Colonial League softball play day: So. Lehigh rolls over Pen Argyl; Saucon rebounds with rout

FROM KEITH GROLLER

One of the feature attractions of the Colonial League's softball "Play Day" turned into a one-sided contest.

Southern Lehigh rolled to an 8-0 win over Pen Argyl Saturday morning at Pates Park, getting a one-hitter from senior pitcher Ashley Weiss and home runs from Shelby Wilson and Katie Tankred.

Wilson hit a two-run home run in the second inning and Tankred hit a solo shot in the sixth as Southern Lehigh handed Pen Argyl its first league loss.

"We must be a Saturday team," said Southern Lehigh coach Brian Neefe. "This is our third Saturday win. We even beat Liberty on a Saturday last week. Our bio-rhythms must be good on Saturdays."

Everything was good for the Spartans, who improved to 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the league.

Pen Argyl, which never got in sync, fell to 6-3 and 5-1.

Southern Lehigh ranked No. 10 in The Morning Call poll, played like a No. 1.

"Our infield has been as solid as anybody's, but our outfield has struggled and so has the bottom of our batting order," Neefe said. "But this was a good day. Everything went well and it was not a typical Pen Argyl performance."

The Green Knights were limited to a fourth-inning single by Jackie Parsons and struggled mightily in the field.

Pen Argyl, still in front in the league's North Division, plays Palisades and Saucon Valley in the coming week.

Southern Lehigh, meanwhile, remains in contention for a league playoff berth.

"Earlier this year I was just hoping we could win 10 games and qualify for districts," Neefe said. "Now, I'm not worried about that anymore. We're coming together as a team. We're starting to realize how good we can be. When we beat Liberty last week, which is one of the best teams around, I don't think the girls realized what they had done.

"I'm enjoying this year. It was a little rough at first, but the girls are working at it and we're getting better and that's the important thing."

Wilson, Eleni Dimou, Jen Hallowell and Corinne Ozanne all had two hits for Southern Lehigh.

Pen Argyl 000 000 0 -- 0 1 3

Southern Lehigh 320 201 -- 8 9 1

Parsons, Presby (2) and Stem; Weiss and Wilson. HRs: SL, Wilson (2nd, 1 on), Tankred (6th, none on).

Saucon Valley 14, Palmerton 6

Playing its first game since its first loss, Saucon Valley seemed determined to start a new win streak on Saturday and rolled past Palmerton 14-6 at Pates Park as part of the Colonial League's "Play Day."

Even without lead-off batter Alyssa Lombardo, who was participating in a track meet, Saucon (7-1, 5-1) scored in every inning but one and pounded out 13 hits.

Emily Polefka had five hits, scored four runs and drove in three, while Lori Werkheiser had three hits and scored three runs. Sarah Seneca hit a three-run home run.

"We had a hard practice on Thursday," said Saucon coach Robyn Savitske. "The girls bounced back quick and responded well. It was disappointing to lose like we did to Palisades and we know we're very capable of giving them a good fight.

"But we'll get to play them again and hopefully, we keep getting better and will play better against them next time."

Palmerton (4-4, 3-3) kept battling and refused to suffer its first 10-run loss of the season -- a common occurence for past Blue Bombers teams. Palmerton had eight hits, led by Liz Raub, who was 2-for-3 with a double and Jenna Ritter, who doubled.

Palmerton 021 020 1 -- 6 8 1

Saucon Valley 424 031 x -- 14 13 4

Herring and Arner; Kemmerer, Garrity (2) and Seneca. HRs: Saucon, Seneca (3rd, 2 on).

In the third game of the chilly day that was set to turn into a cold night, Catasauqua struck for a lot of runs early and held on for a 10-6 victory over Notre Dame-Green. Catty improved to 2-4 in the league, 4-5 overall.

Notre Dame, which had a big win over Palisades earlier in the week, dropped to 2-4, 3-4.

FROM KEITH GROLLER