Hatboro-Horsham needs 2 softball wins to have shot at repeat

The task in front of defending state softball champion Hatboro-Horsham is daunting: Win the next two games, or the 2012 season is over.

Coach Joe DiFilippo knows that his 19-3 team will be challenged as it never has been during the two-year reign, but he remains confident in his players. After all, he remembers when catching and throwing were challenges for them.

As the longtime coach of the Horsham Banshees travel team, DiFilippo has worked with many of the Hatters since they were 10 years old.

"They've faced just about every situation you can possibly face," he said.

A 1-0 loss to No. 5 seed Bishop Shanahan forced the No. 4-seeded Hatters into their latest situation. They need to beat No. 9 Methacton on Tuesday and the winner of Central Bucks East vs. Spring-Ford, the other play-back game, on Thursday to earn the fifth and final spot in the PIAA Class AAAA state tournament.

They spent little time dwelling on Friday's frustrating defeat. It was one of those tip-your-cap days when they ran into a hot pitcher in Villanova-bound Kate Poppe, who struck out 17 in a one-hit shutout.

"We just all somehow had an off day on the same day," Hatboro-Horsham pitcher Maggie Shaffer said.

The game's lone run was scored off Shaffer with two outs and two strikes in the first inning, when Poppe lofted a fly ball to shallow right field that fell in front of junior Heather Lutz.

"Have a nice weekend," DiFilippo told his players afterward. "Get [the loss] out of your heads."

With that, they moved on, ready to take the next team's best shot. The Hatters have grown accustomed to the target on their backs since the season opened in March.

"Every team that played us," DiFilippo said, "it was like their World Series."

"We had to go out every practice, every game, and give 110 percent because everybody was out to get us," he added.

Two months ago, DiFilippo started the season with a nearly three-hour practice focused mainly on conditioning. He wanted to emphasize that even though the team had checked off all three of its goals - the Suburban One Continental League, District 1, and state titles - during last year's dream run, this was a new season.

Two months later, the message still resonates with Shaffer.

"We all know that this is a new team. We are not the state champion that we were last year," said Shaffer, who went 26-2 in 2011 after pitching in every game. "It's a clean slate."

Gone is last year's core of seniors: shortstop Julie Wambold, The Inquirer's 2011 player of the year; centerfielder Melissa Spinosa; and first baseman Danielle DiFilippo, the coach's daughter.

But Joe DiFilippo said the strength of the program lies in its continuity. A class of talented seniors leaves, and another one is waiting to take over.

That's the way the program has been since 2006, when the Hatters' current dynasty began with a second-place finish at states under then-coach Lou James, now the school's athletic director. Hatboro-Horsham won its first state title in 2008 and finished second again in 2010, before coach Kelly Krier stepped down.

All along, the DiFilippo-coached Banshees served as a feeder program. When the high school position became available, DiFilippo jumped at the opportunity.

"If you can put a team together that's going to stay together, your program will be pretty successful," he says now, after compiling a 45-5 record over his first two seasons.

Beginning Tuesday, the coach will find out just how successful.