Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Rustin hands D-East its first league loss
Beebe pitches a gem in the circle as Whippets get over hump vs. Red Raiders
CALN » It had been quite a while since Downingtown West had a win over Coatesville in softball, going back a few seasons.
That losing skid came to an end Wednesday night at Caln Park, as the Whippets (5-3) combined timely hitting with a stellar effort in the circle from Natalie Beebe to edge the Red Raiders (7-1) by a score of 4-3.
“It’s been at least six games since we beat Coatesville,” said West coach Joey Germani. “Tonight we didn’t make any errors, and played well overall. It’s a big win — we know we can beat anyone when we play our best, and we get Taylor Posner back Saturday.”
Coatesville drew first blood, pushing a pair of runs in the bottom half of the first. With McKenna Sherman and Kayla Bock on with walks, Payton Landis ripped a double to right center to knock in both runners. But despite some other opportunities, the only other Red Raider run came on a solo home run from Natalie Florschulz.
“I think the last time I pitched against Coatesville here, they had like six home runs,” said sophomore Whippet pitcher Beebe. “That is a really good hitting team. I’m really with the way I pitched, but even happier that we got the win.”
Beebe worked her way out of a couple of jams, but none more important than one in the bottom of the seventh. After Bock and Landis led off the inning with backto-back walks, they moved up to second and third on a sacrifice bunt from Nicole Wuertz.
With the tying run now just sixty feet from home, Beebe went to work, striking out the next hitter, and getting an easy infield pop up to end the game.
“She’s pitched some really good games for us this year,” said Germani. “But we either didn’t get the hits, or made too many errors and didn’t help her out. Too night we made no errors and helped her refocus and do what she had to do.”
The Whippets first run came in the top of the third, when Caitlin Coker connected on a bomb that nearly cleared the trees in right field, well over the fence. “It was a 3-0 count, so I was just looking for a good pitch to hit,” said Coker. “It was a really good pitch for me to hit, and I just drove it.”
The Whippets took advantage of some wildness from Coatesville pitcher Florschulz, plating a pair of fourth inning runs. Lili Najim led off with a single, then Tori Martin reached on a one-out walk. Carly Grandizio followed up, reaching on a dropped third strike. Katie Zibello picked up an RBI with a bases loaded walk, and a second run came in when Coker was hit by a pitch.
West took the lead in the fifth. Hannah Greider led off with a single up the middle, and then West loaded the bases with one out on singles from Najim and Brooke Dailey. With two outs, Grandizio hit a little dribbler up the third base line, scoring Greider.
“All season, we’ve known what we could do, we know how hard we work,” said Coker. “This was a huge win for us. Not just in the standings—but for us as a team. We’ve had too many games where we beat ourselves and this just shows that if we don’t beat ourselves, we can beat anyone.”
For Coatesville, it simply means getting back to work on reaching its goals.
“We had our chances to score, but Downingtown West made all the plays they had to make,” said Coatesville coach Bill Mendenhall. “It’s a setback, but it won’t stop us from repeating as Ches-Mont champs, or reaching any of our other goals. It just means we have to work hard, refocus, and get back on another wins streak starting Friday.”