West Chester East Falls to Spring-Ford in Districts

The West Chester East softball team lost a heartbreaker to the Spring-Ford Rams Wednesday, 1-0.

The Rams scored their sole run early. In the bottom of the first, leadoff hitter Cassie Alexy got on base with a single and advanced to second after a sacrifice bunt. Marisha Bates was walked at the next at-bat and Deme Kanakis grounded out, advancing Bates and Alexy to second and third.

Bri Kofer came up to the plate next and was able to drive Alexy home on an RBI-single to left.

After the game, East coach Chuck Lindsay had nothing but good things to say about his players as the season came to an end.

"We play good defense. That's kind of a hallmark of our team. This is a great senior class I've had. My pitcher, my catcher, my first baseman have been together for three years." Lidsay said.

He added, "Our left fielder is a senior as well. We have seven seniors, four starters. This group of seniors is the winning-est group we've ever had. They've won more games, been to more state tournaments and you can see it by their reaction at the end of the game - it does mean a lot to them. They really do care. They love each other and play hard for each other. That's the group that we are."

Lindsay also had nothing but high praise for the Spring-Ford pitcher who tossed a shutout.

"She kept us off balance all day long. She's not going to overpower anybody. She's going to let you hit the ball, but she's not going to give you a good pitch," Lindsay said.

He added, "She's going to give you a pitch in, she's going to give you a pitch out. It's going to be down. She changes her speeds really well. That's a great advantage. She is a real pitcher. She's not a thrower, she's a pitcher. She knows exactly what she's doing and she's doing a great job at it."

After a tragic loss in the Final Four semifinals for the PAC-10 to the eventual champs, Perkiomen Valley, the Spring-Ford girls were ready to step back onto the diamond and show the community and the district that they could go far.

The girls weren't able to put up many runs against PV, which led to the loss. They came out on Thursday and did the exact same thing, but played good enough defense to hold off West Chester East, 1-0 in round two of the district tournament.

"The kids were resilient," said head coach Tim Hughes. "They played good D when they had to and made the plays they’re supposed to make. That’s all I can ask for."

"You like to see manufactured runs," said Hughes. "That’s what we do. I have a Mendoza Line of like five where I’m manufacturing. It’s fundamental. It’s boring, but it is what it is. That’s the plan every inning. Get that leadoff run on and do it textbook. Offense wins games and defense wins championships. Fundamentals in softball statistically are going to come out on top."

Kofer agreed: Fundamental softball.

"My teammates were good and they got on base," she said. "I just had to do my job. I got up and hit the ball."

Junior pitcher Haleigh Williams threw a great game, too. She pitched all seven innings, letting up five hits and a walk. She struck out two, but didn't let a single runner score. The Rams defense also played well. There were no errors on the scoreboard.

"This is one of my better pitching games," she said. "The defense was spot on. We’ve been really working hard and kind of took on an attitude that we’re not going to take no for an answer after losing the PAC-10s. It just upped our focus."

Despite the win, the Rams ran into a familiar problem: runners left on base. The girls left eight runners on base, leaving the bases loaded twice in the game.

"How many games now in a row have we done that?" Hughes said. "We’ve had some situations. Some of the girls are hitting the ball hard and some of them are missing in big spots. If we get by with a win, those hits are going to come. I have confidence in the lineup and they’ll come through. These kids are still up there packing away. That’s all I want."

The girls will now gear up to play Central Bucks South on Friday at 4 p.m. at home.

"Anybody here is good from now on out including this team here," Hughes concluded. "CB South, we played them for a district championship. We beat them and then lost to them here when they won a district championship. We have a little history with them. We’ve got our work cut out for us. We’ve got to play solid ball – no errors or anything like that. I think we have a shot at beating anybody."

Box Score

Pitching
Win: Haleigh Williams - 7 IP, 0 R (0 ER), 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Batting
Cassie Alexy - R, H, BB
Liz Bauer - BB
Marisha Bates - BB
Bri Kofer - H, RBI, K
Lex Nadwodny - BB
Williams - 2 H
Gabbie Tareilla - H