Bond between Greenwald and Taylor is special one
ROYERSFORD » The relationship between Haverford senior catcher Haley Greenwald and junior pitcher Emma Taylor has developed and gotten stronger with time.
They played youth softball growing up and were members of the Pegasus club organization. Back in 2019, when Greenwald and Taylor were a sophomore and freshman, respectively, they were the starting battery for a Fords team that qualified for the PIAA Class 6A tournament. No Haverford team had made the state playoffs before that year. The Fords bowed to Downingtown West in the opening round.
You had the sense two years ago that Greenwald and Taylor were part of a bright future at Haverford. Unfortunately, it’s taken a little longer than expected. The pandemic wiped away their 2020 aspirations, but they’re back in 2021, making school (and county) history.
Haverford will play North Penn Thursday at Penn State’s Beard Field for the Class 6A state title. No other softball team from Delco has made it this far in the postseason in PIAA’s highest classification.
So much of what makes the Fords successful has to do with the unwavering confidence between Greenwald and Taylor, the best battery in Delco.
“I absolutely love catching Emma,” Greenwald said Monday after Taylor’s walk-off home run in the seventh inning lifted the Fords to a 2-1 win over Pennsbury. “All I can say is that Emma is not in it for herself. She’s in it for the rest of the team. And she knows we’re behind her. She’s in it for everyone, she’s a team player.”
Taylor lauded Greenwald for her excellent catching and defense in the win over Pennsbury.
The two will have to be at their very best Thursday against North Penn, a team with which the Fords are very familiar.
One of Haverford’s biggest wins in the playoffs came on May 27. The Fords upset the Maidens, 5-0, in the District 1 quarterfinals. Taylor was brilliant, throwing a shutout with nine strikeouts. Senior center fielder Brooke McKeown and junior third baseman Kerri McCallum both homered off NP ace Mady Volpe, who allowed only one earned run thanks to poor defense behind her. NP leadoff hitter Julia Shearer went 4-for-4 off Taylor.
The win by the Fords clinched a berth in states and lifted them to the District 1 semifinals, where they lost at home to Neshaminy. Haverford won its district thirdplace game and stunned District 1 champion Spring-Ford in the second round of the PIAA tournament.
Haverford and North Penn first met this season April 24. Volpe
had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning, but McCallum’s RBI double spoiled it. Volpe racked up 15 strikeouts in the complete game performance. Taylor allowed six hits and four runs (one earned) with six punchouts in the 4-1 loss.
Haverford’s defense has been outstanding in the state playoffs. Shortstop Tess Smiley and second baseman Shannon Gavigan have made huge plays with their gloves. McCallum is steady at the hot corner. The speedy McKeown covers a ton of ground in center.
“It’s a dream come true, honestly. It’s so amazing. We have such an incredible team,” Smiley said. “It’s just so unbelievable. After everything that happened last year, we were all so excited to get back and to make it back this far is incredible.”
The Fords received a happy sendoff Wednesday morning and were escorted off school premises by Haverford Township police. A luxury bus sent them on their way
to Happy Valley.
The pep rally included speeches from Haverford Townshop School District superintendent Dr. Maureen Reusche and Haverford High principal Pete Donaghy.
“Ladies, I hope you feel the pride and the love that this community has for you right now,” Dr. Reusche said. “I can guarantee you that all throughout Havertown tomorrow, nothing will be happening other than thinking about what you are doing at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and how proud we’re going to be of you.”
Haverford is trying to become only the second softball team from Delco to win a state championship. Seven years after becoming the first county team to play for a PIAA title, Springfield won the old Class 3A championship in 2014.
“We have 10 seniors and they love each other,” Haverford coach Bob Newman said. “They’ve been playing together since they were so young and they stick together. They’re all pretty incredible and it’s a great feeling to see what they have done.”