PHILADELPHIA – At the beginning of St. Hubert’s softball season, senior Julia Vizza set a few goals for herself and her team to accomplish.
“We need to improve each game to get better and better, forget about the mistakes, keep everybody motivated, have good teamwork and make it to the playoffs,” said Vizza after Hubert’s first home game vs. Neumann-Goretti.
Hallahan vs. St. Hubert's Highlight Video
On Thursday afternoon, St. Hubert’s visited Hallahan at Von Colln Field to play an end of season game that would grant one team an automatic bid to the Philadelphia Catholic League Quarterfinals. With a 1-0 Bambie victory, it’s safe to say that Vizza and her St. Hubert’s squad have checked-off all of her itemized ambitions.
“Our defense was on point today and our pitching thanks to Melissa Hess,” said Vizza, a Holy Family University commit. “Our base running was good, everything was good except for our hitting a little bit, but we are going to work through it.”
For Hubert's Julia Vizza, it's all about taking it one step at a time and working on needed improvements
Hallahan's Maddy McBride talks about the improvements she's been making in practice & during games
Both teams struggled getting on base due to impeccable pitching from St. Hubert senior Melissa Hess and Hallahan sophomore, Maddy McBride. Although foes on the field, the two pitchers look out for each other throughout the season.
“If we see teams playing each other we will tell each other what to look out for because it’s just like a pitcher thing. Against certain teams you want to know whether to pitch inside or outside,” said Hess a Manhattanville College commit. “I told her (Maddy) at the end of the game to not get down on herself because she pitched an awesome game. She has a great future ahead of her.”
Hallahan's Maddy McBride catches up with friends Melissa Hess (right) and Avery Hibbs (left) following the game - PSD Photo
“We give each other advice if we just recently played a team,” said McBride. “She’s a really good girl, she’s a great pitcher and just really great.”
“Recently we have been on a losing streak so we have really been motivating each other to pick everyone up,” said Hess. “We had a lot of girls strike-out today, so we needed to pick each other up defensively because we knew we needed to pick up our defense because our girls weren’t hitting.”
St. Hubert’s sole run was scored by Lindsey Davies in the third inning due to a Hallahan error.
Tomorrow it’s do or die for Hallahan. McBride expressed the confidence she has in her team to extend their season into the playoffs.
Hallahan vs. St. Hubert's (84 photos)
“On Monday we will be looking to get more hits in important situations. We need to have everyone stay positive and hit the ball,” said McBride. “Our defense is good enough to hold them (Little Flower) off, we just need to hit the ball. We are really hyped to play them because they are one of our rivals, so we really want to win on Monday.”
Getting more hits seems to be a common setback for both teams. St. Hubert’s head coach Dave Schafer explained that if his team can overcome their hitting slump, they will definitely be a commanding force in the playoffs.
“Our defense has come along very well and we are really pleased with our pitching,” said Schafer, who was inducted into Conwell-Egan’s Hall of Fame as a standout coach this past March. “Right now we aren’t hitting the ball. We have to start hitting the ball, and I think if we can do that we can cause a lot of problems and be in the mix. But it’s a matter of application, putting our mind to it and working on it. It’s all fixable.”
Looking Ahead: Tomorrow afternoon, Hallahan will host Little Flower in a PCL play-in game for the playoffs. St. Hubert’s will get the chance to regroup, before their PCL Quarterfinal match-up on Thursday.