LITTLE LEAGUE SOFTBALL: Washko's big plays help North Pocono stay alive
Jul. 26—Thanks to Addie Washko, North Pocono will play another day.
The converted catcher made a diving catch in center field to save at least two runs in the top of the fifth, then socked a game-deciding RBI double in the bottom of the inning as her team staved off elimination with a 2-1 victory that sent Georgetown, Delaware home Wednesday at the Little League Softball Mid-Atlantic Regional at Bristol, Connecticut.
Delaware leadoff hitter Adeline Lutz already had a hard-hit double to her credit when she came up with two on and two out in the fifth.
After fouling off three 1-2 pitches, Lutz rifled a ball that looked destined for extra bases.
Washko, a catcher throughout the regular season and for her travel ball squad, took two quick steps to her right and leaped, snagging the ball in a desperate lunge to keep the game tied at 1.
"I just hear the crack and I know it's going to be deep," Washko said. "I see it's right between me and left field. I just take a couple steps and I lay out for the ball. If that got past me, we could have lost the game."
North Pocono coach Phil Forgione knew his team was in trouble when the ball left Lutz's bat.
"The girl who hit that ball is as good a player as you'll see in Little League, and we knew we'd have to do everything we could to keep her off the bases," Forgione said. "When she hits that, off the bat we're thinking, 'Oh, boy, we're in trouble.'
"Then Addie closed on it quickly and made as good a catch as you'll see at any level, certainly the Little League level. It was an amazing catch and it just fired our girls up."
Riding the wave of emotion, Anna Clementoni led off with a sharp single to left. Ashtynne Delucy advanced Clementoni to scoring position with a groundout, and after a strikeout, Washko stepped to the plate.
To that point, North Pocono had just one hit, Riley Grambo's two-out single in the third. Washko changed that with a rocket well over the left fielder's head, easily scoring Clementoni with the go-ahead run.
It was a scenario Washko had been part of before.
"The funny thing is when I made the diving play in our sectional game, that inning after, I also hit a double," Washko said. "This game when I made the play, it pumped me up and got me swinging good."
Washko's drive was one of few hard-hit balls for North Pocono, and just their fifth hit in the last 12 innings.
"We came in the dugout after that catch, and I felt pretty confident we would have a good offensive inning by how much momentum and how much emotion followed the catch," Forgione said. "We needed a spark and Addie's catch was really the tipping point.
"Then to follow it up with the hit. She's a great player and it was just great to see her come through in those two moments and get the attention she deserves. It's just exciting for everyone to see her have that moment."
Delaware got to pitcher Ariella Bell for a first-inning run, Ashlyn Troxler ripping a single and cleanup hitter Danica Bergh driving a triple to the fence.
But Bell buckled down, finishing with nine strikeouts, and caught a break when Lutz banged what appeared to be a triple in the third. Lutz dove headfirst into the bag, a play that is prohibited for safety reasons in Little League, and was called out.
Troxler followed with what would have been an RBI single, but Bell's changeup led to a strikeout to work out of trouble.
"Ariella is a true number one and really a leader of the team," Forgione said. "We know she's gonna always keep us in the game. In these tournaments, you know they have a phenomenal lineup, the top of their lineup is as good as you'll see.
"She certainly bent a little bit but never broke and to hold them to one run against the lineup with the players and hitters they have, that's really impressive. And we need great defense behind her. That's what we were able to do to stay in the tournament."
It helped that North Pocono was able to score, for the second game in a row, without a base hit.
Clementoni raced home with the tying run in the bottom of the second on a bizarre sequence that started with a leadoff walk.
Delucy's groundout moved Clementoni up 60 feet, and Anna Havenstrite reached on a throwing error. On the play, Delaware threw across the diamond to try to catch Clementoni off guard, and North Pocono tried to take advantage with no one protecting second base as Havenstrite tried to get into scoring position.
Instead, Delaware's third baseman sprinted to second and tagged Havenstrite, allowing Clementoni to break for home with the tying run.
"We're assuming they're just going to give us second base," Forgione said. "I wasn't sure I was seeing what I was seeing when the girl took off to tag her at second base. The kid's a phenomenal athlete on third base and made a great play, but it also worked out for us. It certainly wasn't a play we drew up that way, or something you see all the time, but it worked in our favor."
So did the timely hitting.
"We've not played our offense yet," Forgione said. "We faced some very good pitchers, but we've been finding a way with very few hits to squeak out runs. I think we scored three runs on two hits yesterday. And a couple runs on not very many hits (three) today. So you know, we're opportunistic, we run the bases well. and we've gotten some key hits.
"That's really who we're going to be offensively moving forward."
North Pocono moves on to play New Jersey/New York in another elimination game Thursday night at 7, with that winner playing New Jersey/NewYork on Friday at 7 for the regional title and a trip to the World Series, Aug. 6-13, in Greenville, N.C.
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