April 6, 2006 Issue
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April 6, 2006 Issue
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Classified Chestnut Hill Local Webmaster Don't Miss an Issue, Tell us what you see or ©2005 Chestnut Hill Local Winner of Three |
Mount St. Joe’s softball rally falls short
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Mount St. Joseph’s softball squad jumped right into Athletic Association of Catholic Academies competition in its first official game of 2006, scoring three times in the bottom of the seventh inning but still coming up one run short in a 6-5 loss to visiting Villa Joseph Marie last week.
Previously, the Magic had split a pair of scrimmages, with a win over Springfield High School and a loss to Archbishop Ryan.
For the Jems of Villa Joe, Jamie Kloss went the distance on the mound March 28, striking out four while giving up 10 hits and one base on balls. The two sophomore pitchers employed by the Mount didn’t offer up any walks at all. Jo Krasnisky worked the first six frames, leaving with five strike-outs and seven hits on her ledger, and in the seventh Emily McCulloch gave up one hit with no strike-outs.
Each team committed two errors in the contest, and at the plate the Magic left seven runners on base as opposed to five for the visitors.
After finishing 9-9 in 2005 (5-7 in the AACA), the Mount graduated six seniors, but only one was a regular starter. The club suffered a personnel setback later on though, when a four-year varsity player left school unexpectedly this winter.
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The Magic also has a new coach this spring in Ed Brabazon, who arrives with a strong coaching and administrative background in club softball, and is president of the highly-regarded Philadelphia Spirit organization in Northeast Philly. MSJ seniors Jackie Seidler (third base), Kim Smeltzer (centerfield) and Sarah Woodbury (second base) have played under three different head coaches since making the varsity roster as freshmen, so this is clearly a position where the program needs to establish stability.
In its official debut last week, the Magic opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning, which began with a ground-out and a single between third and short by sophomore Shannon Stocklin. Moving to second as junior Brianna Luskin grounded out, Stocklin scored on a hit to left center by Krasnisky. The Mount gave the run back at the top of the third stanza, nailing a batter at first base, but letting an existing runner score from second base by tossing the ball out of play at third.
Villa Joe then went ahead for good with three runs at the top of the fourth. The Mount defense fell just short of securing a force-out at second and then a tag at the plate on the first Jems scorer, and the other two runs came home on a lofty double by Dianna Holden that dropped into open space in left centerfield.
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Next time up, the visitors spread the score to 5 1 on Lauren Beebe’s RBI hit between short and second base. The Magic finally changed the number on their side of the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth. Leading off, Smeltzer beat out a throw from short to chalk up an infield hit, then she reached the next two bases on a steal and a wild pitch. She came home when the Jems bobbled a grounder hit to the right side by Woodbury.
The visitors made it 6-2 in the sixth, posting their final run when Megan Verduer led off with a homer down the left field line. There seemed to be little hope for the hosts when they went down in order in the bottom of the sixth, but after keeping Villa off the board at the top of the seventh, the Magic began their final batting turn with a Krasnisky triple deep to left field.
After a strike-out, Seidler slapped an RBI hit down the third base line, and two more singles, by Woodbury and senior Teresa Bertels, loaded the bases. Another upperclassman, Mary Fannon, put the ball in play to the shortstop for a fielder’s choice, which produced a force-out at second for Villa Joe, but got a run home for the Mount to make it 6-4. Another runner crossed the plate on a passed ball to bring the Magic within one run of the leaders, but the Jems finally shut down the rally with a game-ending strike-out.
