Sports
Wieland Looking Forward to Reunion of Chester All Stars
Courtney Wieland and the Chester County stars fell one game short of the finals in the 2011 Carpenter Cup.
PHILADELPHIA- “Failure is not an option,” said Pottsgrove junior Jessica Kurtz, who shrugged off the effect of a bruised knee from Monday’s action to help lead the Chester County all stars to two consecutive wins, eliminating two squads on Wednesday morning.
It wasn’t failure that ended the Chester County team's hopes of a Carpenter Cup championship.
Heat, fatigue, a hard-hitting Lehigh Valley squad and perhaps most of all ghost runners were the culprits that put an end to the day for a very talented Chester County club.
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After rolling to back-to-back wins to start the day, Lehigh Valley and an eight-run first inning put the brakes on Chester County’s roll to the finals with a 9-3 loss.
In international and Carpenter Cup play when you have a rostered player missing, you must take an out for their spot in the batting order. The rule is meant to prevent sand bagging and stacking of teams, but on this day it was too much to overcome in the sweltering heat and offensive barrage lunched in the first inning of the game to determine who would play the Suburban One League all stars for the title.
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“It sucks to have to give up six to eight outs a game,” said Chester County manager Brooke Tymeson. “In a tournament of this caliber, every out is so important. To have to give up any of them is hard enough but it cost us 12 outs in the first two games, which we were able to overcome and still win the games.”
Kurtz and Falcons' teammate Taylor Robinson combined for a 3-for-6, run, 2 RBI performance in a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Catholic League all stars and continued to shred the ball in the second game leading Chester County to a 3-2 extra-inning win to eliminate Berks County.
“We have to come out and hit,” said Kurtz. “My knee is fine. It will have time to heal in the summer. We have really had fun playing with each other, and this team has come together in a very short time to really have some chemistry. It’s tough playing back-to-back, but we are used to doing it in tournaments.”
It takes more than bat to carry a team to a CC title. It requires some lights out pitching against the best the area has to offer, which Owen J. Roberts junior Maddie Galdi was happy to supply.
In the first wins of the day Galdi was un-hittable as she pitched in both contests recording 6 K’s, 0 earned runs, while not allowing a base hit in seven innings of work.
Galdi, who had an opportunity in regulation to win the Berks County game, scored the game winner in the bottom of the eighth inning as she stole third and raced home as the throw got by the third baseman.
“I wanted to make up for striking out with the bases loaded," said Galdi. “I was so glad to be able to score the run there for us to win. I stole because the catcher bobbled the ball a little but then when she threw the ball away the third basemen was on top of me at first. I had to move her off of me and score the run. This had been such a great experience, even though we have played some tough games today.”
“This has been an amazing experience,” said Phoenixville junior Courtney Wieland. “It stinks that we had a couple of people not show up today and two injuries. I think we could have really had a chance to win this. These girls have been so much fun to play and practice with. I have 14 new friends.”
Even though the group fell short of its goal to make it to the final three teams left, it did not dampen the spirits of their head coach.
“I have coached in every Carpenter Cup and have had many teams,” said Tymeson. “This is by far the best team I have ever coached here. To win this many games against the quality of opponents here and give away a third of our outs is incredible. They have made it a point to tell us how much fun they have had and believe me when I say it has been my privilege and pleasure to work with these remarkable young women. They have all bonded so well, like they have played together for years, which honestly does not happen every year.”
“I am very proud to have played with this team,” said Brittany Shoemaker, who has actually had to get a note from her parents to play all week as Perkiomen Valley had the last day of school today. “It has been great to win games here and have a chance to showcase what we can do as a team and individuals. If we had everybody here today and could have stayed away from a couple of injuries , who knows what we would could do.”
It may be remembered as a case of what might have been as Chester County could not catch a break. One player came down with the flu, another suffered an injury, the ghost out situation was appalling and perhaps the biggest bullet left out of the Chester County gun was not having the services of strike out machine Kate Poppe from Bishop Shanahan, who broke her foot last week while playing wiffle ball. With the lethal combination of Galdi and Poppe, there may have been no limit to what this team could have accomplished.
“I am so excited to be a part of this,” said PJP2 catcher Patsy Murphy. “Of course it’s tough playing a lot of games in one day, but we all love to play softball. “We all have built confidence in each other and really have gotten to know and respect each other for travel ball coming up and next season.”
“I will see most of these girls in the next few months playing travel,” added Courtney Wieland. “We all know each other just a little better than we did and I can not wait to see them at tournaments. Even though we didn’t get to the championship game, I am happy with the way we played.”
Schedule for Championship Day
9 a.m.- Game #29-Mercer County vs. Lehigh Valley
11 a.m.– Game #30-Winner of Game #29 vs SOL American and Continental
1 p.m. – Game #31-if necessary the same opponents as game #30
9 a.m. Game Box Score:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Phila Catholic
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
3
1
Chester County
1
0
1
0
3
0
X
5
10
1
11 a.m. Game Box Score:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
Berks County
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
7
2
Chester County
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
1
3
7
1
3 p.m. Game Box Score:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Chester County
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
3
7
1
Lehigh Valley
8
0
0
0
0
1
X
9
7
0
Composite stats from all three games today:
School
Player
POS
AB
R
H
RBI
PG
Robinson
Of
10
2
6
2
PG
Kurtz
Of
11
0
4
3
PJP2
Murphy
C
4
1
0
0
PV
Shoemaker
Of
10
5
4
1
OJR
Galdi
P
4
1
1
0
PHX
Wieland
1b
3
0
0
0
Pitching stats
SCHL
Player
G
IP
R
ER
H
BB
K
W/L/S
OJR
Galdi
3
10
5
2
6
3
6
1W, 1S
