The moment wasn’t too big for Sydney Bennett.
She was ready for it.
And boy, did she deliver.
With her team’s season on the line and facing a one run deficit in their final at-bat, Emmaus’ junior shortstop delivered arguably the biggest hit of her year and of her high school career.
Bennett, batting out of the No. 2 slot in the lineup, hammered a pitch from Stroudsburg pitcher Jordan Cook off the temporary fence in left field at Pates Park plating two runs as the Hornets rallied for an improbable 2-1 win over the Mounties last night in the District XI Class 6A semifinals.
The victory, which was sweet redemption for many reasons, advances head coach Rich Geiring’s team (20-4) to its first appearance in the finals in 14 years. Awaiting Emmaus in Thursday’s 7 p.m. championship game back at Pates Park will be Northampton, which pounded top seed and recently crowned EPC champ Freedom 15-3 in the other semifinal. The Konkrete Kids had lost the previous three meetings against the Patriots, including twice during the regular season and in the EPC semifinals.
Emmaus will be searching for its first district title in 19 years. Northampton will be aiming for its second championship in the last four years. The two teams did not meet during the regular-season.
Not only was last night’s win the biggest of the season, but it will also go down as one of the memorable ones in the history of the Emmaus softball program.
After falling to Stroudsburg just a few weeks ago in the EPC semifinals and being shutout for the first time all season, the Hornets won when it mattered most — in the district tournament and with it, an appearance also in the PIAA State Tournament for the first time in 16 years.
“Yeah, it took a few months off my daily life,” joked Giering, Emmaus’ fifth year coach in a post-game interview with Cody Brady of LSVSports.com. “It was a good game. Both teams had their chances.”
“Our girls never gave up. Everybody in that seventh inning helped out there. And Syndey, who had two good at-bats early in the game, hit that ball and I thought it was going to leave the ballpark. We were moving with two outs, and we had some speed on the bases which helped.
Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning and facing Cook who had held Emmaus scoreless in the league semifinals, the Hornets put the tying and go-ahead runners on base as freshman Calise Eiswerth led off with a single and two batters later, senior Taylor Hauver reached on an error.
That then set the stage for Bennett who delivered a 2-0 pitch off the base of the fence scoring both of her teammates as the Hornets celebrated the dramatic come-from-behind victory.
“My teammates told me, do it for the team and just do your best and I was just looking for contact which I got and I’m just extremely happy and so proud of this team” said Bennett describing her at-bat.”
“We also got an outstanding effort in the circle from (pitcher) Mari (Eiswerth). She was great. Our defense picked her up and I’m just so proud of this team. We did what we had to do, and we made the plays that we had to make.”
Eiswerth, the league’s MVP, was dominant as she allowed just one run on five hits in the complete effort. The hard throwing righthander walked just two and struck out 14, just one shy of her career high of 15.
Stroudsburg, which had finished runner-up in the EPC Tournament, ended their season at 19-6. Senior catcher Dot Elko led the Mounties with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate. Elko had driven in her team’s only run in the third inning on a RBI single.
To stay up to date on Emmaus sports, follow on ‘X’ formerly twitter and like Emmaus sports on facebook.
Emmaus 2, Stroudsburg 1
Stb – 001 000 0 – 1-5-2
Em – 000 000 2 – 2-5-0
Madelyn Vargas, Jordan Cook (6) and Dot Elko; Mari Eiswerth and Julia DeFanti. LP – Cook