PA – Central Athletic League | Archive | May, 2019

HAVERFORD — Seemingly on the verge of a third straight outright Central League softball title Wednesday, Haverford was poised to celebrate.

The Fords’ would-be winning run was on second base, there were two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning and their most dangerous batter was at the plate.

But this wasn’t the same Garnet Valley team the Fords defeated earlier in the season. This was the relentless, smoking-hot squad that keeps coming at you like zombies in the Walking Dead.

First, Jaguars pitcher Becca Halford got Ali Murphy to line out to short for the final out in regulation, stranding Anna Mefford at second.

With two outs in the top of the eighth inning, the Jaguars erupted for five runs to secure a 5-1 triumph, extending their winning streak to 11 games.

“That’s the way it’s been this year,” coach Alie Alkins said. “We’ve got that fight in us. It’s heart-wrenching but these are the games that you live to play and coach in. They’re going to be so excited on the way home.”

Dianne Torregrossa singled to right and reached second on an error to start the triumphant rally for the Jaguars (15-3, 12-3).

Emma Taylor was throwing smoke to Audrey Shenk, who fouled off several pitches, but on a 1-2 count drilled a shot to left, plating Taylor with a triple.

“I had a bunch of adrenaline running through my veins,” Shenk said. “I was trying not to think about anything, but I was excited. I was just trying not to think about anything and just go.”

The rest of the inning was “crazy,” to borrow the verbiage of Alkins.

After the Fords intentionally walked Lindsey Hunt, Kelly McLaughlin hit a blooper that scored two runs. The way Halford was throwing, it was all over but the math.

“We’ve talked about it all year long, just how much of a team they are, how they’ve come together,” Alkins said. “Everybody did big things there. That was awesome. And Becca was so hungry for this win. She came up with the big hit to tie the game and get us to the extras.”

The Fords (15-4, 14-2) were stunned. Except for a one-out single by Amber Moscoe, they had no answer for Halford, who faced just three batters in the last of the eighth.

Halford got stronger as the game wore on, the junior particularly focused after knotting the score in the fifth inning with an RBI-single.

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Upper Darby’s Lina Salami anchored the 4 x 100 relay squad to victory at the Central League Track & Field Championships Wednesday at Lower Merion. (Pete Bannan/Digital First Media)

LOWER MERION — The door and adjoining walls outside of the athletic trainers office at Upper Darby High School are adorned with pictures and notes in memory of a young man, Brian Smart, who made a lasting impression in just eight months at the school.

Smart, 24, died Sunday while competing in the Broad Street Run and the tributes have been pouring in ever since. Students have put together a petition to rename the stadium at Upper Darby in Smart’s honor.

Senior Ali Schell, though, wanted to do more for the man who did more than treat her for a series of injuries that have prevented her from taking the track this season. She wanted to do something special to honor Smart, but couldn’t come up with the appropriate tribute. Then it hit her.

“We heard that he only got to the eight-mile mark of the Broad Street Run, which is 10 miles,” Schell said. “We want to finish the race for him, the track team and anybody else who wants to support and finish the last two miles for him.”

No date has been set for this tribute run, which will take place on Upper Darby’s home cross country course. Schell said that the team wants to pick a day when Smart’s parents will be able to attend.

“I’ve had three stress fractures in the last two years so that’s why I was really close to Brian,” Schell said. “I spent a lot of time with him, just getting me back into health, but he also helped me a lot more, getting me through some personal problems. He was more of a friend to me than a trainer.”

Schell said she learned of Smart’s passing in a phone call from a friend Sunday night.

“It’s been really hard,” Schell said. “Not just on me, but the team in general. We’ve been doing a lot to honor him.”

Upper Darby coach Brad Gilbert said that 40 members of the girls track team will be among the 200 students who will attend Smart’s funeral on Friday.

“That shows you how great he was with us,” Gilbert said. “He worked with us a lot. He was there with us Saturday night when we finished second (at the Delco Championships), taking pictures with the girls. It’s been tough. The girls are taking it pretty hard.”

The Central League coaches held a moment of silence to honor Smart before Wednesday’s league championship meet at Lower Merion High School.

“He was awesome from the start,” Gilbert said.

The Royals had a solid afternoon. Olivia Thomas took first in the shot put and discus. Megan Cook prevented Lower Merion’s Sarah Hurst from winning the 3,200 for a second year in a row. Denize Cisco, Dominque Timmons, Siani Barnes and Lina Salami won the 4 x 100.

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MIDDLETOWN — Garnet Valley has seen a lot of defenses thrown its way. Averaging just north of 12 goals per game will encourage an opponent to toss out different packages in the hopes of slowing the high-powered Jaguars.

With plenty of experience, however, Garnet Valley isn’t fazed by adjusting on the fly.

Five goals from Jake Morin and eight assisted tallies in a masterful team passing performance guided the Jaguars to a 12-6 win over Penncrest Tuesday night.

It didn’t matter that Penncrest came out in a tight zone defense for most of the first half, something the Jaguars have seen sporadically this season. It didn’t matter that the Lions forced the game to a slower pace early, which doesn’t always fit the run-and-gun Jags.

Instead, Garnet Valley adjusted. Against the zone, the Jaguars deployed plays and personnel groupings usually reserved for man-up situations, utilizing their off-ball movement to shift the Penncrest defense just enough to slip pinpoint passes through the gaps.

And when Garnet Valley (14-3, 10-1 Central) connects like it did Tuesday, it’s hard to keep them under wraps. The best example came midway through the third quarter, when Morin snuck around the crease and took a feed through the area from Danny Bradley and dumped it into the open net.

“It’s so easy when Brads makes that pass across the crease to me,” Morin said. “I barely have to do anything; all I have to do is shoot. He gives me that great opportunity to get that one-on-one goal.”

More often than not, the passer did the hard work. Morin tacked on an assist with his five markers. Bradley scored twice to go with two helpers. Mitch Lachman scored two goals and an assist, Max Busenkell added two helpers and Bryce Stansfield tallied a hat trick.

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Ardmore >> Lower Merion quarterback Matt O’Connor, who set a school record last fall with 3,446 career passing yards in just 23 games, was named MVP of the East squad in the 18th annual Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association (PSFCA) East-West All-Star Game May 5 at Altoona’s Mansion Park.
O’Connor completed seven of 12 passes for 232 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, despite wet, rainy conditions. With five seconds to go before halftime, O’Connor hit West Catholic wide receiver Seth Degree with a 61-yard touchdown on a go route.
“Seth ran a great route,” said O’Connor. “We had a lot of good receivers on our team, guys who could beat man coverage and take the top off the defense. Our line was giving me good protection too.”
O’Connor threw two TD passes to Degree, and one each to Rynell Gantt of Harrisburg (on a slant-and-go route) and to Shamar Edwards of North Penn (on a wheel route out of the backfield).
A couple of O’Connor’s plays under pressure particularly stood out to Lower Merion head football coach Evan Breisblatt, who was at the game.
“The weather conditions were not good, but Matt can play in any type of weather and be successful,” said Breisblatt. “On one play, Matt had to shuffle his way in the pocket, then stepped up and made a big throw as he avoided a pass rusher. Another play, where he waited in the pocket and had to take a shot to deliver a TD strike down the middle of the field … that is vintage ‘Matty Ice!’”
The 6-foot-2 O’Connor, who received a Mini Maxwell award last fall, committed to Villanova in February, where he will be a preferred walk-on on the football team. He will major in business at Villanova.
“Villanova made a great decision bringing Matt into their program,” said Breisblatt.

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Lower Merion’s Matt O’Connor and Jalen Goodman, each bound for Villanova University, made their presence felt at the PSFCA East-West All-Star Game.

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HAVERFORD — You couldn’t blame Mia Ciancio for taking a chance in overtime Tuesday night.

Her Haverford lacrosse team saw a two-goal lead disappear late in regulation, requiring two clutch saves from Lauren Johns to even send the Fords to the extra period. They then chased Ridley for two minutes in the attacking half when the Green Raiders controlled the draw and tried to **** clock on two yellow cards.

So after the teams traded turnovers and Ridley looked to rush upfield, Ciancio figured she’d dip her stick into a passing lane and see if she caught anything.

“I was like, I guess I’m going to go for it, and it was there,” the Fords midfielder said. “Sometimes it works out in your favor, and that’s basically what happened. It was mostly lucky.”

Mostly, but more than a little skill went into the finish, Ciancio burying a low shot to the far post for the winner in an 8-7 overtime decision.

Ciancio’s goal settled a back-and-forth affair of teams mired in the middle of the Central League. Haverford led 7-5 with nine minutes left on a Ciancio goal, the fourth straight from the Fords (5-9, 3-6) to recoup a two-goal halftime deficit.

But Ridley (4-10, 3-6) was not done. Corrinne Stratton scored with 7:03 left, then after Marcianna Tavani stoned Carly Gannon on the doorstep after a long Haverford possession, the sophomore goalie led a rush and found Stratton, who tied it with 1:09 remaining for her fourth goal.

Ridley had two looks in the final minute. But Johns fought off an eight-meter shot by Sydney Zimmerman (who drew a yellow on the ensuing battle for the ball), then the goalie caught a Stratton attempt at the horn (which garnered the Ridley attacker a dangerous follow-through yellow).

The reset at the break – with Haverford living dangerously and Ridley short two players – was unusual.

“It’s a lot to handle,” Haley Adam said. “You have to stay composed and think of what would be the best option for your team. I think that overall, we handled it OK. There definitely could’ve been better opportunities that we could’ve taken, but I think overall we played a really good team game.”

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