty) could get against Hatters pitcher Alyssa Tooley. The right-hander threw all six innings, striking out 11 batters to four walks and allowed the three runs on four hits.
Moore finished the game with 12 strikeouts in seven innings. She allowed one run on six hits and walked one batter.
Three of those hits came back-to-back-to-back in the top of the first inning. Tess Kearney, Abby Waeltz and Lundy hit consecutive one-out singles with Lundy’s scoring Kearney to put the Hatters (11-6, 11-3 SOL Liberty) ahead, 1-0.
Waeltz and Lundy advanced into scoring position on the throw home, but Moore tallied back-to-back strikeouts to end the early threat.
“I honestly think it’s easier for me because I have something to work towards,” Moore said of bouncing back from the first inning. “I have to recover, so I’m working harder. It got me down a little, but I recovered.”
Both teams are multiple games behind unbeaten Quakertown in the SOL Liberty standings, but are in good position heading towards the District 1 playoffs. Hatboro-Horsham is in Class-5A and Plymouth Whitemarsh Class-6A.
“These are huge,” Jen Tooley said of late-season games before districts. “Every game now – the final three games are huge for us. We’ve got Methacton (Friday), Quakertown Monday, Upper Dublin on Wednesday. Every game here in our eyes is a playoff game. Playing to win every game.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 3, Hatboro-Horsham 1
Hatboro-Horsham 100 000 0 – 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 003 000 x – 3
WP: Molly Moore: 7 IP 12 K 1 BB 6 H 1 R
LP: Alyssa Tooley 6 IP 11 K 4 BB 4 H 3 R
2B: PW: Molly Moore.
