SOFTBALL: Down to Final Four in Friends School League Title Quest

Photos: Zack Beavers, Mark Zimmaro & Brendan Baldwin

BY: MARK ZIMMARO

PHILADELPHIA - The final four is set as Friends School League softball is just three games away from crowning their 2023 champion.

The top half of the standings, consisting of Academy of the New Church, Friends Select School, Shipley School and Westtown will square off for the top prize, while the latter four of Abington Friends, Friends’ Central, George School and Germantown Friends School will battle for the Quaker Cup.

The semifinal round of both tournaments is scheduled for Tuesday May 9th. The Quaker Cup final will be on Thursday and the Friends League championship will take place on Friday.

So far, Shipley has looked unstoppable throughout league play, breezing through with a 7-0 record and a +99-run differential in those seven games. The Gators have allowed just four runs in league play while scoring 103. Overall, in 11 games, undefeated Shipley had outscored its opponents 163-14, which included wins over Baldwin, the Hill School, Academy of Notre Dame and Germantown Academy.

Senior Maddie Todd is a dual threat from the pitching circle and the batter’s box and the Gators’ infield is filled with senior experience with second baseman Zoe Manaras, third baseman Maddy Ewald and Moravian University commit shortstop Cassandra Farrell.

Shipley vs. Academy of the New Church - PSD Photos by Zack Beavers

Shipley is stacked, but when it comes to winning a championship, stranger things have happened. Look no further than last year when the Gators ran a perfect 11-0 record into the playoffs, which included a pair of victories over Friends’ Central by a combined 19 runs. But in the championship game it was the Phoenix rising to the occasion with a stunning 7-2 victory.

The defending champs missed the playoffs this year despite a late season rally so Shipley’s path would be a meeting with Friends Select on Tuesday and the winner of the Academy of the New Church/Westtown semifinal on Friday in the championship as the Gators look to add to their five league titles. Shipley last won it all in 2021. The Gators four other championships were in succession from 2006-2009.

Their first-round opponent, Friends Select, rallied to keep the longest current playoff streak intact as the Falcons have now made it 13 years in a row. Friends Select won the championship three times during that streak, which represents all of its league championships in the sport. The Falcons fell hard to Shipley, 16-1, last week but rebounded with an 11-1 win over Perkiomen on Friday in a playoff primer. Lily Brin went 3-for-3 in that game with 5 RBIs while fellow seniors Sami Giganti, Sofia Parravicini and Rosie Taranta contributed a pair of hits each. A few days earlier, Sophomore Maddie Cohen tossed a seven-strikeout no-hitter against Barrack Hebrew Academy in non-league play. The Falcons went 4-3 in league play, which included a key 8-3 win over Academy of the New Church on April 25.

Friends Select in game vs. Germantown Friends. (Photos/ Mark Zimmaro)

Speaking of Academy of the New Church, the Lions return to the playoffs for the first time since 2018. Fueled by sophomore battery of pitcher Jamie Madara and catcher Olivia Schriver, the Lions got a taste of playoff softball a game early by defeating Friends’ Central, 15-4, in a winner-qualifies-for-the-playoffs game to wrap up the regular season. Madara went 4-for-4 and struck out 13 from the circle. Maggie Dooley went 3-for-3 and Alessandra Kuzowsky blasted a home run while driving in four runs. Schriver and Morgan Henderson each contributed a pair of hits.

Academy of the New Church in game vs. Abington Friends. (Photos/ Mark Zimmaro)

Academy of the New Church (ANC) has yet to win a Friends League championship, but they got to the final in 2016 and 2018. The Lions will have home field advantage over Westtown on Tuesday, partly thanks to a 21-10 victory over the Moose on April 20.

As round one went to ANC, round two will certainly be more competitive. Westtown was missing pitcher Lucia Sanchez that game who was away on a school trip. Aside from the ANC loss, the Moose also lost to Shipley, 8-2, early in the season but looked pretty dominant against the rest of the league, outscoring the rest of the competition, 71-2. Lucia’s younger sister Delia has gained valuable experience as an eighth grader this year and covers a lot of ground in centerfield. Sophomore catcher Alana Thomforde was an all-Friends League selection as a sophomore and is supplying great offense in the middle of the Moose lineup.