Tennent rallies past Wiss in extras
WARMINSTER >> Giselle McLaughlin had plenty of time to think about her upcoming at-bat in the bottom of the eighth inning.
A lengthy and confusing series of umpire, coach and umpire and more umpire discussions gave the William Tennent outfielder a lot of time to contemplate a lot of things like the tying run standing at third base, her three previous at-bats that had ended in outs and the end result of all that meeting that left her senior teammates called out and in need of a pickup. McLaughlin hadn’t reached prior to the eighth, but she had been making adjustments.
McLaughlin was the hero, ripping a walk-off two-run home run to right field, giving the No. 14 Panthers a 7-6 eight-inning win over No. 19 Wissahickon in the opening round of the District 1 6A softball tournament on Monday.
“I kept going through my head, I was really nervous,” McLaughlin said. “I was just standing there nervous the entire time. If she was out or safe, it didn’t matter, I needed to score the run on third because it was the most impor
tant run.”
“I made a lot of changes and they worked, so it felt really good.”
Monday’s contest packed a game’s worth of dramatics into the last two innings alone and both teams showed plenty of heart, fight and resilience as both fought to keep their respective seasons alive. It was also a much better game than their regular season meeting when the Trojans clocked the Panthers 13-2 as Tennent was just returning from a long COVID-19 protocol related layoff.
Wiss coach Mike Borkowski knew that first game wasn’t a fair representation of the Panthers but he also wasn’t surprised his young and short-handed team never considered the thought of giving up. While just one team gets to celebrate in the postseason, there was plenty for Wissahickon to be proud of in its effort Monday and throughout the season.
“That’s what happens in the playoffs,” Borkowski said. “I told my players you never know what’s going to happen, so just swing the bat and work hard. It was a great game, we went up, they went up, kept going back-andforth, just a great game.”
In fact, the Trojans took the first lead of the day when senior captain and starting pitcher Emma Clayborne drove home a run in the top of the first and twice held leads that put the Panthers three outs away from saying their goodbyes to the season. Clayborne and shortstop Charlotte Horvat, who was sharp and steady defensively, were the Trojans’ only seniors this year and gave plenty of leadership and guidance to a young team.
One of those players was Emmi Fox, a sophomore who started the season playing infield on JV and ended it a starting outfielder on varsity who sparked the team’s seventh-inning rally and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth on a pair of doubles as part of a 3-for-4 day. Luca Penna scored twice and had two key singles, including an eighth inning RBI that scored Fox as Wiss showed it has a lot of pieces to still build with.
“We said at the beginning of the year our goal was to make the playoffs,” Borkowski said. “We started winning games and for a little bit, thought we had a chance at a home playoff game. It’s the first time in nine years we’ve had a winning record, it was a time of a lot of growth for us, we’re doing really well and this is such a great group of kids, I’m proud of them.”
Tennent senior cocaptain Mackenzie Clee had an eventful Monday afternoon. The lefthander threw every pitch for her team and scored the most pivotal run in the game prior to McLaughlin’s gameender when she all but manufactured the tying run in the bottom of the seventh on the bases.
In a season that saw her team lose three weeks and several players test positive for COVID-19 only to return to the field and capture an SOL Freedom title, Clee wanted a little more. Not long after the game, the senior admitted she hadn’t really paused to think about all that had transpired.
“I’m on such an adrenaline rush right now, it’s unreal,” Clee said. “I can’t stop moving, that was just insane. I have no words for it right now.”