On the one hand, Monday wasn’t how Pennridge softball wanted to end its best season in two generations.
On the other hand, any season that ends in the state tournament – especially if the school’s last visit to PIAAs was 1988 – isn’t so bad.
Pennridge fell 12-3 at Nazareth in the first round of the PIAA 6A tournament. Pitching is supposed to win championships, but both offenses came into Monday blazing. Pennridge scored 17 runs in its last two district games. Nazareth scored 38 runs in their first four playoff contests.
This year’s SOL Colonial runners-up, Pennridge (17-9) struck first. Ashleigh Kenworthy drove home Florida International signee Grace Helbling to give the Rams a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Nazareth tied it in the fourth and posted a three-spot in the fifth.
Pennridge got as close as 4-3 after Reagan Bauman thumped a two-run homer. The Blue Eagles batted around in the sixth to put the game away. Nazareth faces District Three’s Chambersburg in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
The Rams showed plenty of firepower this season, averaging 7.3 runs in their wins and nearly six runs per game in districts.
Kenworthy sparkled in district play, having multi-hit games in all five contests. Shippensburg commit Bauman (six hits and six RBIs) and Averi Dockery (five hits and six RBIs) also provided consistent thump in the lineup during Pennridge’s District One run.
An April 5 loss to Quakertown briefly left the Rams with a 2-3 record. Head coach Wendy Iadonisi feels that the catalyst was a May 1 win over Council Rock South – where Bauman bombed a solo homer in the seventh to break a scoreless tie.
“We started off the season slow, losing some one-run games that the girls were a little disheartened over, but the coaches saw a lot of positive things happening within those games,” Iadonisi said. “We weren’t worried. We had a lot of confidence in the girls and how they would progress through the season. That is absolutely what happened.”
At one point, Pennridge ran off 15 wins in 20 games. The Rams also won some pitchers duels, topping CB West 2-1 and CB South 2-0 on consecutive days in mid-May.
“They tightened up their defense and the pitching was on point, especially in the last couple of weeks in the season,” Iadonisi pointed out. “We came up with clutch hits when we needed them.” Bauman’s CR South heroics “were exactly what the coaches were hoping for: someone to step up big in a clutch situation,” she continued.
The 13th seed in district play, Pennridge beat Neshaminy 6-0 in the first round and Boyertown 5-3 in the second. Dockery and Helbling struck out 13 and 15 batters in their respective starts in the ring.
A 2-1 loss to Plymouth Whitemarsh sent Pennridge to playbacks, but the Rams plated two in the ninth at No. 8 Ridley to win 8-6 and earn their breakthrough trip to states. Pennridge beat No. 3 Garnet Valley 9-8 in the seeding game, thanks to Dockery’s grand slam.
“We assumed we would do well in districts but I don’t think states were on our radar,” Iadonisi admitted. “It was a huge accomplishment for the girls. They’re going to be very happy with that looking back on it.
“Why can’t it be us now, and not just the North Penns and Quakertowns?” Iadonisi asked rhetorically. “Hopefully, this is starting a tradition of expectations that we make it further in playoffs.”
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