Power trip

Pennsville’s Weber delivers homer, 5 RBIs as Tri-Cape Softball All-Stars sweep bracket in Carpenter Cup, advance to knockout stage

CARPENTER CUP SOFTBALL
Wednesday’s games
(At Univ. of Pennsylvania)
Tri-Cape 6, Burlington County 2
Tri-Cape 5, SOL/BAL 4
Tri-Cape 17, Philadelphia Catholic 4
Monday’s Games
(At FDR Park, Philadelphia)
Tri-Cape vs. A Bracket runnerup, 10 a.m.
Semifinals, noon
Championship game, 2 p.m.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PHILADELPHIA – Graillyn Weber was a reliable top-of-the-lineup hitter for the Pennsville softball team this past high school season. She added another element to her arsenal Wednesday – power.

Returning to her customary 2-spot after two games near the bottom of the lineup, Weber smashed a two-run over-the-fence homer as the second hitter of the game sending the Tri-Cape All-Stars off to a 17-4 rout of Philadelphia Catholic to complete a three-game sweep of their pool in the Carpenter Cup Softball Tournament.

The sophomore infielder also had a two-run single in the second inning and an RBI single in the opener against Burlington County. For the day she went 3-for-8 with five RBIs, but it was the homer that created the buzz.

“I don’t know what it is,” she said. “I just keep getting that inside slightly high pitch and I’ve just been turning on it and boom. That’s probably my favorite pitch.

“It’s definitely a new experience for me. It’s such a crazy feeling. It’s just exciting.”

Weber hit one homer – the team’s only home run – as a .484 hitter for Pennsville this high school season, an inside-the-parker at Schalick on May 20. She hit her first over-the-fence homer for her travel team last weekend and now has two in the last 10 days.

“I know she was close a couple times,” Pennsville head coach and Tri-Cape assistant Beth Jackson said. “She hit the fence where it just needed a little bit more oomph and it probably would’ve went over.

“She batted in the sixth or seventh spot the first two games (sixth), then because the leadoff girls we had didn’t start the third we talked about the lineup and I said Graillyn batted second for me the whole season, so they put her in the 2-hole and that’s the game she hit the home run.”

Woodstown outfielder Ellie Wygand played in the second two games, getting two hits and scoring two runs. She went 1-for-2 against Suburban One/Bicentennial and 1-for-1 with two runs against Philadelphia Catholic.

Tri-Cape also defeated Burlington County 6-2 and SOL/BAL 5-4 in games played at the University of Pennsylvania. As winners of the C Bracket, they await the rain-delayed A Bracket runner-up in the first round of Monday’s knockout stage. The A Bracket, whose schedule has been hampered by bad weather and poor field conditions, is comprised of Olympic Colonial, Lehigh Valley, Jersey Shore and PCCAF. They will play Thursday at Marple Newtown High School.

Tri-Cape won the Cup two years ago. They also won it in 2014.

“You take a whole group of all-stars and we had two practices and then you put them out there together, it takes time,” Jackson said. “We always joke that when they start out they don’t say a whole lot and then usually halfway through the first day they’re talking and their friends. It’s always cool to see that they come together and play together.”