The Lehigh Valley high school softball community may not have been able to get a team to the state finals at Penn State last week.
But anyone who thinks the area doesn’t have its share of talented and tough kids should have witnessed what happened at Philadelphia’s FDR Park in the Softball Carpenter Cup the last two days.
After going 2-1 in pool play on Tuesday, the Lehigh Valley returned to South Philly on Wednesday and in blistering heat, the Lehigh Valley went 3-0 in consecutive games and claimed the franchise’s first Softball Carpenter Cup championship since 2008 and third overall.
The championship was clinched with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Delaware South, a team that represented the southern portion of the Diamond State.
The 19th annual event that brings together 16 all-star teams from throughout the Philadelphia region is sponsored by the Phillies and it may be a good omen for them since the Phillies’ last World Series title came in 2008.
“This was my third year down here and we know how hard it is every year just to get to the championship game,” said Lehigh Valley coach Brian Fehnel. “This group just played hard all day today and had some really close games with some really good teams.
“Our girls never wavered. They just kept playing hard. After Tuesday, we knew we had a real good shot but we also knew we had to play some really good teams like Tri-Cape and Delaware South.”
Lehigh Valley beat defending champ Tri-Cape 8-3 in its first game and followed it up by rallying from an early 4-0 deficit against Berks/Lancaster/Lebanon in Game 2 to win 6-5. In the title game, Southern Lehigh’s Lila Padden delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the first inning and pitching standouts Karlye Teman (Palisades) and Addy Smith (Liberty) made sure those runs stood up by combining for a three-hitter.
“These kids were studs,” Fehnel said. “No one complained about the heat and no one wanted to come out of the games. I just rotated them in and out. They were all tuned in and weren’t distracted by the heat at all.”
In the win over Tri-Cape, Nazareth standouts Shauna McNamee and Natalie Chloros both drove in two runs and Teman tripled in a pair. Teman allowed seven hits over four innings with a walk and four strikeouts. Smith finished it off by allowing three hits over three innings and didn’t issue a walk.
Berks/Lancaster/Lebanon jumped on top 4-0 in the first inning of Game 2 with a grand slam by Berks Catholic’s Gianna Mirenda but didn’t score again until the seventh inning.
“We had a big comeback win over Berks last year and getting down 4-0 early again made it feel like it was a flashback,” Fehnel said. “We told the kids ‘hey, we got down to them last year and came roaring back’ and we said it’s a seven-inning game and they just needed to keep playing and that’s what they did. They weren’t even fazed by getting down 4-0. They just kept smiling and going about their business.”
Lehigh Valley struck back with five runs in the bottom of the fourth and tacked on one in the fifth. Parkland’s Allison Hunsberger delivered three RBIs, two coming on a double, and Nazareth’s Alina Weaver chipped in a two-run double.
Easton’s Audrey Rinda shook off giving up the grand slam to work three scoreless innings and Northwestern Lehigh’s Emma Freeman allowed just one hit and an unearned run to close it out.
In the title game, Lehigh Valley jumped out on top 2-0 in the first on a two-run single by Southern Lehigh’s Lila Padden and just as they did in Game 1, Teman and Smith made sure those early runs were enough.
Teman didn’t give up a hit in three innings and was able to not give up any runs despite seven walks. Smith scattered three hits over four innings with no walks and seven strikeouts.
Delaware South didn’t score until the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly. The final out was a soft liner to second baseman Weaver.
“The team really came together and the pitchers were awesome,” Fehnel said. “Kelly [Dulaney] did a really good job of calling pitches. This group of kids are fantastic players and teammates. What a fun couple of days and a great experience for the girls.”
The championship team usually gets a night to be honored prior to a Phillies game and they’ll get to wear their jerseys, which were sponsored by Carpenters Local 167, one one more time.
That night will be one more special memory to dozens that were made over the past two days.
“It was super exciting,” said Padden, who didn’t get to experience a championship this past spring at Southern Lehigh. “I am so much closer to all of these girls who I didn’t know two weeks ago. It’s exciting to share this memory with them.”
Hunsberger, whose mother, Christine, was on a state title team at Northampton in 1996, got her own golden moment albeit on a different platform.
“It’s really special just to be picked to be on this team and then be the ones coming out on top at the end,” she said. “We’re really happy to bring it back for the Valley.”
Smith was a key member of Liberty’s District 11 6A title team, and said that this championship also felt surreal.
“It’s an amazing feeling to work together and get this victory,” she said.
