Pennsville senior softball scores a pair of run-rule victories to sweep Elmer for this group’s sixth straight District title
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – For a team supposedly playing under the weight of some pretty high expectations, the Pennsville Little League Senior Softball stars sure are a loose bunch.
The players Wobble and line dance in front of the dugout before the game, they play country music between innings, the pitcher spins with a pretzel rod in her back pocket and, in a twist on an older theme, this year they give manager Chris Watson white eye-black moustaches on his upper lip.
There’s nothing it seems that fazes these girls.
That looseness translated into big things Thursday night. It produced an eight-run first inning in the first game of their District 3 championship series with Elmer and an eventual 15-0, 11-1 run-rule sweep for this group’s sixth straight district title.
Now they’re off until Monday after drawing a bye in the first round of the Section 4 Tournament they host. They’ll face the winner of Sunday’s game between Middle Twp. and the District 15 champs.
“I think the fact that we’re loose as a team helps us play better,” pitcher Jess Bretz said. “We’ve had games where we’ve been tight and all been overthinking everything that’s been happening. The fact we hit the “Wobble” before every game and we do the “Cotton-Eyed Joe” we bond together and being loose on the field helps us mold together better.”
Watson isn’t one to join in the fun, but he “let’s them be them.” He admits he allows them “get away with a little more than I should sometimes.”
This is a team with designs of going to the Little League Senior Softball World Series in Delaware later this summer and they played like it Thursday night.
They batted around in each of the first two innings of the opener, opening a 14-0 lead. Leadoff Lily Edwards accounted for five runs in the eight-run first, walking and scoring the game’s first run and later clearing the bases with a double and scoring when the cutoff throw to get her at third was wild.
They were having a high time of it. Seven starters had at least one hit in the game and they got runs from eight spots in the lineup. Bretz went 2-for-2 with three RBIs and Avery Watson went 3-for-3 with three RBIs.
“We just have to come with energy; it just gets us excited and relaxed and in the zone,” Edwards said.
Sometimes, however, they can have too much of a good thing. It was a little slower to start in Game 2, but they got it going again and erupted for seven in the second inning of what was a come-from-behind win.
They sent 10 batters to the plate in their big inning. Kylie Harris had the big hit, a two-run single. Edwards, Bella Rappa and Sawyer Simmons also drove home runs in the inning.
“I have to watch them and make sure they maintain that energy because every once in a while they dip and they dipped a little today at the beginning of that second game and it showed,” Watson said. “They get flat, they get tired. As soon as that energy drops so does our play. I think all the girls have realized that so they’ll start poking each other and getting each back up again. It’s kind of become our identity.”
Bretz pitched a four-inning no-hitter in the first game and a five-inning two-hitter in the nightcap. She struck out seven in the first game, nine in the second.
She allowed five base runners in the opener and got out of a jam in the second inning. She got the final out of the gem when catcher Kylie Harris threw through to pick off a runner at second base.
The first hit Bretz allowed all night was Aubrie Rennie’s single in the first inning of the nightcap and Rennie scored on a wild pitch. Elmer loaded the bases in the second, but Bretz got out of it unscathed and then retired the last nine in a row.
In 16 innings over three district tournament games, the hard-throwing right-hander allowed one earned run, seven hits and struck out 31.
This group of Pennsville softball players has been collecting district titles for the past six years, a run that started as 10Us; only a walk-off loss their first year together kept it from being seven straight. Three players – Savannah Palverento, Avery Watson and Kloi Tighe – have been on all of them.
And while the post-game celebrations may not be as spirited as they once were, the winning never gets old.
“I feel like it’s still very important to know what you need to do in order to get to where you want to get,” Palverento said. “Districts, yeah, it’s only one step, but it’s still an important step to get where you need to be.”
DISTRICT 3 SENIOR SOFTBALL
Game 1
Pennsville 861 0 – 15 11 1
Elmer 000 0 – 0 0 0
WP: Jess Bretz (2-0). LP: Ava Schneider. 2B: Kylie Harris (P), Avery Watson (P), Lily Edwards (P). 3B: Jess Bretz (P).
Game 2
Elmer 100 00 – 1 2 4
Pennsville 272 0x – 11 7 0
WP: Jess Bretz (3-0). LP: Ady Stewart.
SECTION 4 TOURNAMENT
At Pennsville
Sunday’s Game
Monroe vs. Middle Twp., 6 p.m.
Monday’s Game
Monroe-Middle Twp. winner vs. Pennsville, 6 p.m.
Wednesday’s Game
Monroe-Middle loser vs. Game 2 loser, 6 p.m.
Thursday’s Game
Championship Game, 6 p.m.
If necessary, 8 p.m.
Riverview Sports News 