Lansdale Catholic blanks St. Hubert

As his team filed off the field through the narrow entrance to the bench area, coach Paul Suder spoke to his players through a chain-link fence.

The girls, anxiously waiting to pack up their equipment bags, listened to the coach as he briefly addressed them and gave the game ball to his star pitcher.

He then told his players they were "the team to beat," after Lansdale Catholic downed visiting St. Hubert on Thursday, 2-0, in a rematch of last year's Catholic League softball final and a duel of two of the league's top pitchers.

Mary Cate Scott pitched a shutout, striking out seven to best Hubert sophomore Erica Ragazzone. Scott, a senior righthander, won her third consecutive game as Lansdale improved to 4-1 (3-0 league).

"My arm was really loose when I started warming up, and I knew I'd have a good game," Scott said.

Lansdale Catholic got on the board early, scoring two unearned runs in the first inning after Megan Martin worked a leadoff walk. The speedy centerfielder went to third base on two sacrifices and scored after an infield popup dropped in.

Senior Melissa Chapman scored the second run, as the St. Hubert catcher overthrew the first baseman on a dropped third strike, which would've ended the inning.

The two early runs gave Scott an ease of mind, she said, and the righthander rolled as she didn't allow a runner to reach third base the entire game.

Last year's championship game had remained scoreless until the seventh inning, which Scott said made for a nervewracking pitching experience, making the two runs seem like a cushion.

Suder said Scott admired former Bambies starter Melissa Robinson, who struck out 14 Lansdale batters to help win the Bambies' third consecutive title last May. Suder said Scott pitched the "exact same way that Robinson would've pitched."

Hubert coach Dave Schafer said he saw similarities between the pitchers.

"She does a nice job of keeping her pitches low and on the corners," Schafer said of Scott.

Ragazzone, a sophomore righthander, struck out four and settled down after the first inning for St. Hubert (3-3, 1-2).

After the game, Scott sat by herself on the team's bench with ice tightly wrapped on her right arm - preparation for Saturday's matchup with Christopher Dock.

"I'm used to it by now," Scott said.

St. Hubert   0000000 - 022

Lansdale Catholic   200000x - 231

WP: Mary Cate Scott. LP: Erica Ragazzone. 2B: SH-Erica Ragazzone.