Upper Perkiomen's softball team needed just three innings to record its first win of the season last week. Head coach Dean Sullivan expected it to come sooner than five games in though. According to the coach, shaky defense cost the team in its initial four games.

        However, the Indians dominated host Pottstown in a 16-0 victory on Friday, April 8 in the Pioneer Athletic Conference. They scored eight runs in the first inning and six more in the second inning before invoking the 15-run rule with two more in the top of the third.

        "I really thought we would have had our first win before now," Sullivan said.

        Still, the coach said he expects Upper Perkiomen (1-3 PAC-10, 1-4 overall) to contend for a spot in the conference playoffs.

        Carly Barnhardt and Taylor Lindsay paced the team's 10-hit barrage against Pottstown. Barnhardt drove two runs, while Lindsay's two-run triple highlighted her team's six-run rally in the second.

        Lopsided outcomes have been rare this season for the Indians, who have absorbed a couple tough losses, according to sophomore Karlee Fretz.

        One occurred on April 6, when they committed six errors in a 6-5 loss to Owen J. Roberts. The miscues led to five unearned runs.

        Fretz, Alyssa Sullivan and Sarah Heidler each delivered two hits in defeat. Sullivan scored twice, and Carly Barnardt drive in two runs.

        "I like the intensity of close games," Fretz said. "I prefer having to make the tough play in a close game."

        According to Dean Sullivan, Upper Perkiomen is working hard to solve its defensive issues. He said the players are taking several additional ground balls in practice.

        Offense and pitching depth are the team's biggest strengths.

        "This team can really hit," Dean Sullivan said. "All nine starters play travel ball during the summer, so I don't have to do a lot of coaching. All I do is offer an occasional tweak."

        Fretz – who plays in the summer for PA Xtreme U-18 Gold, based in Collegeville – takes the offensive part of her game seriously. When she has a tough game at the plate, she takes 100 swings off a tee at home.

        "Right now, I'm hitting the ball pretty well," Fretz said.

        Dean Sullivan described Fretz, who has started at shortstop and catcher this season, as an integral member of the team. The coach said he often ruminates on how best to utilize his player.

        Against teams with speed, Fretz will go behind the plate according to Dean Sullivan. He said that she moves to shortstop against opposition less likely to steal bases.

        Fretz said she doesn't care where she plays so long as she's in the lineup. Against Pottstown, she pitched the third and final inning in relief of Linsday, registering two strikeouts.

        According to the coach, Lindsay and Fretz are part of a quintet of dependable pitchers.

        "It's a great problem to have," Dean Sullivan said.

        He described the trio of Lindsay and Fretz and Lynsey Quinn as a trio of No. 1 pitchers.

        "If we have three league games in a week, each of them are going to pitch once," the coach said.

        Dean Sullivan identified Emily Moll and Alyssa Sullivan as No. 1-A starters.