Quakertown Panthers fall in PIAA quarterfinals

Eleanor Roosevelt once said that a stumbling block to the pessimist is a stepping stone to the optimist.
The players on the Quakertown softball team would do well to keep that in mind as they reflect on the 2021 campaign and look toward 2022.
Quakertown’s historic season came to an end on Thursday with a 6-2 loss to Pennsbury in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals at Spring-Ford’s Rams Field. It was the first-ever trip to the state tourney for the Panthers, who were the District One fourth-place team.
Things didn’t get off to a good start for Quakertown, as Pennsbury pitcher Ainsley McClure struck out the side in both the first and second innings and fanned two in the third. The Panthers tagged McClure for three hits in those innings, though, including back-to-back singles by Ava Beal and Emma Hilton, but they stranded all of their runners.
Pennsbury strung together a few hits to put one run on the board in the bottom of the third, then exploded for four runs in the fifth to blow the game open.
Quakertown got two back in the top of the sixth by virtue of a two-run homer by LauraRose Morelock that went over the wall at the deepest point in center field, but Pennsbury added another run in the bottom of that frame.
“When I hit that ball, I honestly didn’t feel like it was going to be out because the fence is so far,” said Morelock, a junior who is the starting catcher. “I thought I just got a good piece of it, but to see my whole team cheering was really great. It hyped everyone up and I think we piggybacked on that.”
The Panthers fought until the bitter end. They loaded the bases in the top of the sixth with one out, but couldn’t capitalize.
In his postgame talk to the team, Quakertown coach Dave Scott lauded his players for changing the culture of the program.
“I think we definitely did that,” Morelock said. “This is history; we’ve never been to the state playoffs. I feel that we’ve set a new standard for Quakertown softball and Quakertown athletics.”
Quakertown got nine hits for the day to eight for Pennsbury. Morelock went 3-for-3 and Beal 2-for-2. In addition to Hilton, Skyler Williams, Grace Baker and Cadence Lewis also got base hits for Quakertown. Pitcher Syd Andrews struck out four.
The two teams previously met in the District One quarterfinals, a 5-2 win for the Panthers.

“I can’t speak for whole team but personally it was just another team, just another game, same thing we do every day,” said Morelock, who has made a verbal commitment to play softball at East Stroudsburg, where she plans to study criminal justice. “I hope everyone felt that way.
“I feel like when they started getting runs our energy dropped, but we brought it back up again when we started to string some hits together. That’s when we got our heads back in the game, but we needed to be like that the whole time.”
Quakertown committed four errors while the Falcons were flawless on the field.
“We outhit them, but we had more errors and that is definitely a lesson for next year,” Morelock said. We have to work on the mental side of the game. Our mechanics are fine.”
Quakertown returns its entire starting lineup.
“It was incredible to get this far,” Morelock said. “We have such a good group. Everyone on this team is so amazing. It’s also a very young group; we have a lot of freshmen and sophomores.
“I can’t even describe how exciting it is that we have everybody back for next year. We’re all so happy to be on the field with each other and especially with what we’ve done this year. We’ve made our mark.”
Quakertown athletic director Sylvia Kalazs addressed the players after the game, congratulating them on the season and reminding them that they are now among the state’s elite programs.
“I think we can rise up to the challenge of having a target on our backs next year,” Morelock said. “We just have to work on the mental side of it.”
Quakertown ends the season 20-6.

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