FOUNTAIN SPRINGS - The left side of the North Schuylkill defense should be nicknamed "The Black Hole."
When Line Mountain (3-5 overall) was able to get a bat on a Cassie Lapotsky pitch during its game with the Spartans (6-4 overall) on Saturday, it was usually swallowed up and turned into an out.
And whether the out was easy or not, third baseman Robyn Orth and shortstop Madison Newhouser, certainly made it seem easy.
The result of their defense, joined with a combined offensive effort that included four hits in six combined at-bats with four runs scored, three RBI and two extra-base hits, was a 10-0 non-league Spartans' win.
"Our defense is tough," North Schuylkill head coach Dominic Grasso said. "(Robyn) has to be the best third basemen in the
Schuylkill League, and she's batting over .500. She has to be a premiere player.
"I don't care against who, Pottsville, Pine Grove, she always plays well. I haven't seen any better in the last two years."
Orth drove in the game's last run to end it in the fifth with the mercy rule, and both she and Newhouser hit towering shots into the outfield.
After scratching out a 3-0 win over Blue Mountain, those other Eagles, on Friday, North Schuylkill had runs aplenty. Newhouser scored three, and nearly ran down Courtney McGrath when rounding the bases after Newhouser's triple in the first inning.
As it was, McGrath scored the game's first run, and added another in the third inning when North Schuylkill sent 10 batters to the plate and scored four runs.
Brianna Schlauch also scored multiple runs for the Spartans. Driving in the runs were Lapotsky with three RBI and Dana Achenbach with two runs driven in on a fourth-inning single.
"We started hitting," Grasso said. "And that's a good thing to start doing. Like I've said before, I thought we needed a little bit of a break, and maybe this was it. We have the heavy-duty teams coming up again. Who knows, maybe it was the sunny weather?"
The weather for once this season was satisfactory enough (sunny and in the 60's) for the Eagles to take the field, something that hasn't happened much for the Eagles during the spring.
Perhaps it was the shock of the sun, or that the Eagles played a nine-inning game the night before, but Line Mountain languished at the plate, striking out eight times and getting only two hits, one from Kasey Long and one from losing pitcher Jenna Wheary.
"Because of the weather, we haven't been able to get practices in outside and being able to see some live pitching, other than being in the cage or at hitting stations," Line Mountain head coach Jordan Taraschuk said. "I think that's been the biggest thing with our rhythm, when we get outside we're like, 'What's this?'"
This game, which had originally been scheduled for April 6, was pushed back like so many. North Schuylkill has already played one doubleheader this season, while Line Mountain has two doubleheaders scheduled in the same week later in the season.
"We're going to keep working, and we have a stretch coming up," Taraschuk said. "We're going to play a lot of games, so we've got to be ready."
Game Summary
LINE MOUNTAIN (AB-R-H-BI) - K. Long 3-0-1-0, Copson 3-0-0-0, Witmer 2-0-0-0, Fessler 1-0-0-0, Bradigan 2-0-0-0, Wheary 1-0-1-0, Wingert 2-0-0-0, Masser 1-0-0-0, B. Long 2-0-0-0, Menko 0-0-0-0. Totals 17-0-2-0.
NORTH SCHUYLKILL (AB-R-H-BI) - Orth 3-1-2-1, McGrath 1-2-0-0, Newhouser 3-3-2-2, Lapotsky 3-1-2-3, Schlauch 1-2-0-0, Achenbach 3-0-1-2, Bolinsky 2-0-0-0, Smith 2-0-0-0, Pennypacker 1-0-0-0, Cappel 3-1-1-1. Totals 22-10-8-9.
Line Mountain 000 00 - 0 2 1
North Schuylkill 204 31 - 10 8 0
2B - Orth. 3B - Newhouser.
IP H R ER BB K
Line Mountain
Wheary 4.1 8 10 9 7 2
North Schuylkill
Lapotsky 5 2 0 0 3 8