Friday Flashback - September 23, 2013
By: Kevin Weller | NTL Sports | March 29, 2019 | Photo courtesy Kevin Weller
Elm Park, Williamsport PA, 9/23/13 - St. John Neumann 7/8th Grade Softball jumps on Jersey Shore early and coasts to 11-1 win.
In one of the most memorable and greatest upsets in SJNRA softball history, the underdog Lady Knights upset the heavily favored Jersey Shore Lady Dawgs, in a ten-run mercy rule victory. Anne Weller pitched a 2-hitter, stifling the Jersey Shore bats, and struck out 7.
The Knights' first five hitters of the 1st inning sliced through the Shore pitching. Cheyenne Danneker, Shayna McNamee, Alexis Griess, Anne Weller, and Gabrielle Lisi were hot right from the start, collecting 5 consecutive hits and scoring 5 runs off JS starting pitcher Samantha Ewing, to put Neumann up 5-0 after the first inning.
The Lady Knights never looked back, scoring 3 additional runs in the second on Anne's 3-run home run to deep left, and 2 more runs in the third on an Alexis Griess triple, to extend the lead to 10-1. Great Knights defense preserved the lead in the 4th inning, as Griess gunned down Alyssa Stover on a pickoff at first base, and Brooke French hauled in a long fly to center field off the bat of Makenna Russell.
Brooke helped the cause again in the bottom of the fourth inning, slapping a single to right field. Shore's relief pitcher, Montana Ohl was so rattled that she threw 2 wild pitches, as Brooke advanced to second and then to third base. An errant throw by Shore catcher Stover to third allowed French to steal home, scoring the 11th run for Neumann, and invoking the 10-run mercy rule.
Jersey Shore was down to their last chance in the top of the 5th inning, with their 3 best hitters, Ohl, Janel Eck, and Brianna Herman due up, and their pride on the line. Anne Weller induced two weak Shore hits to the right side, and first baseman Shayna McNamee gobbled them up for easy outs. Weller struck out Pie to end the game, as the Neumann crowd went wild, giving head coach Barbie Stopper a resounding victory over her Alma Mater.
