Cape softball takes Henlopen North with win over Panthers
The Cape softball team used timely hits, smart base running and locked-in pitching to win the Henlopen North title with a 5-1 victory over Polytech May 8 in Woodside. The Vikings will play Southern Division winner Lake Forest for the Henlopen Conference Championship Friday, May 16, at Cape’s Bill Cordrey Field.
The Vikings got on the scoreboard first when lead-off batter Ava Calciano walked and stole her 19th base of the season. She was driven home on a triple by Hayden Hudson, her 30th hit of the season. Pitcher Abby Marsh helped herself at the dish, pounding a long sacrifice fly to score Hudson for a 2-0 lead.
The battery of Marsh in the circle and Alivia Heers behind the plate kept the Panthers’ batters off-balance. With 11 strikeouts, Marsh eclipsed 100 strikeouts on the season.
Heers hit her 50th career extra-base hit when she connected for an RBI double. Senior Eden Frederick slapped a sacrifice fly for an RBI.
Poly posed a problem for Cape in the sixth, when they scored a run and had the bases loaded with one out. Marsh and Heers struck out the next two batters to squelch the rally.
“My screwball and curve were working today,” said Marsh, who picked up her 13th win of the season. “It’s nerve-racking sometimes, but I trust Alivia’s pitch calls and I follow her lead. The ump had a pretty low strike zone, but that was fine. We worked with it.”
“I was thinking, ‘C’mon, Abby, you got this. You can do this,’” Heers said. “We were in the same mindset, and we did our thing.”
Senior Bri Windish had a highlight-reel catch against the left-field fence to stop a rally in the fourth.
“Coming in, we were 6-0 in the North and Poly was 6-0,” said Windish. “We knew we had to lock down on defense because they can hit the ball, and we did.”
“This is a great accomplishment for this group of girls,” said coach Mike Tkach. “I’m so proud of them. It’s awesome for our school and our community. Henlopen North champ sounds good. It’s another goal box checked off. We are going to honor our nine seniors Tuesday with Padua. But we are going to enjoy this right now.”
Cape moves to 17-0 and faces Padua Tuesday, May 13, for Senior Day.
