Hempfield bats come alive to top Fox Chapel softball

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, April 25, 2018 | 10:15 PM

It may not be 46 games, but Hempfield softball again has a winning streak.

Through a misty rain and uncharacteristic control issues from starting pitcher Maddie Uschock, the Spartans picked up a second straight victory by dropping Fox Chapel, 9-1, on Wednesday evening.

Allison Podkul went 3 for 3 with a pair of RBI singles, Ashley Orischak drove in three runs and Megan Monzo doubled twice for top-ranked Hempfield (7-1, 6-0), which remained unbeaten in Section 2-6A play.

“It just kind of clicked today,” Podkul said. “The momentum of the team helps everything too, and it turned out good today.”

But the Spartans' dynamic offense failed to click off the hop, failing to push a run across the first time through the order. But the second at-bats made for better results, as Hempfield brought 24 batters to the plate in the middle three innings.

“Our coach told us before the game that we need to jump on them early,” Monzo said. “I think it's just seeing a number of pitches, relaxing at the plate and getting adjusted.”

The Foxes (4-5, 3-4) got off to an initial edge as senior Eva Speacht made Uschock pay for two of her seven walks by plating Fox Chapel's only run with a double in the third.

Hempfield never blinked and, in the following half inning, grabbed the lead after Samantha Kline's pop-up was dropped by Fox Chapel left fielder Lea Prato. Three runs scored on the play that would have been the inning's final out. The Spartans added another run in the third to go ahead 4-1.

The following inning, another two-out error and a pair of run-scoring singles by Orischak and Podkul ballooned the Hempfield advantage. Orischak capped the scoring the following frame by bringing in two more with a base hit.

Uschock settled down and, despite a brief rain delay, ended up striking out 11 batters.

“The terrain out in front of the rubber was spongy and soft,” Hempfield coach Bob Kalp said. “Because of there being so much rain today, it was causing her some problems. But she battled it out and only gave up two hits.”

The victory for Hempfield is its second straight since Sunday's surprising 7-3 loss to Penn-Trafford, a Class 5A team. The Spartans turned around and handed Latrobe its first defeat Monday in a battle for first place in the section.

“I liked the bounce back Monday,” Kalp said. “It was the perfect opportunity to come to the conclusion that we're not the team that won 27 games last year. It was a perfect opportunity to just pack it in. We didn't. We didn't play great, but we played well enough to win. We battled.”

Hempfield will look to make it three consecutive wins when it travels to Penn Hills Thursday. Fox Chapel will play a key contest against Norwin.

Josh Rowntree is a TribLive High School Sports Network broadcaster.

Tags: Fox Chapel, Hempfield Area