POWERBALL: Hun School softball player Megan Donahue rips the ball in a game earlier this season. Freshman first baseman Donahue’s power hitting has helped the Raiders get off to an 11-2 start. In upcoming action, the Raiders will be competing in the state Prep A tournament, where they are seeded second and will host seventh-seeded Kent Place in the quarterfinals on May 12. The Prep A semis are slated for May 17 with the title game scheduled for May 19. Hun will also be hosting the Hill School (Pa.) on May 11 in a regular season contest. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

For the Hun School softball team, it was an aberration in an otherwise terrific spring as it fell 10-0 at Pingry last Thursday.

While Hun head coach Kathy Quirk was disappointed by her team’s performance as it dropped to 11-2, she hopes it will serve as a wake-up call with postseason play around the corner.

“We just did not show up, they do have a star pitcher (Notre Dame-bound Katie Marino) but they are not 10 runs better than us,” said Quirk, whose team brought a six-game winning streak into the Pingry contest.

“They are going to enter the prep tournament and now we have seen them. We know what they have so we know what we need to do.”

Hun has already done something special this spring as it rolled to its first Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) title in 14 years.

“It was a goal that we had set for ourself,” said Quirk, noting the Raiders last won the MAPL title in 2002.

“It has been a long, long time. We would always come close and we would be a game behind and two games behind. This year we knew what we wanted. When we came home from Florida and our spring trip, never in a million years would I have thought that we would have done this.”

In Quirk’s view, the squad’s good chemistry has helped fuel its winning ways. “I think we have come together as a team,” said Quirk. “They seem to have bonded well, they support each other well.”

The Raiders have also hit very well, exploding for a total of 74 runs in their previous six games prior to last Thursday.

“I just think that our whole lineup has just really done well and our top six batters have really taken control,” said Quirk.

Hun has gotten good play all over the diamond. “Alexis Goeke has done a great job at shortstop, her game with Blair (an 8-1 win on April 30) was key,” added Quirk.

“She had most of the plays at shortstop and did a great job. Julie Fassl is doing a nice job behind the plate. Megan Donahue has been a nice addition.”

Quirk acknowledges that her team has a target on its back as it enters the state Prep A tournament, where it is seeded second and will be hosting seventh-seeded Kent Place in the quarterfinals in May 12.

“They are confident but I think Pingry was an eye-opener for us; we need to see if we are able to rebound,” said Quirk, whose team will also be hosting the Hill School (Pa.) on May 11 in a regular season contest.

“We have to just stay focused ourself. We know we have to play solid defense. We have beaten four of the teams in the tournament twice so we are thinking because we have beaten them, everyone is out to get us now. We just have to play our game and let the other team make the mistakes.”