Winners of five of its last seven games, Bishop McDevitt's youth-laden softball team is striving to become a District 3-AA playoff entrant.
Typically, only teams that play the game steadily and consistently live to play in the postseason. And while a maturation process is a season-long climb, the Crusaders (7-8) are consistently becoming, well, consistent.
Lizzy Noss allowed seven mostly harmless hits to Middletown during McDevitt's six-inning, 11-1 victory over the Blue Raiders on Wednesday. That's the same Middletown team that thumped Mechanicsburg on Tuesday and the same Blue Raider squad that hung a 12-spot on McDevitt on April 9.
"We were No. (11) in the power ratings (10 teams advance in Class AA) and we have two wins since,'' McDevitt coach Tony Botek said. "But you can see, even in the LD game (a 10-3 loss last Thursday), the girls hung in there except for that one inning. And tonight we didn't allow that one inning to happen.
"They got themselves in some jams but they bore down and got out of it,'' Botek said. "Good solid defense. If we continue to play defense we'll win ball games.''
Noss quieted a heavy-hitting Middletown (8-7) offense by keeping the ball low (10 ground-ball outs) and moving it around. Her strikeout total was a modest four; her number of walks was a perfect zero.
"It's location, location, location,'' Botek said about Noss. "She hits her spots. She's not an overpowering pitcher but she's definitely a spot pitcher and she did an excellent job at it.''
McDevitt got to Middletown pitcher Sarah Gossard early; Gossard and her Blue Raider mates had won five of their last seven games including Tuesday's eight-inning thriller over Mechanicsburg.
But left-handed slap-hitters Megan Hartwell and Abby Marzzacco walked and blooped in a single, respectively, to start the Crusaders' half of the first and Sara Phelan lined a shot to right for the first run. Phelan was 2-for-3 and drove in a run in each of her four at-bats (single-sacrifice fly-ground out-single).
A throwing error allowed McDevitt to score twice more before Gossard picked up two of her six strikeouts to end the inning.
Marzzacco, Phelan (2) and Sophie Lehigh had the next four RBI to go up 7-1 after four innings. A four-spot in the sixth ended the game early as Hartwell, Lehigh, Phelan and Noss scored, the last two on a hit by pinch-hitter Emily Breski.
"It's just repetition with the girls,'' Botek said. "We're starting to see the confidence in them develop.''
Middletown's confidence-building win on Tuesday didn't carry over, although the Blue Raiders' lineup was more than slightly altered. Leading hitter Halle Marion has been ill and first baseman Cindy Becker has a concussion. Another was ill with bronchitis but still played.
Emilee Ernst singled to open the fourth inning, advanced on a passed ball and wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Carlie Wolfe for Middletown's only run.
"For some reason the girls had their heads down the whole game,'' coach Michael Thomas said. "We had to do a little switching in the infield.
"We were riding high, beating teams we lost to. This team we beat before (12-8). We just didn't have our heads up. It just wasn't there today,'' Thomas said.
"We just have to get back on the horse on Friday (vs. Hershey) and start winning again.''