Week features 6 games over 3 nights at Pates Park
No one knows the Parkland High softball program better than Blake Morgan.
He had two daughters play for the Trojans and was an assistant coach on the Parkland staff for several years.
Now as the head coach at Whitehall, Morgan’s challenge is to beat the Trojans when it matters most and end Parkland’s streak of six consecutive league championships, including the first five in the new version of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.
If Morgan’s Zephyrs face the Trojans in Thursday’s title game at Patriots Park, he said, the key is not to be intimidated by the program that has become the gold standard in the sport locally.
“I don’t think they are intimidated by them, but when you lose year after year to the same team, it’s hard to believe that things will go your way and you can beat them,” Morgan said. “We have to clear our minds of that and stop playing the uniform and instead play the people in the uniform. I mean, they’re tremendous. You talk about the Parkland mystique, but it’s a mystique because of all the championships they’ve won.”
Whitehall’s lone losses in a 19-2 season were to Parkland in early April. The Zephyrs have won 16 straight games since then.
But before Whitehall can think about playing Parkland, it must first beat a Northampton team that already defeated the Trojans this year.
Northampton split a pair of games with Parkland, losing the second one 2-1 in nine innings.
“Everyone left in the big four is a quality team that’s well-coached and features great athletes,” Morgan said. “You can’t beat yourself. You can’t beat yourself up if something goes wrong. You try to win every inning and if you don’t, you have to put it behind you and try to win the next one.”
Whitehall plays Northampton at 5 p.m. Monday in the first game of the EPC semifinal doubleheader at Patriots Park. They haven’t met since the Zephs edged the Konkrete Kids 8-6 in the 2019 District 11 6A semifinals.
The second EPC semifinal, scheduled to start at 7 p.m., features Freedom playing Parkland for the third time this season. The Patriots won the first one 10-1 on March 29, but the Trojans took the second contest 6-0 on May 4.
Parkland, thanks mostly to senior pitcher Katie Zaun, has allowed just two runs during its 12-game winning streak.
The Colonial League semifinals,
which figure to feature much more offense, take center stage Tuesday night. Defending champ Palmerton meets Bangor in the 5 p.m. opener and Southern Lehigh battles Northwestern in the nightcap.
The Colonial League finals will open a championship doubleheader at 5 p.m. Thursday at Patriots Park. The EPC final is at 7 p.m.
EPC tickets
No tickets will be available at the Patriots Park gate for the EPC softball semifinals Monday night or the championship game Thursday.
Tickets must be purchased in advance on the league’s website at epc18.org. All tickets will be e-tickets; there will be no paper tickets.
Softball Carpenter Cup
The Softball Carpenter Cup is back after a year off due to the pandemic.
The Lehigh Valley again plans to field a team in the event hosted by the Phillies organization June 21-23 at FDR Park near the sports complex in Philadelphia. The local team will be coached by the Whitehall staff of Morgan, Ed Stinner and Kyle Stinner.
Tryouts are 6-8 p.m. May 23 and June 6 at the Whitehall High School softball field.
Current sophomores and juniors are eligible to play. However, since the tournament was canceled last year, teams can also add up to five uncommitted seniors. No high school can have more than three members on the team.
The Lehigh Valley team is scheduled to play three games in the double-elimination event June 21, starting with an 8 a.m. game against Burlington County, New Jersey. Other games are at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and if the team wins at least two of the three it will return for games June 23.
For more information, call Morgan at 610-737-0318.
Resh reward
The Lehigh Valley Softball Umpires Association presented the 2019 Marty Weitzman Memorial Award to Oliver “Bugs” Resh last week at Patriots Park. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 PIAA softball season was canceled and the chapter did not meet last year to present the award to Resh.
The award is presented annually to the softball umpire who exemplifies those qualities that Weitzman, a founding officer of the umpires chapter, projected during his athletic career, namely, a love for the game, devotion to fair play and an overall desire to excel in game situations.
Mike Koch, president of the LVSUA and a 2002 Marty Weitzman Award recipient, presented the award to Resh,
“Bugs is well-deserving of this award and has been around the sport of fastpitch softball for many years,” Koch said. “I recall his days coaching on the men’s fastpitch circuit along with high school coaching stints at Catasauqua and Central Catholic. Bugs was an outstanding umpire for many years and is missed on the softball field.”
Player of the Week DELANEY TROXELL, CATASAUQUA
The Catasauqua softball team went from 0-20 in 2019 to four victories this year; with Delaney Troxell back for three more seasons, that win total figures to keep growing.
Troxell picked up all four of the Rough Riders’ wins as a pitcher and has 124 strikeouts with one game left to play. She was also a force at the plate, batting .520 with six doubles and five home runs. Two of her home runs came against Colonial League semifinalist Palmerton. In a 6-0 win over Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg last week, she had 13 strikeouts and allowed just five hits.
“Delaney has flourished this year as a pitcher, teammate and leader,” Catty coach Paige Kogelman said. “She has grown so much and is developing into a well-rounded player that understands the knowledge of the game while growing and obtaining qualities to lead a team from the circle. She takes control as a pitcher and leads by example.”
Kogelman said she moved Troxell from the lead-off spot to the heart of order, where she can drive in more runs. She has 13 RBIs to go along with 21 runs scored.
“Catasauqua softball is grateful to have her a part of our team and we are excited to see what the future years bring,” Kogelman said.
College corner
York College sophomore catcher Daphney Adams, a Nazareth High grad, was voted the MAC Commonwealth Rookie of the Year and became the first major conference award winner for the Spartans since 2014. She was also a second-team all-star selection after leading all catchers in batting average (.383), slugging percentage (.679), on-base percentage (.433), doubles (11), triples (5), runners caught stealing (11) and runners caught stealing percentage (.379).
Casey Scheuren, a junior at Cabrini and an Allentown Central Catholic grad, was recently named an Atlantic East Conference player of the week after going 8-for-15 with two doubles, a triple and five runs scored, as Cabrini took three of four games from Neumann. Included in her big week was a 4-for-4 effort with three runs scored. She also had a pair of outfield assists and pitched Cabrini to a win by allowing just two earned runs on four hits in a complete game 8-3 victory.
Softball Top 10
Ranking, Team, Record, Last time
1. Parkland, 19-2, 1
2. Whitehall, 19-2, 2
3. Northampton, 17-2, 3
4. Freedom, 16-4, 4
5. Bangor, 17-1, 5
6. NW Lehigh, 17-1
7. Palmerton, 18-3, 7
8. So. Lehigh, 13-7, 10
9. Easton, 11-9, 8
10. Becahi, 11-8, NR
Dropped: Notre Dame-Green Pond (12-7) Others to watch: Emmaus (12-9), ES South (10-8), Pocono Mt. East (11-8), Stroudsburg (12-6)
Standings
FINAL COLONIAL LEAGUE
East Division
Team, League, Overall
D-Bangor, 15-1, 17-1
D-Notre Dame, 11-5, 12-7
D-Pen Argyl, 8-8, 10-10
D-Wilson, 8-8, 10-11
Palisades, 2-14, 3-15
Saucon Valley, 2-14, 3-14
West Division
D-Northwestern, 15-1, 17-1 D-Palmerton, 14-2, 18-3
D-So. Lehigh, 9-7, 13-7
No. Lehigh, 5-11, 6-13
Salisbury, 5-11, 7-11
Catasauqua 2-14, 4-14
FINAL EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA CONFERENCE
Lehigh County
Team, Division, League, Overall D-Parkland, 10-0, 16-0, 19-2 D-Whitehall, 8-2, 14-2, 19-2 D-Emmaus, 6-4, 11-5, 12-9
D-CCHS, 3-7, 6-10, 7-12
Allen, 3-7, 4-12, 5-13
Dieruff, 0-10, 0-15, 0-17 Northampton County D-Northampton, 9-1, 14-2, 17-2 D-Freedom, 8-2, 12-3, 15-4 D-Easton, 6-4, 11-5, 11-9
D-Becahi, 4-6, 8-8, 11-8
D-Nazareth, 3-7, 7-9, 8-12
Liberty, 0-10, 3-13, 3-13
Monroe County
D-Stroudsburg, 9-0, 11-5, 12-6 D-Poc. Mt. East, 8-2, 9-7, 11-8
D-ES South, 6-4, 9-7, 10-8
Pleas. Valley, 3-7, 4-12, 4-12
PM West, 2-8, 3-13, 3-16
ES North, 1-9, 1-15, 1-16
D: Clinched District 11 playoff berth Records are thru Saturday’s games.