Jun. 8—Brandywine Heights was searching for a run and Naomi Fay was the perfect player to create one.
The ball doesn’t have to travel far for Brandywine Heights’ senior to travel around the bases. In this case, it only rolled a few feet.
A bunt single. A wild pitch. A steal. A safety squeeze.
That’s how District 3 champion Brandywine edged District 6 runner-up Penns Valley 3-2 in the PIAA Class 2A softball first round at Lyons Field Monday.
Brandywine (15-9) advanced to face District 4 champ Line Mountain in the quarterfinals Thursday at a site and time to be determined.
Fay stole the winning run and essentially stole the win.
“She’s very heady; she’s instinctive,” coach Don Roach said. “She has the physical skills and she has no fear.”
Fay, the No. 1 hitter in the lineup, was the leadoff hitter with the score locked at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth. That was an ideal scenario for the Bullets.
The bunt that started the journey was perfect. Third baseman Avelyn Van Heyst didn’t even bother to throw and Fay pumped her fist in excitement when she crossed first.
“Obviously it was a tie game and I wanted to come through for the team,” Fay said. “We all had each other’s backs.”
Fay stole third by racing to the bag ahead of Van Heyst, who was moving forward to field a possible bunt. That put Fay 60 feet away with one out.
Meghann Schuster dropped a bunt toward first and Fay slid home safely before a play could be made. The tie was broken and Brandywine was six defensive outs from advancing.
“I’m just reading Coach’s signals and believing in our batter,” Fay said. “That she’ll come through with the play.”
Roach said if you comb through Brandywine’s schedule you’ll see how often the Bullets score in the first inning.
Many times it’s Fay igniting those rallies.
“If you have a softball team, you want her on your softball team,” Roach said. “She’s just a quality girl. She’s a leader. She’s super-competitive. You couldn’t tell, though, because she doesn’t have a mean streak in her body.”
Fay scored on an error in the first inning. Jadyn Richards, who went 3-for-3 with a double, brought home Schuster with a run in the third.
Schuster pitched seven strong innings. She allowed just two harmless singles after Penns Valley (14-9) scored its two runs in the third.
“Meghann doesn’t show it but I think deep down she’s one confident girl,” Roach said. “She believes in herself. Even though she might have the normal heebie-jeebies, she’ll come back and do the job.”
The ball found Fay, who plays second base, twice in the seventh. She turned a hard grounder up the middle into an out. She snared a line drive right at her.
The last out was a routine fly that floated into the glove of Madelyn Geiger. Fay drifted toward right field to celebrate the catch.
“Everybody came through,” she said. “Everybody did their part. I’m really proud of this team.”