Rustin caps regular season with win

West Chester Rustin and Ridley entered Tuesday’s non-league tilt coming off very different games the previous day. Ridley had just put together a big win, shutting out previously undefeated Garnet Valley, while Rustin was still feeling the sting of defeat, having dropped its Ches-Mont finale to Oxford.

But the only game that ever matters is the one being played. The Golden Knights (13-7) scored early, played great defense behind pitchers Lauren Greenwood and Emily Gillis, and notched a 5-2 victory over the visiting Raiders, who fell to 15-2, with a match-up with Interboro left on the regular season slate.

“This was a great win and a team effort all the way around,” said Rustin coach Dennis Becker. “Things hadn’t been going our way lately, but this team never stopped battling. Everyone played lights out today. We said yesterday, that a new season starts today, and this was a nice way to head into the playoffs.”

The Golden Knights got on the board in a hurry, pushing three runs across in the first. Jenna Kraft (2-for-3, double, two runs scored) led off, stroking a single to right, moving over to third on a double from Kelly Fricker, and then scoring on a sacrifice fly from Paige Bentley.

Up next for Rustin was cleanup hitter Taylor Kuhn, who launched a home run to center, giving the Golden Knights a 3-0 lead after one inning.

“It’s always huge to get an early lead, especially against a good team like Ridley,” said Kuhn, who also stroked a double down the left field line during the win. “You just work off that lead and keep going. It’s really exciting to get this kind of win. It lets us know we can still get the job done against good teams, and that’s always a great thing heading into the playoffs. We still believe we can finish on top at the end.”

Those kinds of wins had been hard to come by the past couple weeks for the Knights, the defending District 1 5A champions, having hit a bit of a rough patch.

“As a whole, we’ve been in a weird little funk lately,” said Fricker, who finished the day

BILL RUDICK — FOR DAILY LOCAL NEWS West Chester Rustin players greet Taylor Kuhn at home plate after her home run against Ridley Tuesday.