Freshman Stillwell delivers on offense and defense in Seneca win

MOORESTOWN – You're as likely to find Maddie Stillwell helping to clean up a park, as clean up the bases. She's a member of Seneca's Students Actively Concerned Organization.

“It's a group dedicated to helping people and attacking problems,” she said. “We do stuff like clean-ups, around the town, and toy drives and fundraisers. They said it would be a good thing to join clubs, freshman year, and I've always had an interest in that kind of thing, so I've really enjoyed it.”

The Seneca freshman enjoys keeping left field spotless, too. Three times in the last two innings of the Golden Eagles' South Jersey Group 3 playoff meeting with Moorestown Tuesday, the Quakers launched fly balls in the her direction.

They all looked promising.

They all ended up in her glove.

“I had a lot of fun out there, catching balls and helping the team win,” Stillwell said.

An extra push was needed in the top of the eight inning. Emma Lang hit a leadoff single to right field and Maddie Musick followed with a sacrifice bunt. The Quakers intentionally walked Alex Miller to get to Stillwell – but it turns out that pitching to her is every bit as dangerous as hitting the ball to her.

Her double to left field chased Lang home. It was the only extra-base hit of the game and more importantly, drove in the only run as the 12th-seeded Golden Eagles advanced, 1-0.

“I was really excited, but it was also very nerve-racking, because it was the eighth inning and we had two runners on,” Stillwell said. “I was looking for an inside pitch, and I knew it was going to go really far. I got my barrel into it. I thought it was going to go over her head.”

It did.

“She's always coming up clutch,” Seneca coach Kaitlyn Konopka said. “She never gives up in the box, and she came up huge in our outfield. Every time the ball gets hit to her, I feel confident that she's going to make a play. She made really good reads today.”

It was the third extra-base hit of the year for Stillwell, batting .275 with six RBIs in the 2-hole for Seneca.

“I've been playing softball for 8 or 9 years,” she said. “In the outfield, and I play second base, too. I feel really comfortable in left field.”

And having her there – even when it's time to be clutch – works for everyone.

“I'm absolutely comfortable with her there in that situation,” Konopka said. “My freshmen are definitely coming through, game by game, and being great leaders for my future girls.”

What it means

Seneca, the 12th seed, advanced to the quarterfinal round of the South Jersey Group 3 tournament and will play fourth-seeded Delsea, a 6-2 winner over Absegami.

Key play

With the bases loaded and nobody out in the sixth inning, Moorestown's Mackenzie Siebel hit a ground ball down the third-base line to Seneca's Maddie Musick, who threw home for a force that kept the game scoreless. Two infield pop-ups ended the threat.

By the numbers

Moorestown had a runner on base in every inning and got a runner into scoring position in five of eight innings, but the Quakers were 0-for-11 at the plate with runners in scoring position. … The Quakers lost seven straight games after a 9-2 start. … This was Seneca's first road playoff win since a 2-0 win over Delsea in 2018.

Unsung heroes

Moorestown pitcher Violet Marta held the Golden Eagles to just four hits, struck out 13, and also went 1-for-3 with a walk.

They said it

Moorestown coach Bill Mulvihill:

“I knew coming into this year – I thought we were going to be competitive, but I still felt we were a year away from really doing anything, and unfortunately, that came true.”

John A. Lewis is a sports writer for the Burlington County Times, Courier Post and The Daily Journal. E-mail him at jlewis@thebct.com or follow on Twitter @JohnLewis19. Please consider supporting local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Burlington County Times: Freshman Stillwell cleans up left field and the bases for Seneca