Smink’s grand slam helps NP power past East

BUCKINGHAM » Annabelle Smink figured out she had hit a grand slam when the ball and the Central Bucks East center fielder both cleared the fence.

“I saw her fall over and then she didn’t have it,” the North Penn softball third baseman said. “And then I started jumping around.”

An attempt to reach up at the temporary fencing and catch Smink’s bases-loaded shot to center ended up with the ball hitting off the outfielder’s glove then her leg and finally tumbling over and behind the fence just after the player did the same.

The result — a 10-1 lead for the visiting Knights in the top of the sixth inning and Smink’s first-ever home run.

“I didn’t even realize that was her first home run until she was like ‘That was my first home run,” NP senior pitcher Mady Volpe said. “I was like, ‘What, that’s crazy.” I’m so happy for her, especially as a grand slam.”

North Penn took advantage of the smaller confines of East’s field, connecting on four home runs on a cold and wet Friday afternoon. Senior pitcher Mady Volpe, meanwhile, struck out 12

and the Knights rolled in the matchup for first place in the SOL Colonial Division, topping the Patriots for a 10-2 victory.

“At the beginning of the game I told them it’s bad weather and it’s rainy and cold but championship teams come out and play the game, don’t worry about the weather, don’t worry about the cold,” North Penn coach Rick Torresani said. “And that’s what we did today. We came out, we did what we needed to do.”

Carley DiGiuseppe and Sophia Collins started the top of the fourth with back-to-back home runs, Bri Wilmot crushed a tworun homer in the fifth while Smink capped North Penn’s offense with her slam as the Knights (6-0, 5-0 division) earned their eighth consecutive win over East.

“Sophia’s a junior, Annabelle’s a sophomore and Bri’s a sophomore and they’ve been playing like their seasoned vets,” Torresani said. “So I’m just extremely excited. There’s no fear in their eyes.”

Smink finished with five RBIs, giving the Knights a 1-0 lead with a single in the top of the first. She reached base on all four of her plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with a hit by pitch.

“It was just find your pitch if it’s there, swing it,” Smink said.

Volpe added an RBI single in the third while in the circle the right-hander surrendered a pair of solo home runs but the Coastal Carolina commit registered double digit strikeouts for the sixth time this season. She gave up five hits and no walks in the complete-game win.

“Over quarantine my dad and I we went out in the rain and we pitched and I know games like this are going to be difficult for me so strikeouts aren’t always the big concern,” Volpe said. “I just know that my fielders and my team behind me can just field the ball cleanly and make the play so that was obviously a day like today.”

Elise Waddington was 2-for-3 with a home run and a double while Elizabeth Gray also homered for Central Bucks East (6-2, 4-1), which had its four-game win streak snapped.

Both the Knights and Patriots have road SOL nondivision games 3:30 p.m. Monday. North Penn, which as outscored opponents 48-6 so far in 2021, visits Pennsbury while East is at Council Rock South.

“I feel like this team is known to have a really good chemistry and the chemistry’s really helping us being able to hit because hitting’s really contagious,” Volpe said. “And when you have multiple hits going it’s really good. So I’m really proud of this team with everyone on the bench and just everyone as a whole.”

Julia Shearer led off the top of the first with a single, went to second on a passed ball then advanced to third on a Sarah Sabocsik ground out. The next at-bat, Smink dropped a single behind third to bring in Shearer.

CB East looked to have ended the top of the third with a double play but the out call at first was reversed, putting Sabocsik on with two outs. Sabocsik stole second while a Smink single to the left side of the infield put runners on the corners. Volpe singled up the middle, plating Sabocsik for a 2-0 NP lead.

“We got the run and that helped us out a lot,” Torresani said. “The umpire says she wasn’t off (the base), OK but she was off we just capitalized on what we were given and we scored.”

DiGiuseppe collected the first of NP’s longballs, the Bloomfield commit beginning the top of the fourth by knocking a ball over the fence in center. Collins came up and made it 4-0 as she hitting another solo shot to center.

“It came from the middle, the lower end and I mean all the kids came and hit the ball, Torresani said.

East’s Alexandria Frenia began the bottom of the fourth with a double and went to third on a groundout but Volpe struck out the next two batters.

In the top of the fifth, Smink was hit by a pitch with one out and two batters later Wilmot put the Knights up 6-0, belting a two-out, tworun homer that easily cleared the fence in left center.

“Mentally, after what I told them in the beginning of the game before we started, I didn’t have to say a word to them, they were all in,” Torresani said. “And that’s what’s neat, the chemistry on this team and the leadership with Mady and the other seniors. They’re all in and I didn’t have to say a word.”

Waddington ended the shutout with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the fifth.