Palyan, Marsalo lead Twin Valley over Hamburg

Sophia Marsalo and Sofia Palyan were key contributors on the Twin Valley softball team that won Berks County and District 3 Class 5A titles in 2019.

But both were overshadowed somewhat by Marsalo’s older sister, Grace, who was the Raiders’ ace pitcher and the Berks Player of the Year.

With Grace Marsalo’s departure, Sofia Palyan and Sophia Marsalo are finally getting their chance to share the spotlight following the cancellation of the 2020 season.

They each came up with big games Wednesday to help Twin Valley defeat

Hamburg 5-1 in an early showdown for the Berks II lead.

Palyan, now the Raiders’ No. 1 pitcher, struck out 18, including 10 in a row at one point, to help Twin Valley (2-0, 5-0) hand the Hawks (0-1, 5-1) their first loss.

“We knew we were going to have a tough game,” Palyan said. “We said we were going to have high intensity from the start.”

Palyan walked the leadoff hitter before striking out the next 10, including four in the second inning. Marsalo got the Twin Valley offense started with a leadoff double and eventually scored in the first inning.

“I think it’s really important to start off strong and come out with the intensity so that we can keep it through the game,” Marsalo said.

Marsalo went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a home run and helped the Raiders pull away with two runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings.

Losing pitcher Haley Gravish and Palyan were locked in a duel for the first five innings. Gravish pulled Hamburg even when she led off the fourth inning with a home run.

“We knew we were going to have to work hard for every run,” said Twin Valley cohead coach Kim Walsh. “It took us a while to adjust to her (Gravish) because she’s a very good pitcher.”

But the Raiders broke through in the fifth. Ashley McMenamin led off with a single and Marsalo followed with her second double. Groundouts by Natali Foster and

Madi Garber drove in runs.

In the sixth, Marsalo launched a tworun homer over the right-field fence.

“We knew coming into this game that we had to stay extra focused and this was going to be one of the most challenging teams we have faced so far,” Marsalo said.

Gravish, who had two of Hamburg’s three hits, struck out five and allowed six hits.

The Hawks, who had outscored their first five opponents by a combined score of 59-4, will host Twin Valley May 7 near the end of the regular season.

“Haley pitched a nice game,” said Hamburg coach Zena Lutz. “We’ll be ready the next time.”