Photos/Videos: Lennie Malmgren, Rachel Macauley & John Knebels
By: John Knebels
PHILADELPHIA – A tale of two heart monitors.
Such was the narrative of the Philadelphia Catholic League softball semifinals on Wednesday afternoon . . . and evening. After visiting three-seed Archbishop Wood overwhelmed two-seed Archbishop Carroll, 12-3, four-seed Conwell-Egan responded with a late Houdini act to stun top-seed and defending champion Archbishop Ryan, 7-5.
At 4 PM tomorrow at Neumann University, the longtime rivals will meet to decide the championship. As the adage goes when two evenly matched squads come together, might wanna get there early.
Too, this will mark the first time two female head coaches will compete against one another since current Conwell-Egan coach Sandy Hart matched wits with former Bonner-Prendergast (then known as Archbishop Prendergast) head honcho Dolores Martino in both the 2005 final and the 2006 final, the latter won by Conwell-Egan, 4-3.
In Wood’s victory over Carroll, the three-seed Vikings scored in five of seven innings, the two most explosive coming in a four-run fourth to seize a 6-2 lead, and then a riveting five-spot in the sixth to annihilate any remaining drama.
The win avenged an 8-2 loss to Carroll back on April 5 at Wood, an afternoon that required winter attire for the pockets of spectators that watched the Vikings fall to 2-2 in an ultra-competitive league with five games remaining.
The Vikings won them all. They then defeated Lansdale Catholic, 15-0, in the quarterfinal one day earlier.
PCL Semifinal Highlights - Archbishop Carroll vs. Archbishop Wood - PSD Video by John Knebels:
“We said to leave it on the field every game from here on out,” said Wood coach Jackie Ecker, who is making her first appearance in a championship final. “We are so excited.
“Those girls played their heart out. They never gave up. We wanted to come in here and do exactly what we did. Just hit the ball hard and try to make plays. And our pitcher . . . she did amazing.”
Indeed.
Wood hurler Dakota Fanelli did a masterful job of mixing her pitches that kept the hard-hitting Patriots off balance. The junior surrendered seven mostly harmless hits and three unearned runs, walking only two and striking out seven.
Carroll put runners on base in every inning except the second, but Fanelli was in firm control, holding the Patriots’ last six hitters to a combined 2 for 18 to offset Carroll’s potent top of the lineup of senior Cheyenne Niehoff, senior Maya Preston, and junior Lauren Martin that finished 5 for 10 with three runs scored.
“I can’t look too far ahead,” said Fanelli. “One pitch at a time.”
While Wood’s defense stood strong, the Vikings’ offense swatted lethal. Every starter one-through-nine reached base, and a stunning eight scored at least one run.
In addition to Fanelli and junior catcher Paige Ross (tremendous in all phases, including playing through a mega-sore hand courtesy of a pitch that nailed her straight in the knuckles but was inexplicably called a foul ball) both going 3-for-5 with three runs batted in apiece and a combined three doubles, Wood received noteworthy contributions from senior leadoff hitter Abby Windish (2-for-4, 2 runs batted in, one run scored), sophomore Maura Yoos (2-5, 2 RS), sophomore Parker Kraus (2 RS), senior Gianna Anzideo (1-4, 2 RS, walk), junior Maggie Devlin (1-3, RS), junior Biz James (RS and RBI), and junior Riley Nolan (2-4).
Archbishop Wood vs. Archbishop Carroll - PSD Semifinal Gallery by Lennie Malmgren
When the sure-handed second baseman Yoos fielded the last out of the game and fired to first baseman Anzideo, the celebration commenced in earnest.
“I’m super proud of everybody, that’s about all I can say,” said Windish. “We worked super hard all season. I’m so proud of each and every one of us. We all contributed today. Everybody was aggressive at the plate looking for their pitch. We did what we can do.
“I don’t really have words. I just have to thank my team for being strong behind me. I’m just really happy and excited, but the job’s not done.”
Senior OF Abby Windish and Junior pitcher Dakota Fanelli reflect on reaching PCL Final - PSD video by John Knebels
Wood coach Jackie Ecker believed the Vikings were destined for success from the beginning of the season - PSD Video by John KNebels
The last obstacle preventing the Vikings from earning their school’s third-ever championship is Conwell-Egan.
When the Eagles began with an 0-2 record, few considered them a title contender. However, a strange stretch of injuries and illness had depleted the team, thus creating a false image of mediocrity. Once healthy, the Eagles went 6-1 down the stretch, including a shocking 13-1 shellacking at then-unbeaten Archbishop Ryan.
Conwell-Egan’s only loss was at Archbishop Wood on April 26, a riveting 5-4 decision decided in the eighth inning.
“Going 0-2, we needed to find some kind of an identity about this team,” said Hart, who will attempt to corral her 11th PCL championship and first since amassing five in a row from 2003 through 2007. “We got a little pep in our step after that.
“I put it on them. I said this now has to be a player-driven team.”
The Eagles listened.
Behind a defense that rarely makes mistakes and lights-out pitching by junior Ahlana Sesar (11 total runs allowed over final seven games of the regular season), the Eagles meticulously put themselves back into the conversation from pretender to contender.
After the loss at Wood dropped them to 3-3, the Eagles closed out the regular season by defeating three playoff teams by a composite 20-1 with victories over Ryan (13-1), St. Hubert’s (4-0), and Lansdale Catholic (3-0). Their bats sparked an 11-5 win over five-seed Hubert’s in the quarterfinal.
Ironically, this year’s regular season story line mirrored 2021 – two losses, three wins, one loss, and then three wins before beating Bonner-Prendergast in the quarters and Archbishop Carroll in the semis.
PCL Semifinal Highlights - Archbishop Ryan vs. Conwell-Egan - PSD Video by Rachel Macauley:
Conwell-Egan coach Sandy Hart will be vying for her 11th PCL title - PSD Video by John Knebels
“Injuries and sickness with those first two games, then we came back strong,” said Hart. “We were on thin ice with two games to go. We were barely going to make the playoffs. But the kids gathered themselves, they hung together . . . they’re a different team now than they were at the beginning of the year.”
Conwell-Egan’s playoff triumph over Ryan avenged a10-6 defeat in last year’s championship at the same venue.
But holding off the talented and prideful Ragdolls required a defibrillator.
After staking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, the Eagles allowed the two runs back in the home first on junior Janine Swift’s two-run single. C-E then scored single runs in both the fourth and fifth behind respective RBI singles by senior catcher Angelina Bresnen (3-for-3, 2 doubles, 2 runs scored, RBI) and junior Bella Palmer to move in front, 4-2, but RBI singles by senior Alyssa Daniels and junior Sabrina Pastino in the fifth created a 4-4 tie.
In the sixth, the Eagles brought seven batters to the plate and forged a 7-4 lead that appeared secure heading into the home seventh, but when it comes to Ryan’s lineup of mashers, nothing is truly safe.
Former Ryan player Lauren Bretzel's 3 hits & 2 RBIs helped give CEC a 7-5 semifinal win over the sophomore's former school - Video by John Knebels
Conwell-Egan's Bailey McCormick (Left) and Lily Milewski combined for a game-ending double play - PSD Video by John Knebels
Sure enough, a single by senior Serena Springfield and sophomore Emma McDermott’s second double put runners on second and a third. A great running catch by Palmer in right field calmed the momentum, but when an infield single by Gray plated Ryan’s fifth run, the Ragdolls had the tying runners on the bases and the winning run at the plate.
On a play that explains why coaches insist on the merits of constant preparation, freshman first baseman Lily Milewski (2-4) caught a lazy pop up and lasered a throw to junior second baseman Bailey McCormick covering first to double off the Ryan runner who had been instructed to steal second.
Seemingly out of nowhere . . . game over.
“Very intense,” said Sesar, describing the hair-raising seventh. “We were super stressed out, but we knew we had to keep it calm and chill ourselves.
“I thought I just had to throw a strike and let my fielders catch it or outfielders catch the ball. Nothing drops in the outfield."
One of those outfielders, junior standout Katey Brennan, made several nice snares in centerfield.
Standouts Ahlana Sesar, Angelina Bresnen & Katey Brennan helped proper CEC to victory - PSD Video by John Knebels
One of league’s top sluggers, Brennan was not pleased with herself. She had grounded out with the bases loaded in the fourth, and with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth, she had “only” lifted a long sacrifice fly that scored sophomore Molly Milewski (2-4) with the lead run.
But sophomore teammate Lauren Bretzel (2-4, 2 RBI, RS), who last season pitched for Archbishop Ryan and had actually recorded a save with a perfect seventh inning in the 10-6 championship victory over Conwell-Egan, came through with the hit of her life when she roped a two-run single that scored Bresnen and sophomore Cassidy Blaskop, who had been hit by a pitch and later stole second base.
“I know I didn’t play my best,” said Brennan, “and I knew my teammates could pick me up.”
Monday can't come fast enough.
(Contact John Knebels at jknebels@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnknebels.)