Parkland softball starts fast, rolls to EPC playoff win over Freedom – lehighvalleylive.com

The Parkland softball team took on defending Eastern Pennsylvania Conference champion Freedom on Thursday in a conference quarterfinal.

The teams meeting in the regular season was a high-scoring game that saw the Trojans beat the Patriots 11-9 on April 14.

Parkland controlled the rematch from the start, scoring four runs in the first inning and then added three runs each in the fifth and sixth frames to post a 10-0 home victory in six innings.

We were all pretty nervous, but getting up in the first inning really relaxed all of us, Parkland senior shortstop Jenna Piatkiewicz said. Then, we were just getting the bat on the ball.

The second-seeded Trojans will play third-seeded Emmaus in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Monday at Patriots Park in Allentown. The Green Hornets beat sixth-seeded Whitehall 4-3 in a quarterfinal on Thursday.

Trojans senior pitcher Ashlyn Hillanbrand struck out 10 batters and held Freedom to four hits on the day.

The senior struck out the side in the second inning and had two strikeouts each in the first and fifth frames.

Hillanbrand only allowed four singles and didnt let a runner reach third base in the game.

It was a very different story from the teams meeting in the regular season where Freedom scored nine runs on 11 hits against the Trojans.

We started to work inside and outside. Both areas, Hillanbrand said of the first meeting. We noticed that helped a lot. I think the day before we played them, we played Emmaus 12 hours earlier. It was an eight-inning game. It was just tough to wake up at 9 in the morning and be ready.

Im happy because shes matured. Shes working on better locations, Trojans coach Barry Search said of the pitcher. Shes doing a great job for us. She keeps us in ball games. She gives us the possibility to be successful.

Parklands first seven batters in the first inning reached base. Piatkiewicz hit an infield single to lead off the game. Two batters later, senior second baseman Cassidy Sweeney had an RBI single for the Trojans. After a single by senior third baseman Shana Gugliandolo, junior center fielder Evelyn Montone drove a two-run single into left field to increase the lead to 3-0. Senior left fielder Ashlyn Cope added an RBI fielders choice for Parkland in the opening inning.

Sophomore catcher Morgan Schultz made it a 6-0 lead with a two-run single in the fifth inning. Piatkiewicz followed with an RBI single.

The Trojans got an RBI single from senior right fielder Lucia Ruimy in the sixth frame. The game ended early when Piatkiewicz hit a two-run single.

We needed to work on hitting, Montone said. Through the season, we progressed. It got better. And today we had 12 hits.

Piatkiewicz went 4-for-5 with a pair of RBIs for Parkland.

Montone went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs for the Trojans, who improved to 15-5 on the season.

Parklands Cope reached base in all three of her plate appearances.

Sophomore shortstop Madison Glick had two hits for the Patriots, who fell to 12-9 on the year.

The Trojans have split the season series with the Green Hornets. Parkland lost to Emmaus 2-0 at home on April 13 and then rebounded for an 8-3 road win last Thursday.

Its equal, Search said of the matchup against Emmaus. Its going to be one of those 50-50 shots, I think. If were on and we can hit the ball, its going to be good for us. If we cant do that, they have a very good team and theyre also doing a great job. Its almost identical records. I think it was a matter of a one-hundredth power point that separated us and them. Theyre equal teams.

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Josh Folck may be reached at jfolck@lehighvalleylive.com.

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Parkland softball starts fast, rolls to EPC playoff win over Freedom - lehighvalleylive.com