WEST CHESTER, PA – One may argue what has attributed to Penn Charter’s success in the PAISAA tournament. Has it been their outstanding pitching? Their dexterous fielding? Maybe even their exceptional coaching?
“Yes” could be said to all of the above assumptions. But if you ask the Quakers themselves, they would respond by using a single word – “Mudita”
“It’s a name out of Buddhist Sanskrit, there’s no direct translation to English, but it basically means ‘Sympathetic Joy.’ But in terms of a team concept, it means that you are as happy if someone else did something great for them, as if you did it yourself,” said Quakers head coach Doc Mittica. “The University of Alabama’s [softball] team used it a few years ago when they won the National Championship. No matter what happens on the team, you are as happy for your teammate as if you did it. Everybody is in it together.”
Dickinson College commit, Brigitte Gutpelet, explains the meaning of “Mudita”
Yesterday afternoon, the Quakers won their third consecutive PAISAA softball title by defeating the Hill School 10-5.
Penn Charter entered a 3-0 deficit after the first inning but then their bats came alive. In the second inning, senior Brigitte Gutpelet crushed a three-run homer to tie the game.
From there it was all teamwork.
Abby Quinn hit a two-run single to enhance the Quakers lead 5-4 and hit a two-run triple in the 5th inning. Faith Fenton and Chloe Master also attributed to the Quakers offense with a RBI double and single, respectively.
William Penn Charter wins 2017 PAISAA Championship after defeating the Hill School 10-5 - photo courtesy of WPC Athletics
ROAD TO THE FINAL: On Tuesday May 23, 2017 William Penn Charter hosted the Academy of Notre Dame in the semi-final round of the PAISAA softball tournament.
Both teams came into the game with a final regular season Inter-Ac record of 9-3. During the regular season, two of Penn Charter's three losses came against the Irish. Needless to say, the Quakers were ready to get redemption.
Final Out - PAISAA Semifinal vs. NDA
The Quakers address what attributed to their victory against Notre Dame
Penn Charter’s Faith Fenton was hot on the mound up until the fifth inning. Then freshman Anastasia Lewis came in to pitch to seal the deal for Quakers. Notre Dame’s Grace Jackson was also throwing heat all game. Jackson had many 1, 2, 3 innings making it difficult for the Quakers to not only come home, but to just get on base.
The game was tied 0-0 until the bottom of the sixth. Abby Quinn hit a single for the Quakers, which was followed by two fielding errors by Notre Dame. This allowed Grace Stansfield to race home and score the only run of the entire game.
With two outs, Notre Dame was determined to end the inning as quickly as they could. Penn Charter headed into the top of the 7th with equal determination to win the game. Lewis threw an easy 1,2,3 inning to seal the deal for the Quakers and send them into the PAISAA championship game.
William Penn Charter’s head coach Doc Mittica said that this past week in practice they did something that they have never done before. They focused solely on Notre Dame’s pitcher.
“We have seen this pitcher time and time again, we all knew that she is really good and I mean really good. We have never focused on beating just a pitcher, but I guess it worked,” said Mittica.
The players also credited their win to what they did in practice during the past few weeks. Instead of focusing on hitting the ball, they focused on not swinging at all. Jackson is known for her outside and high fastballs so the Quakers wanted to overcome that – and they did.
OVERALL: The Quakers finished with a 22-5 record for 2017. Over the past three years Penn Charter softball has notched a remarkable 66-9 record, recording three PAISAA championships and two Inter-Ac titles (co-champ 2015, outright 2016).