Collecting 100 hits in a high school softball career is a tough task and having teammates both reach the milestone is a rarity indeed. Both Anna Bishop and Lil Crouthamel accomplished the feat for Salisbury last month and their hits continue to come now that the Lady Falcons are in the postseason.

Bishop collected four hits in a game against Southern Lehigh a couple weeks ago to put herself over the 100-hit plateau. In her time with Salisbury, Bishop has been the player who has done whatever the team needed her to do to win. She has moved between positions and handled every assignment well.

“I just like to play and whatever I can do to help the team is fine with me,” said Bishop. “We have a lot of good players and it’s great to be a part of this group.”

Coach Jeff Appleman told both players where they were coming into the season and how many hits they needed to reach the 100-hit milestone. Neither player worried about the number, but Crouthamel admitted that one of her personal goals for the season was to get to 100 hits. For Bishop, she was confident that the hits would come, especially if the team was playing well.

“For me personally, I try not to worry too much about stats,” said Bishop. “I’m thinking more about the team and what we need to do to win and the stats come later.”

Crouthamel too takes a team-first approach to the game and has confidence in all of her teammates, but has particularly grown confident in having Bishop hitting behind her in the lineup and what she can do to produce runs.

“If I get on, I know that Anna is right behind me and she’s going to get a hit and we have a lot of confidence in each other and in the team,” said the Penn State recruit. “That confidence is a big thing for us and we use that to our advantage.”

Crouthamel and Bishop are different types of players, but Appleman, who has been their coach for the past three seasons sees great qualities in both girls.

“Anna is starting to get more attention,” he said. “She’s one of those quiet kids that if you had nine of her you would do really, really well. Lilia is a different personality, really outgoing. Everybody knows who she is. She’s a vocal leader. They’re both leaders but they do it in different ways and I’m definitely going to miss them.”

Crouthamel is going to be a walk-on recruit at Penn State hoping to make the Lady Lions softball team. Bishop is headed to Bloomsburg University for academics but is unsure of whether or not she’ll try out for the college softball team, although Appleman is urging her to give it a shot.

Bishop and Crouthamel have played a big role in the success of the Lady Falcons over the past few seasons. Last season, Salisbury made it to the finals of the Colonial League playoffs and to the semifinals in the District 11 playoffs. This season both girls are planning on going even further and are planning on finishing out their high school careers with a trip to states.

“I think if we continue to play the way we’re capable of playing that we can make our way through the league and then districts and play in states,” said Crouthamel. “We have a really good team and we’re confident about what we can do as a team and that’s the biggest thing.”