CHELTENHAM >> A crowded slate of PIAA softball games at Arcadia University’s Blankley Field delayed Lansdale Catholic’s Class 4A first-round contest against West Perry more than an hour from its scheduled start time.
But when the matchup finally got under way, the Crusaders were quickly outmatched by the Mustangs’ bats.
West Perry’s first 10 batters all reached base in the top of the first inning and all 10 came around to score, the Mustangs continuing to pile up the runs until finishing Monday afternoon with a 20-0 three-inning win.
“I just think they were better than us,” Lansdale Catholic coach Paul Suder said. “If we would have played five minutes after the (previous) game, I think the result would of been pretty much the same.”
Tiara Johnson capped West Perry’s 10-spot first with an inside-the-park grand slam to right field while District 3’s third-place side went on to add four runs in the second then plated six more in the third to enact the 15-run mercy rule.
“(Assistant coach) Frank (Ross) went up and scouted them, we had a coach scout them, we knew they could hit the ball a little bit,” Suder said. “But you know, it’s all conducive to the way, we were behind the count the whole day, it’s tough pitching 2-0, 3-1, it kind of plays into their lineup. We didn’t throw a whole lot of changeups which we wanted to use today for a strike.
“You battle after it and you do the best you can but the bottom line is they were hitting everything we threw up there.”
District 12 champ Lansdale Catholic (12-10) was making its first PIAA appearance since 2015 and was looking for its first state victory since reaching the 3A semifinals in 2014.
”It’s not really right to end the season like this, it’s very, very emotional especially saying goodbye to the seniors,” LC junior second baseman Megan Burns said. “And I really think we wanted to go down with the fight and I think just today wasn’t that. None of us were really in it, I really don’t think, speaking from my point of view. I mean, we work as a team so it’s not just one person that’s down, it’s not just two people that are down, it’s the whole team. We work together as a team and we lose a team.”
Monday, the Crusaders could only get two baserunners off West Perry right-hander Cori Ritter — Casey Meenan collecting LC’s lone hit with a one-out single in the bottom of the second while Bridget Duffy drew a leadoff walk in the third.
“I told them really about coming into the third inning, I said ‘Girls, we’re getting smoked — it’s 20-0, just relax,’” Suder said. “There’s no sense feeling bad about at this point, it’s a softball game, that’s how you’ve got to look at it. Don’t point fingers or feel bad about yourself, we just got outclassed all the way through. That’s basically what it was.”
West Perry (21-5), which was the top seed in the District 3 tournament but was upset by James Buchanan in the semifinals, advances to the PIAA quarterfinals for the second straight season. The Mustangs face either District 2 champ Scranton Prep or District 4 champ Mifflinburg Thursday at a site and time to be announced.
Ritter struck out six in the shutout win and also went 3-for-3 with a walk at the plate with a double and an RBI. Johnson, the Mustangs’ leadoff hitter, was 2-for-2 with two walks, a grand slam in the first, a triple in the fourth, five RBIs and four runs scored.
Gretchen Frederick had a pair of doubles and went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored, Lindsey McCurdy had four RBIs while Katie Zeigler scored three runs.
“I don’t know if we beat them if we play our best game to be honest with you,” Suder said. “They just hit the ball really good. Just controlled the whole game, to be honest with you, right from the get go.”
After West Perry’s first two batters in the top of the first drew walks, Ritter, Cheyenne Shughart and Jordan Santopietro followed with three straight RBI singles.
A walk to Zeigler loaded the bases with Santopietro proceeding to score on a Frederick RBI fielder’s choice — the bases staying loaded after an LC error on the play. Dani Krasevic made it 6-0 with her two-RBI single on the next at-bat.
Kayla Weaver was then hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Johnson, who ripped a ball into right field and raced around for an inside-the-park grand slam and a 10-0 West Perry advantage.
The Mustangs ended up sending 13 batters to the plate before LC ended the top of the first with a double play.
“It really was surprising, we really didn’t think they would score that many to begin with,” Burns said. “We thought it would be constant, you know they score, we score, they score, we score. And with them scoring that many in that short of time we were kind of like, ‘Oh jeez we need to get this back,’”
The Mustangs extended their lead to 14-0 in the second on a Frederick RBI double to right center and McCurdy dropping a three-RBI double into right center.
West Perry posted six more in the third. Santopietro was caught in a rundown between third and home plate after a Zeigler double to left but found away to reach home to make it 15-0. Frederick followed with an RBI double and two batters later scored the Mustangs’ 17th run on a Weaver single and LC error.
Johnson hit an RBI triple to right center then came home on a McCurdy RBI groundout. Ritter doubled on the next at-bat and scored on Shughart’s triple to right to make it 20-0.
