Mistakes and missed opportunities haunt teams in the postseason.
Pottsville struggled to recover from its uncharacteristic miscues and couldn’t capitalize on two solid scoring opportunities.
Northampton took advantage.
The seventh-seeded Konkrete Kids scored three unearned runs, working deep counts with an aggressive attack, to oust Pottsville from the District 11 Class AAAA softball quarterfinals with a 5-1 win Thursday at the 16th Street Complex.
Northampton (16-8) advances to face Easton, a 7-2 winner over Pleasant Valley, in Tuesday’s semifinals.
The second-seeded Crimson Tide (18-6) committed four errors, made some mistakes on the basepaths and missed some opportunities as their season came to a close.
“The difference was that you cannot make mistakes,” Pottsville coach Chuck Rinaldo said. “It’s a game of opportunities and a game of failure. We made some mistakes, gave them probably four or five runs and we had a tough time recovering from that.
“At this point in time at AAAA ... to be a champion, you’ve got to do little things right. There’s no question about it. We didn’t do that today.”
Northampton opened the scoring when it started the game with three straight hits — a double by Hallie Muffley, an RBI single by Amber Saylor and a single from Auria Enright.
Rachael Setlock tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom half with an RBI double to plate Micki Garland, who drew a walk.
The Konkrete Kids made Pottsville starter Sara Tobin work through every at-bat. The senior threw 54 pitches in the first two innings and 94 through four frames.
After Tobin recorded the first two outs of the third, Enright worked a 10-pitch at-bat, finally walking before an error on a single allowed her to score for a 2-1 lead.
“You’ve got to give them credit. They did (work at-bats),” Rinaldo said. “Fifteen-, 16-, 17-pitch counts. We just couldn’t put them away. They’re very aggressive at the plate, and we just couldn’t get the strikeout, couldn’t get the K and of course, they got the hit.”
Samantha Frey’s RBI double in the fourth added another run before a pair of errors in the fifth pushed two more across to give the Konkrete Kids a 5-1 lead.
Pottsville had a runner thrown out at third in the third inning for the third out, couldn’t score with runners at second and third and one out in the fourth, and came up empty with two outs and runners on first and second in the fifth.
“In this game, you’ve got to get the timely hits” Rinaldo said. “I thought we did some dumb things base-running-wise. ... It’s a game of opportunities, and we didn’t take advantage of our opportunities. If we get a couple of hits here and there, who knows? It could change the complexion of the game, change the emotion.”
Northampton pitcher Jill Muthard and her defense had a lot to do with Pottsville’s inability to record timely hits. The Konkrete Kids made just one error and made some difficult plays seem routine.
Muthard scattered six hits, striking out seven and walking two in a 96-pitch effort.
Although the Crimson Tide saw their season end, it was one in which the club accomplished something three previous teams could not: Winning a Schuylkill League championship.
The Tide’s nine seniors walk away with a title in tow.
“I told the kids, we don’t have anything to be ashamed of. When you go 18-6 and to replace what we had to replace ... I just attribute everything to my senior class,” Rinaldo said. “We gave them a challenge and gave them an opportunity to work out. They hit the weight room; they worked out diligently throughout the whole season. They did whatever they had to do to get themselves better. They were a tight-knit group, too.
“I’m not surprised at how our record ended up. They really proved to me they were good leaders. They definitely were. We’re going to miss this group. First team to win the Schuylkill League title. We were there three times, and this group found a way to get it done.”
Game Summary
District 11 Class AAAA Quarterfinal
At 16th Street Complex
NORTHAMPTON (5) — Muffley ss 3 1 1 0, Saylor cf 4 1 1 1, Enright 3b 2 2 1 0, Muthard p 4 0 1 0, Filchner cr 0 0 0 0, Reed c 3 0 0 0, Moore cr 0 0 0 0, Alick cr 0 0 0 0, Stuhldreher lf 3 0 0 0, Schwartz 1b 4 0 2 2, Davidson pr 0 1 0 0, Frey dp 3 0 1 1, Reppert ph-2b 1 0 0 0, Moser rf 2 0 0 0, Makowsky rf 1 0 0 0. Totals 30 5 7 4.
POTTSVILLE (1) — Ma. Garland lf 3 0 0 0, Mates lf 0 0 0 0, Coyle 1b 3 0 1 0, Mi. Garland 2b 2 1 1 0, Setlock cf 3 0 1 1, Deegan ss 3 0 1 0, Moran dp-p 3 0 2 0, Horvath 3b 3 0 0 0, Tobin p 2 0 0 0, Naradko ph 1 0 0 0, Boris rf 3 0 0 0, Dusel c 0 0 0 0. Totals 26 1 6 1.
Nor (16-8) 101 120 0 — 5
Potts (18-6) 100 000 0 — 1
E — Northampton 1, Pottsville 4. LOB — Northampton 9, Pottsville 7. 2B — Muffley, Frey. SB — Enright, Moran. CS — Moran.
Northampton IP H R ER BB K
Muthard W 7 6 1 1 2 7
Pottsville IP H R ER BB K
Tobin L,13-4 5.1 7 5 2 3 5
Moran 1.2 0 0 0 1 0
HBP — by Muthard (Coyle), by Moran (Reed). WP — Tobin 1, Moran 1. PB — Dusel 2. T — 1:42.