Abington Heights Bri Bustos is determined to score from third base.
Abington’s Brigid O’Malley, crosses home to add to the Lady Comets score.
Riley McColligan, lays down a bunt to advance a runner into scoring position for the Lady Comets.
Eva Kane, of Abington Heights tosses to first following a diving stop at second base.
CLARKS SUMMIT – By the time the first inning of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association first-round game was over June 1, it was abundantly clear that Adrianna Condrad was ready for the state tournament.
The junior left-hander struck out the first three Upper Moreland hitters in the top of the first inning and launched a two-run homer as her team’s second batter to send the Lady Comets into the Class 5A quarterfinals with a 6-0 victory.
Condrad struck out 16 while holding Upper Moreland to three hits. She finished the game the way she started it, with three straight strikeouts.
“These were definitely some of the hardest hitters I had to face all year, minus maybe Valley View and North Pocono,” Condrad said. “So it was definitely one of my biggest games so far.”
Eva Kane matched Condrad’s two-run homer, landing in a similar spot beyond the fence in right-center field, but after taking different flight paths.
Kane led off the bottom of the first with a walk, giving her an excellent view of Condrad’s towering shot. There was plenty of time to watch it sail.
“I was just looking for something I could drive,” Condrad said. “I wasn’t thinking crush the ball, but just hit the ball and see where it goes.”
Avery Venesky was on first after a two-out walk and a stolen base in the fifth, but she might have missed Kane’s homer if she blinked. Kane lined a two-strike pitch that left the field in a hurry.
“She was throwing a really good curveball,” said Kane, who was remembering a strikeout in her previous at-bat when she came to the plate. “So, I knew I needed to stay on it, keep my hands on the ball, keep my head on the ball.
“I was looking for something just to poke, but it ended up going a lot farther than just a poke.”
Condrad and Avary Brister followed Kane’s homer with consecutive doubles to make it 5-0.
Brianna Bustos reached on an error to start the sixth, then used her legs to add the final run. She stole second, got to third on Riley McColligan’s sacrifice bunt and turned an Evelyn Henkels popout to the shortstop at the edge of the cutout into a sacrifice fly by properly anticipating that the fielder had reached the ball at an angle that made a strong throw difficult.
Upper Moreland’s only threat came in the second on back-to-back singles after Condrad had struck out the first four. The first inning saw her throw nine of 11 pitches for strikes and get five straight swings and misses to end an inning in which the only contact was one foul ball.
“I was charting hitters before this, so I had a pretty good idea of what they were hitting and what they were missing,” Condrad said. “I tried to really focus in on that.
“I was hitting my spots today, so I knew that even if they hit it, the girls behind me were getting the ball so it worked out.”
Condrad was nearly as strong at the end. She retired 11 of the last 12 batters, with the exception being an infield error, striking out eight in the process.
“It was a great team win,” Kane said. “We all deserve it.”
The Lady Comets (22-1) advance to face District 1 champion West Chester East (22-2) in the June 4 quarterfinals. West Chester East defeated Greencastle-Antrim 5-1.
