Haverford expecting a season to remember

CONCORD — With baby No. 2 on the way, Haverford High coach Jill Marshall has a few games left with her 2019 team.

The Fords will be sad to see Marshall go, but the seniors recall the last time she went on maternity leave. Things went pretty well …

“She was pregnant the last time we won the Central League (in 2017),” said Ali Murphy, the Fords’ All-Delco center fielder.

For now, Murphy and the Fords want to shower Marshall with as many wins as possible before she says her goodbyes. Fords assistant Bob Newman will handle head coaching duties the rest of the way.

Freshman Emma Taylor pitched the Fords to a 7-4 victory over Garnet Valley Wednesday. Marshall and the baby were happy.

Tess Smiley, Addison Joseph and Annabelle Donald all had two hits as the Fords improved their overall record to 3-1.

“The young players are hungry,” Marshall said. “It’s not easy to come in as any freshman or sophomore , but we’re a team filled with essentially seniors and sophomores. We have one freshman on varsity,we depend on the young players to step up. We’re looking forward to having a few good years with them.”

Everything starts with the left-handed-hitting Murphy, the fastest player in the league, who tripled in a run and scored twice Wednesday.

“I feel like we’ve had a lot of time in the offseason to really get to know each other,” Murphy said.

With the exception of the third inning, Taylor kept Garnet Valley’s sluggers at bay. She struck out her pitching counterpart, Becca Halford, in the seventh after GV scored two unearned runs to make it 7-4.

Taylor didn’t act like a freshman in the circle as she navigated a difficult Garnet Valley lineup. All-Delco senior Diane Torregrossa reached safely twice but was held hitless. Two-time All-Delco catcher Lindsey Hunt was intentionally walked twice, including in the seventh to load the bases, but was held in the yard and without an extra-base hit. That’s a win for any pitcher in the Central League.

Audrey Shenk laced a run-scoring single in the third off Taylor, followed by a sacrifice off the bat of Kelly McLaughlin. Nine-hole hitter Makenna Valente doubled and scored, and Olivia DiCampili stroked an RBI single in the seventh for Garnet Valley’s final run.

Nonetheless, Taylor limited the damage, allowing seven hits and one earned run while striking out four.

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Haverford teammates (5) Anna Mefford, (31) Addison Joseph and (16) Amber Moscoe congratulate (1) Ali Murphy after she scored against Garnet Valley. The Fords went on to a 7-4 victory.