Raiders wage winning crusade over Pennridge
RIDLEY TWP. » Before she would unfurl a memorable, two-way performance in the first round of the District 1 Class 6A softball tournament Monday, Ridley High pitcher Jolie Torrens already had made an important decision. One way or another, the Green Raiders’ postseason was going to be a celebration.
It’s precisely why the Party City outlet on Baltimore Pike soon may have a shortage of green hats, capes, balloons, necklaces and wigs. And it may have had plenty to do with how the Green Raiders ousted Pennridge in a 6-1 blast of joy.
“We went there this morning,” Torrens said. “And we said, ‘We’re going to get decked out in all Ridley gear, all green.’ We were going to come in, have fun, just enjoy the moment and put everything on the field.”
Not only did Torrens, along with teammate Dakota Marshall, plot the party-store run in a group text, but she made particularly sure it was worth the drive, pitching a completegame four-hitter and smashing a three-run, second-inning home run over the centerfield fence.
Sydney Schaefer added a home run to left-center, Mary DelFera drove in one run and stole home for another and the 10th-seeded Raiders (16-4) earned a trip to seventh-seeded Quakertown (17-3) Wednesday for the Sweet 16.
Party on.
“That’s what it was all about,” Ridley coach Brooke Berger said. “We’ve been in the playoffs before. We’ve been here before.
And sometimes we could get uptight. So our biggest thing was, ‘It’s got to be fun. We’ve got to have fun doing it.’”
That message understood, the Green Raiders showed up in lime green (and in some cases pink) cowboy hats and capes, among other festive apparel, wore it all in the dugout and shouted and sang for seven innings. It’s not clear that Torrens, for one, needed the boost, but the junior righthander did not allow a hit until Rams pitcher Averi Dockery sliced a single to right with two down in the fourth. The No. 23 Rams scored in the seventh when Reagan Bauman laced a leadoff double, took third on a ground out and raced home when pinch hitter Erin Leight rapped a ground ball the other way.
The Rams ended their season at 9-11, but are excited about the potential of Dockery, the freshman pitcher who whiffed 11 Monday.
“We’re really happy with how she has progressed in the last three or four weeks,” coach Wendy Iadonisi said. “She has taken all of our pitching on because our junior, Grace Helbling, was hit by pitch and had a broken arm. We are really excited about what Averi can do for us in the future.”
A couple of misplays, along with hits from Maddie Gordon and Gabby DeLuca, helped put Torrens in business to hit the three-run homer. Schaefer’s one-out, third inning bomb made it 5-0. That was followed by DelFera manufacturing a run by being hit by a pitch, advancing on a passed ball, taking third on a Gordon single and stealing home when Gordon bluffed an attempted steal of second.
A junior committed to UMBC as an outfielder, Torrens stood out with her arm, bat and postgame hat and cape ensemble.
“She pitched great,” Berger said. “She showed up and she’s like a bull.”
Torrens showed that power with her early blast.
“When it hit the bat, I said, ‘Oh, my gosh, it’s out,” she said. “I was so excited. I said, ‘There are two people on base and we’re going to go. I’m going to hit this.”
As powerful as she can be in the batter’s box, Torrens is a change-of-speeds finesse pitcher.