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By Bill Rudickbrudick55@gmail.com
WEST GROVE>>For the first four innings, Downingtown West and Avon Grove were battling tough in a tight game, with West putting up single runs in the first and third innings to hold a slim 2-0 advantage. But the Whippets’ bats sprung to life in the fifth as West (6-0, 4-0 C-M National) sent 13 batters to the plate, and rang up a whopping nine runs, then held off a bases loaded charge from the Red Devils (4-2, 3-2) to win 11-1 in a game shortened to five innings under the Mercy Rule.
The Whippets grabbed the early lead in the first, when Lizzie Kern (3 for 4, 2 RBI, 2R, 3B, HR) tripled, then came in to score on a wild pitch. West added another in the third on a lead-off home run from Emma Ahlborn.
“We came here knowing the kind of pitcher Payton Hale is,” said Ahlborn, who finished the day going 3 for 4, with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. “We’ve been facing her since freshman year, both in high school and travel ball, so we knew how important getting up early could be. I was just glad to see Lizzie pick me up after my first at bat and get us a run on the board.”
West broke it wide open in the fifth, pushing across nine runs on seven hits in the inning highlighter by a home run from Kern, a two-RBI double from Taylor Hendricks (2 for 2, R, RBI), and a pair of hits and two runs scored from Ahlborn, highlighted by a 2 RBI single that pushed the game into Mercy Rule territory.
“We just hit top to bottom,” said Ahlborn. “To hit the way we did against Payton will certainly go a long way towards getting us acclimated for the good pitching we’re going to be seeing on our schedule.”
In all, the Whippets pounded out 13 hits on the afternoon, four for extra bases.
“We just really hit the ball well,” said Kern. “It seemed like once we started stringing the hits together, it was contagious, and we all started hitting. This was a good win.”
Addy Carter picked up the win in the circle for the Whippets, going all five innings. Carter allowed one unearned run on five hits, striking out six while not issuing a base on balls.
The Red Devils lone run came in the sixth. Michaela Sycalik led off the inning with a single, and moved up to second when Deanna Estes reached on an error, finally coming around to score on a single from Ella Morris.
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