The
Lady Lightning Travel program holds tryouts in August and September of each Fall.
Online registration for the tryouts is available starting in late July. Travel
teams hold weekly indoor practices starting in January. Each team will set it’s
own schedule, and depending on age and commitment, the schedules can range from
35-60 games including 5 to 8 tournaments. The outdoor season runs from April through
July. Most games are played in Southeastern, PA - tournaments take place all over
the Mid-Atlantic region.
Deep
Run Lady Lightning 16U Travel Softball Team participated in the USSSA World Series
in Salisbury Maryland June 22-27, 2007. The coaches were extremely proud of their
overall 3-3 record, as many of the 58 teams from East of the Misssissippi were
USSSA state or regional champions. Playing opponents from Virginia, Maryland,
Delaware, and Illinois, the Lady Lightning played some of the their best ball
of the season. The girls upheld the Deep Run tradition of playing with character
and poise , giving it their best effort throughout each game.
Erica
Smale shouldered the pitching duties in 35 of the 42 innings of play, with Kelby
Bolton stepping in for for a tough game against the Norhern Illinois Thunder.
Their battery mates, Abbey Frost and Val Weiss, platooned behind the plate in
the 90+ degree heat, with each providing their best defensive games of the season.
Bolton, Alicia Deteweiler, Alycia Stiles, Alicia Sarnese, and Alicia (oops) Courtney
Adams all contributed extra base hits through the week. Sarah Denard at second
base, along with Alex Faccenda, Tess Bender, Carly Hughes, and Lauren Wilson in
the outfield, provided error free performances for all six games.
Front
Row L to R, Tess Bender (OF), Abbey Frost (C, OF), Lauren Wilson (OF), Alex Faccenda
(OF), Erica Smale (P, OF) Back Row L to R, Kelby Bolton (P, OF, 2B), Cosmo
Adams (1B), Sarah Denard (2B), Alycia Stiles (SS), Val Weiss (C, 1B), Alicia Sarnese
(P, 2B, OF), Carly Hughes (OF), Alicia Detweiler (3B).
14U
Lady Lighting softball squad took first place in the 13th annual Hopewell Valley
Girls Softball Classic - held June 23 and 24 in Ewing New Jersey. On championship
Sunday the Lightning won 3 straight to take the crown. In their opening game the
Lightning defeated the Ewing Edge 6-4 behind the strong pitching of Hannah Campbell.
Ali Vavala led the Lightning at the plate with 2 hits and 2 runs scored. Rachel
Policare added a key double knocking in 2 runs. In game two vs the Abington Angels
Tara Canning hurled a no hitter striking out 9 while walking 0. At the plate Jordan
Villella went 2 for 2 scoring 2 of the Lady Lightnings runs before heading for
Las Vegas to celebrate. Alexis Detweiler added two hits in the victory including
a key double. Jess Youk drew two walks and stroked a single while scoring 2
Pictured
Left to Right: Front Row:Hannah Campbell, Rachel Policare, Bat Girl Olivia
Campbell Second Row:Ali Vavala, Megan Martin, Salina Allebach, Brittany Aughenbaugh,
Tara Canning Third Row:Ashley Ferrante, Jess Youk, Alexis Detweiler, Amber
Viall, Amanda Koenig. Missing from picture: Jordan "Vegas" Villella
runs.
Brittany Aughenbaugh added a single and was solid in defense at first base. The
final score was Deep Run 10-0. Campbell returned to the mound in game 3 against
the host team, the Hopewell Renegades. Slappers Megan Martin and Vavala along
with Jess Youk each had 3 hits in the 13-6 victory. Ashley Ferrante and Policare
each added two hits including a double for each. Canning entered the game in relief
of Campbell in the 4th to close the door on the Renegades. Amber Viall caught
all 3 games on Sunday throwing out 4 runners attempting to steal. Amanda Koenig
threw 7 strong innings in the pool play games on Saturday. For the tournament
Salina Alleabach had 7 hits including two doubles, Vavala, Villella, and Youk
each had 8 hits. In her 5th year with the Lady Lightning Jess Youk proved to be
the difference in the championship game with her 7 assists and 3 put outs during
the game. Youk, one of the strongest shortstops in the area, made both the routine
play and the stellar play throughout the tournament.
10U
Travel Team took the runner-up trophy at the York Invitational Softball Tournament
on the weekend of June 16 & 17 - Saturday pool play ended with one
win and one loss, plus the highlight of the day - an intensely fought 1-1 seven
inning tie against the Donegal Indians, featuring an 18 strikeout complete game
performance by Julia Rufe in the circle. Sunday elimination play started against
North Carroll. The Lady Lightning trailed 3 to 2 after 4 innings but sent 21 batters
to the plate in the fifth to seal the victory. Karlie McCreary reached base
3 times during that extended half inning. The second round featured a rematch
against
Donegal, with Rufe striking
out 17 batters enroute to a 5-2 victory. The PA Shooting Stars jumped ahead early
and never looked back in the championship game, as Deep Run was unable to generate
any offense.
Shown
here with their trophies: Front row, l to r: Alison Horne, Emily Mayhew, Haley
Taylor, Becca Tate, Karlie McCreary, Bridget Casey, Erica Hrinko Back row:
Becca Shanks, Julia Cardie, Liz Nace, Julia Rufe, Alex Villella
Deep
Run Lady Lightning runners up in the Coventry cobras USSSA U18 World Series Qualifier
in Limerick PA - The Lady Lightning of Hilltown PA lost 1-0 in
the rain shortened championship game vs. a tough Chester County Stars squad on
June 3rd. The Lightning were led by the stellar pitching of Megan Rice and
the power hitting of Chelsea Dolan. Rice notched both victories on Sunday while
Dolan homered, tripled, doubled scoring 5 runs during the tourney. Rice added
4 hits to her dominating pitching. Sarah Long added 5 hits including a triple
and 2 doubles, Pam Richter had 4 hits and a key sacrifice bunt to help plate the
winning run in the first Sunday game. Kelby Bolton had 3 hits including a home
run, while Brianna Antrim and Jess Coll both collected 2 hits along with
a pair of
runs each. Niki Pasquarella had 2 hits in the Sat. games. Jaime Schwartz collected
4 hits and was tremendous at shortstop providing excellent support behind the
strong right arm of Rice. Brittany Martin provided excellent catching including
2 close plays at home that kept the championship hopes of the Lightning alive.
Jodi Ntem provided excellent defense at 2nd base and drove in the winning run
in the first Sunday game With the victory the Lightning earned a spot in the
USSSA Class A Nationals
Deep
Run 12U Travel Wins Oley Valley Softball Tournament
- The Deep Run Lady Lightning 12U travel
softball team posted a perfect 6-0 record to capture first place in the Oley Valley
Invitational Softball Tournament over the weekend. In Saturday’s pool play
action, the Lady Lightning defeated the Lebanon Heat, Central Pa. Xplosion, and
previously unbeaten Brandywine to go 3-0 on the day and earned the number two
seed heading into Sunday’s championship round. In their first game on
Sunday, Deep Run pounded out 14 hits and received strong pitching from Allie Desko
to beat Spring Township 9-1. Taylor Schwartz and Laura Alderfer led the offensive
attack with three hits each, and Sarah Yerk, Brooke
Labs,
and Kristen Kriebel chipped in with two hits apiece. The semi-final game was a
rematch against Brandywine with Paige DeCew pitching for Deep Run. Ahead 4-2 going
into the fifth inning, Brandywine took a 5-4 lead on a booming triple to deep
left field, and Deep Run trailed for the first time in the tournament. The Lady
Lightning responded by posting nine runs in the bottom half of the inning and
brought the game to an abrupt end due to the 8-run mercy rule. Taylor Schwartz
had another monster game, going 4-4 with two doubles. Meghann Haney and Morgan
Leatherman also collected key hits during the nine run outburst. The championship
game featured a match-up between two undefeated teams, Deep Run and Kutztown,
with Allie Desko back in the circle pitching for the Lady Lightning. Kutztown
scored the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly on which centerfielder Rachel
Kulp made an outstanding catch to prevent any further damage. Deep Run rallied
for two runs in the third on singles by Desko and Yerk and a RBI double by Laura
Alderfer. They added two more in the fifth after a bunt single by Kriebel and
hits by Desko, Yerk, and Kulp. Some fine defensive plays helped keep Kutztown
off the board until they scored in the sixth inning, and Desko retired Kutztown
in order in the seventh to secure a 5-2 victory and the tournament championship.
10U
Travel Takes 2nd Place at Chester Stars Invitational Softball Classic
- At this past weekend’s Chester Stars Invitational Softball Classic, the
Deep Run 10U travel softball team brought home the second place trophy, dropping
a hard fought 13-12 decision in Sunday’s championship game. After getting
through Saturday’s three game qualification round, Deep Run opened Sunday’s
single elimination play by defeating the 2nd seeded PA Shooting Stars 15-7
In the semi-finals Deep Run took on the Wilmington, Delaware Orange Crush. While
posting runs in each of the first four innings, The Lady Lightning were lead by
pitcher Julia Rufe to a 9-6 victory. A late Crush rally was stopped by the fine
defense work of left fielder Liz Nace and second baseman Rebecca Tate. A three
hit performance was turned in by Alison Horne, while Erica
Hrinkoscored
two runs. Villella also added two hits for Deep Run while Taylor put the game
out of reach with a two-run home run. In the finals,
Deep Run took on the New Jersey Nightmare. Deep Run took a 6-0 lead after two
innings on the strong pitching of Emily Mayhew. The Nightmare clawed there way
back to take a 10-8 lead at the end of the fourth. Deep Run regained the lead
11-10 in the top of the fifth inning on a timely two-out single that scored two
runs by Rebecca Shanks and added what looked to be an insurance run to take a
12-10 lead into the bottom of the sixth. But a bases loaded two-strike two-out
single drove in the winning runs for the Nightmare.
Pictured
Left to Right: Front row: Emily
Mayhew, Julia Cardie, Haley Taylor, Rebecca Shanks, Liz Nace Back row:
Karlie McCreary, Julia Rufe, Bridgett Casey, Alexandra Villella, Erica Hrinko,
Rebecca Shanks Missing from Photo:Allison Horne, Sydney Rose, Kristina Posner
Megan
Rice Earns Player of the Week Honors By Tossing a Perfect Game - Deep
Run Lady Lightning 18U Travel player and Messiah College freshman Megan Rice (Pipersville,
PA/Christopher Dock) picked up her second win of the season as she hurled a perfect
game in a 9-0 win over Mary-Baldwin College. Rice faced just 15 batters as the
Falcons (3-2) won the five inning affair. She struck out four for the game. Rice
also picked up a hit and scored a run to help her own cause. Megan earned Commonwealth
Conference pitcher of the week honors for her performance. Congratulations Megan
from all the Lady Lightning on your outstanding start in College Softball!
2006 Highlights
U12
Travel Team: Head Coach: Rob Martin
Team Roster
U16
Travel Team: Head Coach: Bob Bunce
Team Roster
U18
Travel Team: Head Coach: Rob Martin
Team Roster
The Deep Run Lady Lightning 10U softball team posted a 4-1 record (third
best out of 14 teams) in their first tournament outing at the Clark Summer Classic
in Clark, NJ in the sweltering heat of July 29 and 30. The team went 3 and 0 with
one shutout through Saturday pool play, highlighted by a 5-4 come from behind
thriller against the strong host team from Clark. Sunday play started solidly
with a 6-5 come back win in an extra inning tie-breaker game. The team's outstanding
weekend ended in the semi-finals to the eventual tournament winners, a very powerful
team from Colonia, NJ. Pictured Left to Right: Front row: Alex Villella, Courtney Seidel Second row: Bridget
Casey, Alyx Danberry, Meghann Haney, Brooke Labs Third row: Liz Nace, Becca
Shanks, Julia Cardie, Emily Mayhew, Paige Decew, Julia Rufe, Becca Tate, Alison
Horne
The
2006 Deep Run Lady Lightning 12U Travel Team qualified for the 2006 NSA Class
"B" Girls Youth Fastpitch World Series held in the Salem/Roanoke Virginia
area starting on July 22, 2006, by taking First place
in the Buxmont
Travel Softball League. The team consisted of S. Allebach, H. Campbell, T. Canning,
A. Detweiler, A. Ferrante, A. Koenig, M. Leatherman, M. Martin, R. Policare, H.
Seiz, J. Villella, J. Youk. The team attended opening ceremonies on July 23 and
then started pool play on July 24 at the Darrell Shell complex against the Yorktown
Revolution and winning 6–3. The next day brought a tough opponent in the
Triangle Lightning from North
Carolina and Deep Run took a loss of 10-1. The team was the second seed entering
bracket play for their pool and played the Bayside Breeze from Maryland and lost
5-2. Thursday morning the opponent was a local team from the Pottstown area the
Coventry Cobras and the Deep Run team won 8-4 eliminating the Cobras. The next
game that day was against the Richmond Rampage of Virginia and unfortunately the
Deep Run team was eliminated from the tournament by a score of 10-0. The record
at the tournament was 2 wins and 3 loses, while overall team record for the season
was 28-11-1. The team enjoyed lots of fun and fellowship at the pool, pin swap,
dinners, and just having fun at the hotel during the off hours. With the previous
experience of pitching at the Pony Nationals as a 10U player Hannah Campbell led
the way on the mound while Holly Seiz paced the Lightning at the plate hitting
.400 for the tournament while providing excellent catching during the tournament.
The
Deep Run Lady Lightning U-12 Travel Girls Fastpitch Softball team placed
second at the Oley Valley Tournament on June 4th. Saturday’s games were rained
out but the entire tournament was played in one day. The Lightning played 6 games
on Sunday the first 5 games were one hour long games, with the Championship Game
going only 6 innings due to darkness. The team had come within one game of the
finals several times during the season, but this time was successful in making
it to the finals. Going into the bottom of the 6th inning the Lightning were ahead
and only 3 outs from the Championship but the Lancaster Lazers proved to be too
strong and came back for the win in the bottom of the inning.
Front Row kneeling - T. Canning, H. Campbell, A. Detweiler,
J. Villella, M. Martin. 2nd Row - M. Leatherman. 3rd Row - A. Ferrante, H. Seiz,
S. Allebach, A. Koenig, J. Youk. Back Row - Assistant Coach Scott Campbell, Head
Coach Rob Martin, and Assistant Coach Joanne Youk.
Pictured with the Keith Oates Good Sportsmanship Award
are (First Row) H. Campbell, J. Villella, R. Policare, M. Martin, S. Allebach,
M. Leatherman (Second Row) H. Seiz, A. Detweiler, A. Ferrante, A. Koenig, T. Canning,
J. Youk (Third Row) Head Coach Rob Martin, Assistant coaches Scott Campbell and
Joanne Youk.
The
Deep Run Lady Lightning U-12 Travel Team was awarded the Keith Oates Good
Sportsmanship Award at a tournament held in the Bethlehem area May 20th and 21st.
The team was selected for its overall good sportsmanship and the determined effort
they put forth that weekend. The Lightning bowed out in the semifinal game. The
team was 4-2 for the tournament.
The
Deep Run Lady Lightning U-14 Girls Fastpitch Softball team placed second
at this years Coventry Cobra's NSA World Series Qualifier on May 6th and 7th,
2006. With teams from throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Lady Lightning
ended the tournament with a 5-1 overall record. Erica Smale and Carly Hughes teamed
up on the mound with battery mate Abbey Frost for a strong weekend. Alycia Stiles,
Courtney Adams, and Alicia Detweiler provided a solid punch in their plate appearances.
While Alex Faccenda, Tess Bender, Alicia Sarnese, Sarah Denard, and Lauren Wilson
all pitched in with exceptional defense in the field.
Kneeling (Left to Right) Erica Smale,
Alicia Sarnese, Alicia Detweiler, Sarah Denard, Lauren Wilson, Tess Bender, (Second
Row) Head Coach Tim Denard, Asst. Coach Beth Detweiler, Carly Hughes, Alex Faccenda,
Alycia Stiles, Abbey Frost, Courtney Adams, Rob Faccenda, Harry Frost
Home
to Home Speed Challenge Winners - Jordan Villella of the 12U Deep Run Lady
Lightning Travel Softball Squad and Mindi Baer of the 14U Eclipse won their respective
age groups in the Home to Home speed challenge held during the Deep Run Lady Lightning
Memorial Day NSA World Series Qualifier Tournament in Hilltown.
2005 Highlights
U-12 Lady Lightning
Runner's Up in the Hopewell Valley "Bad Girls" Fastpitch Softball Tournament
- Behind the strong pitching of Hannah Campbell and catching of Holly Seiz the
U12 Lady Lightning took 2nd place in the 11th annual Hopewell NJ Bad Girls Classic >U12
Travel Team Roster
U-14
Lady Lightning Runner's Up in the Hopewell Valley "Bad Girls" Fastpitch
Softball Tournament - The Deep Run Lady Lightning
U-14 Girls Fastpitch Softball team placed second at this years Hopewell Valley
"Bad Girls" tournament held on June 25-26 2005. With teams from throughout
New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania, the Lady Lightning ended the tournament with
a 4-2 overall record. Alexa Bunce and Kelsey Detweiler each contributed home runs
over the weekend, with Alicia Detweiler, Robyn Ziegler, and Courtney Adams providing
strong plate appearances. The pitching staff of Ziegler, Kelsey Detweiler, Emma
Steeley, and Krystyn Lake made strong appearances both days in the 95-plus degree
heat. Kneeling (Left to Right)
Alicia Detweiler, Sarah Denard, Abbey Frost, Lauren Wilson (Standing) Robyn
Ziegler, Kelsey Detweiler, Morgan Ashworth, Alexa Bunce, Krysten Lake, Courtney
Adams, Amanda Moretti (Not Pictured, Emma Steeley, Caitlyn Emrich)
2004 Highlights
U10
Lady Lightning Finished Tied for 9th at Pony Nationals
- At the Pony National Tournament in Sterling VA, the Lightning finished the week
with a 5-3-1 record and tied for 9th place. This national tournament had teams
from the entire east coat and midwest represented.
2004
Season: This year, we fielded teams
at the U10, U12, U14 and U16 age levels. In total, the 4 travel teams plan on
playing in over 30 tournaments and over 180 games during the 2004 season.
2003 Highlights
U14
Lady Lightning Win Lionville Championship: The
U14 squad led by tournament MVP Megan Rice won the U14 Division of the 21st Annual
Lionville Tournament in Downington, PA.
U12
Lady Lightning take Second in VIGS Tournament: The
U12 squad led by pitchers Emma Steely and Kelsey Detweiler took second in the
annual Valley Inter-Community Girls Softball Tournament.
U10 Lady Lightning take
3rd at States: The U10 Lady Lightning, led
by Brook Gery's stellar pitching took 3rd at the Pennsylvania State Class B Championships!
U14 Win Berth to
ASA Nationals: Megan Rice and Kelly Denard
were stellar on the mound as the Lightning won a bid to the ASA B Nationals by
winning the Elizabethtown Eastern Regional Tournament.
If you have any questions now concerning
our Softball Program, please contact Jeff
Koenig, Intramural Softball Commissioner; Mary
Ann Hennigan, Travel Softball Commissioner; or Brad
Hughes, Softball Player Agent.
