They are going where no Quakertown softball team has ever gone before.
The Panthers came from behind to defeat Downingtown East, 3-1, on Tuesday at Quakertown’s Veterans Park, to earn their first-ever trip to the District One Class 6A championship game.
Quakertown (22-1), the district third seed, will take on top seeded Downingtown West, a 3-1 winner over North Penn, in the title game on Thursday at Spring-Ford at 4 p.m.
“We’re so excited to be in the district final,” said Quakertown senior Abbey Wagner, the winning pitcher. “I’m just going to try to treat it as a normal game and just keep it under control.”
The Panthers got into a hole in the second inning when Downingtown East’s Jade Jenkins, the first batter of the frame, hit a solo home run.
That lead didn’t last long.
In the bottom of the second, Quakertown’s Cadence Lewis drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a base hit by Ellie Hilton, and went to third on a ground out by Mary Wilkinson. She scored the tying run on Kira Jefferson’s well-placed bunt, which the speedy Jefferson beat out to reach first.
Ava Eatherton fanned for the second out, but the Panthers staged a two-out rally when Wagner swung at the first pitch offered by her counterpart, Seton Hall recruit Rachael Schumann, ending up on second base with a standup double that scored Hilton and Jefferson.
The Cougars had one last gasp in the top of the seventh when Jenkins, who had the only two hits of the game for Downingtown East, stroked a one-out double. She was left stranded there when Wagner got the next batter to ground out to senior Ava Beal at shortstop, then Beal snared a well-hit ball out of the air for the final out of the game.
“That was huge, to see Ava catch that ball,” Wagner said. “What an amazing feeling.”
Wagner struck out four and issued no walks.
“We don’t fall behind often so I got a little nervous at first but I’m confident in myself and I thought that I could come back,” said Wagner, a senior. “When Kira made that great bunt and scored a run for us, that was awesome to see. That really started us up. That really changed the tone of the game. Once we got going, everyone did their job.
“Having that 1-1 tie it was like a new game for us, and once we got the lead I really felt like I calmed down. There was pressure but at the same time there wasn’t because we already were going to states. But this was my last game on this field and I wanted to go out in style.”
Wagner will play at Kutztown next year, where she will major in psychology with a minor in art. She hopes to become an art therapist.
Beal and Leah Schwalm also singled for Quakertown.
This was the eighth straight win for the Panthers, whose only loss of the year to date is to Suburban One League Liberty Division co-champion Plymouth Whitemarsh, who defeated the Panthers by a 7-4 score on May 2.
“We learned a lot from that loss,” said Beal, who will play at Albany next year. “It was against one of our biggest rivals and we just took that to heart. We learned that we have to play hard all the time and that we also have to just keep moving forward when we have a setback.
“Getting to the district final means a lot to us. We just came in here playing to play and hoping for the best and we came out on top. We’re so happy for each other and for ourselves, for everything we’ve accomplished so far.
“We fell behind early and that’s unusual for us, but we picked each other up and worked harder. Kira Jefferson’s bunt helped big time.
“We’re bonding really well together and we’re playing really well right now. It’s all coming together at the right time for us.”
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