After fielding a ground ball, Penn Charter second baseman Celena Militello flips it toward first baseman Emily Zurcher for an out. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

In Inter-Ac League softball, defending champ Penn Charter has remained among the premier powers while Episcopal Academy's star has faded a bit, but for the first few innings of last Friday's contest at PC, the teams were locked in the type of heated battle they'd fought several seasons ago.

After the first two frames ended in a 3-3 deadlock, the visiting Churchwomen moved ahead by two runs in the top of the third inning. Each team had previously lost to Inter-Ac leader Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, and a second defeat in the first round of league play would probably prove damaging to either team's chance of attaining the title.

The Quakers buckled down in the bottom of the third, first smacking four hits and then showing discipline at the plate as they waited out five bases on balls, three of them with the bags loaded. Nine runs crossed the plate to give the home team a 12-5 lead by the end of the inning.

In the field Charter shut out EA the rest of the way, and when the Quakers collected three more runs in the bottom of the fifth, the game ended early thanks to the 10-run mercy rule.

The 15-5 victory raised PC's record to 3-1 in the league and 12-2 overall. Penn Charter junior starter Ava Nicolucci yielded five hits through four innings in the circle, finishing without any strike-outs but without any walks, either. Freshman Anastasia Lewis wrapped it up for the Quakers, fanning two batters while not giving up any hits or walks.

Episcopal started out well with freshman pitcher Belle Volatile driving a triple over the head of the right fielder to begin the game. Next, a fielder's choice play netted Penn Charter an out at the plate on the next sequence thanks to sophomore third baseman Abby Quinn and junior catcher Grace Stansfield.

The Churchwomen put a second runner on base when sophomore Maddie Loughead doubled to left center, then senior Ariana Feliziani got the visitors' first run home with a long sacrifice fly to left. PC got the third out on the next play and picked up the bats for the first time.

Lead-off hitter Brigitte Gutpelet walked, as she would in each of her first three appearances at the plate. However it occurs, having the speedy senior on base is never a good thing for PC opponents. She went to second with a ground-out by freshman Maddie Solow, and reached third when EA erred on a ball put in play by Stansfield. All the bags were occupied once senior Abby Cohen drew a walk, and when senior Faith Fenton made contact, another infield error by the visitors accounted for the home team's first run, tying the game.

A second run scored when Quinn dropped a single into shallow left field, then the next batter struck out. Charter junior Celena Militello drove the ball straight back at Volatile, the Episcopal pitcher, and before another infielder could scoop up the ball Militello was on first and a third run had scored.

The Churchwomen evened it up, 3-3, at the top of the second, when senior Reilly Wright drove in one run and then scored herself on junior Sandy Warchol's sacrifice ground-out. In the bottom half, two Quakers were on base with one out, but then both runners managed to get themselves tagged out in the base paths in the same sequence.

The hosts were in for some more frustration at the top of the third inning. With one out, Loughead tripled down the line in right, and when Feliziani put the ball in play, PC muffed an attempt to run down Loughead between third and home. Next, a high throw to first allowed a second run to score, giving EA a 5-3 advantage.

The Quakers looked more focused as they closed out the top of the third with two efficient infield plays, and then they really began to get serious with the sticks.

Cohen started it off by lobbing a single into left field, moving to second when Fenton targeted the third base line with a single. On a high fly that Quinn hit deep to center, the fielder got turned the wrong way, and a run scored while Charter was left with runners on second and third.

It looked like EA still might escape the inning with a 5-4 lead as a pop-up and a strike-out were entered into the scorebook, but that was not to be. PC revived and moved ahead 6-5 with senior Emily Zurcher's two-run hit over short.

After that, patience paid off for the Quakers as Gutpelet, Solow, Stansfield, Cohen and Fenton all bided their time for bases on balls. This pushed three runs home to make it 9-5, and the bases were then suddenly cleared as Quinn's smash to right center bounded to the foot of the fence for a double, making it 12-0 at the inning's end.

The visitors led off the fourth with a double by Warchol, but three consecutive outs followed. PC supporters hoping the team would reach the magical 10-run margin in the bottom of that inning were disappointed as a double play helped EA keep Charter off the board. For the beginning of the home half, the Churchwomen had replaced starting hurler Volatile (2K, 8BB, 8H) with 10th-grader Grace Smith (0K, 1BB, 5H).

The score remained 12-5; not only would Episcopal have to bat in the fifth inning, Penn Charter would too.

At this juncture, Lewis took over the pitching chores for the Quakers. After a foul pop for the first out, she hit the next batter with a pitch to put her on base, but then the freshman sent Episcopal packing with a pair of strike-outs.

PC's last appearance at the plate began with a double to center by Stansfield. She came home on a belt deep to right field by Cohen, who reached third with a slide. Fenton singled through the left side to spread the score to 14-0, and Quinn walked on. Sophomore Abby Mannion poked a hit through the right side of the infield to load the bases, and when junior Ciara McGee waited out four balls, the mercy rule run was pushed across the plate.