Sports
Horsham Softball Sweeps its Way to Scotty Gibbs Championship
Comeback win in championship game secures the trophy for Horsham's 8u all-star team.
Horsham Little League’s 8u all-star softball team went undefeated with a 3-0 record over two days of the annual Scotty Gibbs Memorial Tournament, hosted by Hatboro Little League. The team won the championship 20-15 over the Springfield Pride, despite trailing by seven runs after four innings.
Horsham Tigers 8u all-star softball team. Photo by Lauren Whiteside.
The Horsham Tigers started the weekend with a 13-3 win over Springfield on Friday, June 18. The Tigers were paced by three players—Gwen Pulli, Bella Heath and Charlotte Szewczek—who each had three hits and combined for five RBIs and six runs scored. First baseman Caelin Akers and Claire Ciciarelli also knocked in three runs each. Horsham received offensive support throughout its lineup.
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Defensively, Horsham kept Springfield honest with solid infield play from second baseman Rylee Clark and an inning-ending unassisted double play by Akers.
Coach Samantha Pulli’s team returned the following morning to take on Upper Moreland in the tournament semifinals. The Tigers picked up where they left off the previous night, scoring multiple runs in every inning to post a 15-1 win that advanced them to the championship game.
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Ciciarelli had three hits, four RBIs in Horsham’s semifinal win over Upper Moreland. Photo by Lauren Whiteside.
Ciciarelli was perfect at the plate with a 3-for-3 game with four RBIs and was a homerun shy of the cycle. Szewczek and Clark also had three hits each in the win. Pulli, Heath, Madison Arsenault, Hattie Brzowski and Avery Wachs each had two hits for the victors. Akers was once again solid in the field, recording six putouts, four of them unassisted.
In the championship game on the evening of June 19, Horsham once again took on Springfield, which had navigated the consolation bracket and was playing its third game of the day. Several hundred members of the Horsham Little League community were there to support its youngest team. Horsham’s 11u and 12u teams, who are participating in the District 22 tournament and are alumnae of the Scotty Gibbs Tournament, were among the most boisterous of the crowd.
While the Tigers jumped out to early leads in the two previous one-sided games, the championship tilt took on a much different feel. Springfield ended the first inning with a 5-1 lead on the heels of six straight hits to leadoff the inning. Horsham tied the game at five in the top of the third inning before Springfield answered with a five-run bottom of the third.
Trailing 15-8 after the fourth inning, Horsham started the fifth inning with four runs on seven straight hits. The five-run inning pulled the Tigers to within two runs at 15-13. In the bottom of the inning, Horsham used opportunistic defense to hold Springfield scoreless.
That set up an exciting final inning. Arsenault and Taylor Whiteside both had RBI hits to tie the game at 15 all. After hits by Taylor Avallon and Pulli, Heath hit a two-RBI double to give Horsham a 17-15 lead it would not relinquish. Szewczek followed with another two-RBI double before Clark rounded out the inning with an RBI fielder’s choice.
Heath’s two-run double broke a 15-15 tie in the top of the sixth inning of the championship game. Photo by Lauren Whiteside.
Just three outs away from the title, Horsham once again turned to its defense. Avallon caught a line drive to record the first out of the inning, a strikeout followed before two straight hits put runners on first and second. Clark recorded the final out, fielding a ground ball and throwing to Akers that set off the celebration.
All 13 players had multiple hits and scored a run for Horsham in the championship game. Clark, Heath and Whiteside each knocked in three runs. Cassandra Moffa and Brynn Conaway both had key hits and scored runs in the comeback, completing a total team effort and ended with Horsham raising first-place trophies.
This was the second straight Scottie Gibbs Tournament Championship for Horsham, after winning the 2019 title over host Hatboro.
Photo by Lauren Whiteside.
Horsham Tigers - 2021 Scottie Gibbs Memorial Tournament Champions
Front Row (L-R): Bella Heath, Brynn Conaway, Rylee Clark, Cassandra Moffa, Gwen Pulli, Hattie Brzowski
Middle Row (L-R): Claire Ciciarelli, Caelin Akers, Taylor Whiteside, Taylor Avallon, Charlotte Szweczek, Avery Wachs, Madison Arsenault
Back Row (L-R): Assistant Coach Matt Ciciarelli, Assistant Coach Matt Brzowski, Head Coach Samantha Pulli, Assistant Coach Jon Pulli, Assistant Coach Lauren Whiteside