DANVILLE – Of the six district crowns the Danville softball team has strung together, this year’s may be the sweetest of all.
The top-seeded Blue Devils overcame some early trouble and a late Northmor rally to hang on for a 9-4 win and capture their sixth consecutive district title on Thursday, May 20, at DARCI Field.
Danville starting pitcher Maddy Wine was touched up for a pair of unearned runs in the first inning. But the Devils rallied back, scoring all of their runs in the first three innings to cruise to the win.
Last season, the talent-laden Blue Devils were poised to take Division IV by storm with a roster that featured eight seniors. Then COVID-19 hit and 2020 turned into a lost season.
The Devils started 2021 with lots of questions and plenty of rebuilding.
“I lost eight seniors due to COVID (and the season being canceled),” Danville coach Charlie Duncan said. “Then I lost a couple more seniors that would have played but got jobs instead. So I came in with one senior (Wine).
“I brought in a crew of freshmen and they were talented. They have grown by leaps and bounds, and I am just so proud of them.”
With all of the contributions from their young talent, Duncan knows that one player has held the team together.
“Maddy Wine is the glue of this team,” Duncan said, “She’s the first one to light a fire when they’re not doing things right, but she’s the first one to pat them on the back when they do something great.”
There is perhaps no bigger believer in her team than Wine.
“This team never gives up,” she said. “We always fight for what we want and always get more runs. Our energy is huge and that’s why we come out on top.”
This Devils squad has met every challenge that this season has dished out and goes confidently into their regional match against Newark Catholic on Wednesday, May 26.
“At the beginning (of the season), we were kind of rough and there were spots that we needed to fix,” Danville’s Taryn Mickley said. “But after all, we came out to be a great team. We are young, but we have a lot of talent on our team, and I think we are going to be great for the next couple of years.”
Down two runs on a couple of first inning errors, Mickley doubled to drive home teammates Jaylyn Smith and Keaura Shilling, knotting the score in the bottom half of the opening frame. Mickley scored later in the inning on a sacrifice fly by teammate Camie Newbold, giving Danville a 3-2 lead that they would never relinquish.
“We just needed the mentality that we are all in it together,” Mickley said. “We needed to work together as a family, and keep it going from there.”
Broegan Staats, who went 1-for-2, walked and scored on a Smith single in the second inning.
Then in the third, the Blue Devils broke loose with five runs on four hits, highlighted by a Newbold double that scored Grace Gronberg and Hope Moore. Gronberg finished the game 2-for-4.
Newbold and Cordi Richert scored later in the inning to give Wine a comfortable 9-2 cushion.
“When we get more runs, there’s more security,” Wine said. “Then I can settle in, knowing there’s more of a run cushion and we can play solid ‘D.’”
Wine went 4 2/3 innings and allowed four hits and three walks with three strikeouts to get the win for the Devils.
Northmor’s Megan Adkins and Emily Zeger hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the fifth inning.
Gronberg came on in relief of Wine to pitch the final 2 1/3 innings, yielding only a hit and two walks while fanning five batters.
