It was the kind of a game where it’s a shame either side has to lose.
Trailing Villa Joseph Marie by a pair of runs since the third inning and 4-1 since the fifth, Council Rock North battled back when Taylor Gearhart blasted a 3-2 pitch out of the park with a pair of runners on to deadlock the score at four runs apiece in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Jems then retook the lead in the top of the seventh on Lindsey Rooney’s single down the left field line that scored Abbi Phillips only to see the Indians win the slugfest 6-5 in the bottom of the frame on a two-out, two-run walk-off home run by catcher Molly Sheehy.
“It really was a team effort,” said Sheehy. “Without Taylor’s home run, without a runner on base, mine couldn’t have happened.
Sheehy said she wasn’t even thinking of belting the ball out of the park when she slammed the very first offering over the centerfield fence.
“I was thinking single, just get my bat on the ball and put the ball somewhere in the field and let my runner at least tie the game back up.
“It just happened to be a home run and that was a plus.”
For Villa Joseph Marie, it was the second loss to a Council Rock team in eight days (they were shut out by CR South on March 24) and dropped the team to 2-4 on the season. Still, Jems coach Ken Fetterolf says his young team – four of the VJM starters are underclassmen – took away some positives from the battle.
“It’s the kind of game you love to coach,” said Fetterolf. “You want to be part of a game like that.
“Sure, we’d like to be on the other side of that (score) but we’re making a statement. Other teams will look at us and say ‘they battled with Council Rock North.’”
Truth is both teams fought ferociously – until the explosive ending.
VJM shortstop Ava Tsiouplis sparked the Jems’ offense with a pair of doubles in the game and she made it to base in each of her three at-bats, while snagging every ground ball that came her way in the field.
“Ava Tsiouplis is just phenomenal,” said Fetterolf. “I’ve been coaching for eight years; she’s the best girl I’ve ever seen play the game. You can count on her to do anything.”
The first extra-base hit by Tsiouplis was a ground rule double that tied the game at a run apiece in the top of the third inning, putting runners at second and third and setting the table for pitcher Leah Pagano’s heroics.
In addition to tossing a complete game, Pagano slammed a two-run single into the outfield that scored Phillips and Tsiouplis. The second double by Tsiouplis in the top of the fifth inning set the table for Pagano’s RBI single over first base, which again scored Phillips, extending VJM’s lead to 4-1.
The Jems chased CR North starting pitcher Olivia Schlindwein in the third inning. In her varsity debut, Schlindwein turned some heads when she struck out 17 batters in a season-opening 4-0 win over Wissahickon.
But she struggled with control issues in this game and stepped aside in favor of classmate Lucy Mills, who limited VJM to two runs on four hits while striking out a half-dozen batters in 4 and 2/3 innings to get the win. To her credit, Schlindwein stayed in the game and slapped a single to third base and scored the tying run mere seconds before Sheehy completed her victory lap.
For her part, Pagano limited the Indians to a lone run on one hit through the first five innings. Of course, that all changed when Gearhart hit her second home run in as many days with two on and one out in the bottom of the sixth. Freshman Kate Wilkoski and Payton Helsman set the table with a pair of singles moments before Gearhart’s dramatic hit.
The win over the Jems was the third victory in four days for Rock North and fourth triumph overall against no losses. The Indians mercy-ruled both Suburban One National League rivals Truman and Bensalem earlier in the week.
According to Gearhart, North never got down against VJM, despite their bats going quiet in the first five innings while Pagano mowed down 10 straight batters in the middles frames.
“We didn’t give up,” said Gearhart. “The last two games, we’ve been red-hot so we just wanted to keep that going.”
While it’s still early, the season so far has been a role reversal of sorts for both teams.
VJM went 15-3 in the regular season last year and defeated Villa Maria Academy for the District One Class A championship before bowing out in the PIAA semifinals. But after falling to Rock North last Friday and Nazareth Academy 8-7 Monday, the Jems are 2-5. Villa Joseph Marie defeated Truman March 22 on its home field by a 12-11 score on a walk-off hit by Kait Sonnie and toppled Merion Mercy Academy 13-6 in a road pairing on March 28.
Rock North went 1-18 last season, waiting until the last day of its 2022 campaign to record its lone win in an 11-10 triumph over CB East.
But that was last year.
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