Delaney Troxell is the kind of person who’s respectful of everything and everybody.
And that even goes for her personal records.
This past week was a memorable one for Catasauqua’s senior standout.
On Wednesday in a win over Executive Education at Patriots Park, she reached 500 career strikeouts. The next day back at home against Pen Argyl, she went 2-for-2 and finished the day with 101 career hits.
Neither 500 strikeouts nor 100 hits come easily for a softball player, but Troxell was able to reach both milestones in a span of less than 24 hours.
Asked which record meant more to her, Troxell was typically diplomatic and didn’t want to diminish either accomplishment.
“I’m honestly proud of both of them,” she said. “These have been my goals that I set for myself over the past four years and I am very happy I accomplished them both.”
If the strikeout record couldn’t be set at home, Troxell was happy it happened at historic Patriots Park, which has been the area’s softball mecca for decades.
“I love Patriots Park,” she said. “It’s an amazing place. It’s where all of the Lehigh Valley legends have played. I was happy it happened there.”
The offensive milestone came the next day with two line-drive hits to left field off Pen Argyl standout Jillian Bradley, who again typically, earned praise from Troxell.
“To get the hits off her made it more special because she’s a great pitcher,” Troxell said. “She’s an amazing left-hander.. She just committed to Lebanon Valley College. I was looking there for awhile and it’s a great program. She pitched a heck of game against us. She’s a great person overall.”
Troxell is a three-sport athlete and a top student at Catty, and worthy of praise herself although she would rather praise others.
She is hoping for more success over the rest of the spring. Catty is 3-4 overall, 1-4 in the league, but Troxell believes the Rough Riders can make a run at both the league and district tournaments.
She has reason to believe good things can happen because she is coming off a basketball season in which Catty exceeded expectations and re-emerged as one of the Colonial League’s top programs.
The Rough Riders went 14-8 in the regular season and bounced back from a 46-36 loss to Pen Argyl in the league tournament by making a run to the District 11 3A finals with wins over Executive and league champion Palmerton. They battled perennial power Notre Dame-Green Pond tough before losing 34-26 in the district title game and then fell to West Catholic by a point in the state tournament.
“It was a crazy ride that I don’t even know how to describe,” she said. “At the beginning of the season our coach [Mark Seremula] asked us for our goals. And we said we wanted to make both the league and district tournaments.”
Few believed it would happen, but it did. Perhaps the biggest surprise were back-to-back wins over Executive and Colonial League champ Palmerton to reach the district finals.
“I’ll never forget those wins and I personally had my best game in the state tournament,” she said. “It was an amazing ride that I’ll never forget.”
The basketball team going so deep delayed Troxell’s arrival on the softball diamond, but she got up to speed as fast as possible.
Now, she’s trying her best to savor every minute of her last season in a Catty uniform.
“My career has gone by in the blink of an eye,” she said. “I can’t believe it’s my senior year. It’s crazy to think that I am not going to be wearing a Catty uniform on the basketball court again and now I am trying to enjoy my last softball season. I remember my freshman year I was so nervous to play at the varsity level. I tried to my best to get better and better and now here we are.”
Delaney followed in the footsteps of her two brothers who played sports at Catty — Devon and Derek. Both were classy role-models.
She had big shoes to follow, but has carved her own niche.
“I watched them play while I was growing up and I always wanted to be like them,” she said. “They were always the leaders on their teams. I saw how they impacted and pushed others and I knew that’s how I wanted to be as a player. They have influenced me more than anyone else along with my parents [Dave and Gretchen]. They have all pushed me to my limits.”
Troxell loves to give credit to others and when it comes to her softball success she made sure to thank Alex MacLean, the former Northampton standout who now runs the 7 Deadly Spins pitching facility, for her help as well as former Catty star Janae Matos for her tutelage.
“They have always gone above and beyond for me,” she said. “They always help me mentally. They are my backbone, my pillars.”
She also thanked her longtime catcher Sophia Becker for her support.
“I don’t know where I’d be without her,” Troxell said. “She has probably caught 300 of my 500 strikeouts. She’s amazing.”
Troxell said she is looking forward to playing at Millersville University starting this fall, but she’ll always have Catty in her heart. At the same time, the Rough Riders community will never forget her.
“I am so happy for Delaney and the success she is having,” Catty athletic director Tom Moll said. “She has worked extremely hard in all of the sports she has played and especially softball. She is a tremendous representative of our program, our school district and our community. She is well-respected by both her teammates and opponents. She’s a great kid who’s easy to root for. She will do extremely well at Millersville. She will definitely be hard to replace on and off the volleyball and basketball court and the softball field, but she has definitely left her mark at CHS.”
Did you know?
Easton’s home game against Bethlehem Catholic was postponed by inclement weather on Friday and that means career win No. 500 for Red Rovers coach Ed McIntyre will likely come at Patriots Park at 11 a.m. Saturday when Easton faces Allentown Central Catholic. ACCHS is 2-4. The Vikettes beat Dieruff 22-12 and Allen 14-4, but their four losses were all mercy-rule defeats. McIntyre, who is in his 42nd season, has a career mark of 499-378.
Player of the Week
Avery Kauffman, Nazareth
Kauffman made her mark in 2023 as a freshman, particularly in the postseason. In 29.1 innings of postseason action, she notched a 1.67 ERA and 40 strikeouts and just three walks as the Blue Eagles won seven straight games en route to the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and District 11 6A titles and the second round of the state tournament.
She finished her first year with 97 strikeouts and reached the 100 K mark in the second game of this season.
Because of a string of rainouts, it took several weeks for Nazareth to get the chance to recognize Kauffman for her milestone. That came on Tuesday. More accomplishments are sure to come.
“She’s probably up to 120 strikeouts by now,” coach Stephen Genzale said. “I can’t say enough about Avery. Having 120 strikeouts this early in her sophomore season is impressive. She has done a tremendous job for us and we have a real good 1-2 pitching punch with her and Kylie Grover.”
Kauffman took the loss against Easton on Wednesday, but Genzale anticipates her to bounce back.
“She can handle this,” he said. “She’s very mature and will learn from this and come back strong.”
College milestones
Juniata senior and Parkland High graduate Ali Superka recently set the school record for home runs in a career. She has 15, breaking the previous mark of 14 set by Liz Schmitt, who played from 2006-09. She has a .343 career batting average and is batting .378 this season. Her best home run total was six as a freshman in 2021.
DeSales University coach Rachel Turoscy celebrated his 400th win in charge of the program Wednesday when the Bulldogs swept a nonconference doubleheader with Neumann. Turoscy, an Emmaus product, finished the day with a career record of 401-391 in 22 seasons at DeSales and previously won 17 games over four seasons coaching at Cedar Crest College.
Turoscy’s current team is 18-6 and on a six-game winning streak. Stroudsburg High product Paige Hromin leads the team with a .339 batting average.
Softball Top 10
Rank, Team, Record, Previous rank
1., Freedom, 6-0, 2
2., Liberty, 6-1, 9
3., Easton, 6-1, 1
4., Northwestern, 8-1, 5
5., Palmerton, 6-1, 6
6., Nazareth, 5-2, 4
7., Emmaus, 8-2, 10
8., Beth. Catholic, 4-2, 8
9., Whitehall, 5-3, NR
10., Parkland, 4-2, 7
Dropped: Northampton (5-2).
Others to watch: Notre Dame (4-3), Palisades (4-3), Stroudsburg (4-2), Wilson Area (4-3).
Records thru Thursday’s games.
