WCU falls in deciding game

WEST GOSHEN >> It was, perhaps, the most talented softball team in West Chester history. And the fact that the 2017 Golden Rams were unable to get past West Virginia Wesleyan in the best-of-three Atlantic Super Regional series is a testament to how difficult it is to grab one of the eight spots in the NCAA Division II National Championships, which start next weekend in Salem, Va.

It’s nicknamed the ‘Elite Eight’ and the ‘College World Series’ for good reason, and the Bobcats earned their ticket by splitting a Friday doubleheader at WCU to win the series two games to one. West Chester won the opener, 3-2, but ran out of gas and its season came to a close with a 10-1 mercy-rule shortened setback in the nightcap. West Virginia Wesleyan prevailed in Game One on Thursday, 3-2.

“I’m proud of how our team fought, not just today but all sea-

son,” said West Chester head coach Diane Lokey. “I told them at the end of the game not to let this series define them. They accomplished a lot of great things and they need to cherish those great moments.”

The Rams (48-13 overall) won the program’s fourth straight PSAC East crown, then went on to capture the school’s first conference title, and earned the program’s first No. 1 seed for the NCAAs.

During a campaign that equaled the most wins in a single season, WCU went 13-2 at home. But in the two-day series against the second-seeded Bobcats, at home, the Rams expended a lot of energy to extend the series to a third and deciding game, and appeared to have little left in the second game of the twinbill.

“I loved this team,” said outfielder Sarah Walasavage, one of just two senior regulars. “All I can say is that this was the best four years of my life so far.

“These girls all care about each other, they work hard every day, and especially this season. I think everyone was on the same page of getting back to Salem, Va., and thing just didn’t fall our way.”

Sophomore Alyssa Herion (Avon Grove) was lethal at the plate for West Chester, driving in four of the team’s six runs in the series, going 4-for-7 and scoring four times. But it was a rough end of a recordbreaking junior season for pitching ace Amanda Houck, who won a PSAC record 34 games this spring, but was saddled with both losses against Wesleyan.

“This is one of the most talented teams I’ve ever coached and they just fell short,” said Lokey, who has been at the helm for 14 seasons.

“We have a pretty young team, so I want them to remember how hard it was to get this far, and that we can’t take any days off. We will have to work and work to get back to this moment.”

Like Thursday’s series opener, the Rams took the early lead in Friday’s first game. Despite four hits, however, WCU managed to score just one in the top of the first and ended up leaving three runners on base. Herion delivered the runscoring single.

The ’Cats knotted it at 1-1 with an unearned run in the bottom of the inning, on an RBI hit by Olivia Gore. It also could have been worse, but Houck got out of a one-out jam with two runners on base.

The Rams’ Bri Garber – the reigning PSAC Freshman of the Year pick -ended an 0-for-21 slump for the last five batters in WCU’s lineup in the fourth inning, but the outfielder also misplayed two fly balls and one led to a Bobcats’ run in the bottom of the stanza. It also led to Houck’s exit.

Brooke Harner (Kennett) pitched well in relief to limit the damage, and it seemed to buoy the Rams, who came back to regain the lead for good with a pair of runs in the fifth. Herion drove in another and junior infielder Sara Ercolani delivered a run-scoring hit.

Harner allowed just one base runner in the final three innings and notched the victory.

“Hats off to West Chester,” said Bobcats’ head coach Steve Warner. “It’s a great program. They beat us in the Super Regional (in 2014). We knew it was going to be a battle coming up here.”

For the nightcap, Wesleyan went with well-rested pitcher Sayaka Foley while Lokey went back to Harner. Herion capped off a truly excellent series at the plate with a two-out solo homer in the bottom of the first to knot the score at 1-1, but the ’Cats regained the lead with two runs in the third off Houck, who came on to relieve Harner.

“The teams were so evenly matched and whoever made the big hit or the team that avoided the defensive mistake was going to win,” Lokey said.

West Virginia Wesleyan then took command by pushing three more across the plate in the fourth thanks to a two-run triple by Gore, followed by a runscoring double by Jessica Rodriguez. The ’Cats continued to pour it on with four more in the next inning off Houck, who was clearly spent after throwing 12-plus innings in two days.

“It was a hot day and you could see running up the pitch count made the pitcher more tired,” said Gore. “We knew if we waited, we would get a pitch we could drive.”

The Rams went out meekly with just one hit in their last 15 at bats, and the 10-run rule was invoked after five innings.

“We just weren’t driving the ball like we can. But (West Virginia Wesleyan’s) pitcher did a great job,” Lokey said.

“I did tell the team that, besides my two children being born, this is probably the best day of my life,” Warner added.

“I thought we had a slight advantage if we did go to the third game because we have a pretty deep pitching staff.”

In the clincher, Foley scattered three hits and WCU stranded three base runners in the final two innings.

“A couple events really flustered us,” said Walasavage, who played for the final time for WCU along with teammate Micaela McSpadden. “I really thought we had the heart to win this series.”