Rothenberger homers, Downingtown West blanks PW in District 1-AAAA 1st round
DOWNINGTOWN >> It looked like Jamie Rothenberger’s day was done when Plymouth Whitemarsh Reagan Ebersole slid into second base on a failed steal attempt that ended the top of the third inning.
“I went to get the ball and as I was tagging her, she slid right into my knees, you know, cut my whole knee open,” said Downingtown West softball’s senior shortstop.
The play took its toll on both players, each needing assistance to get off the field. Ebersole, PW’s catcher, could not continue in the District 1-AAAA first round contest Tuesday afternoon. But with her spot in the lineup leading off the Whippets’ half of the frame, Rothenberger was going to hit.
“I know the team was counting on me,” she said. “I didn’t want to let them down.”
Still hobbling, Rothenberger created a moment straight out of a story book — smacking the first pitch she saw and sending it over the left field fence to give West a 1-0 lead.
“It was amazing cause at first I knew I didn’t have to run around fast,” she said. “And it was just amazing that I can still help my team out even though I’m hurt.”
Rothenberger came up two more times and collected two more hits, including an RBI single in the sixth for an insurance run, while Emily Williams tossed a two-hit shutout as the tenth-seeded Whippets advanced to the second round for a second straight season with a 3-0 victory over the No. 23 Colonials.
“You can’t really even describe who awesome it was,” Downingtown West coach Joey Germani said. “And then she come back at the next at-bat and rips another one. And then another.”
Rothenberger finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a double in the fifth as the Whippets move on to visit No. 7 Central Bucks East 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The home run was the first in her career at West’s home field for Rothenberger, who said she was going to need stitches on her knee but expected to play against East.
“It’s pretty bad. It’s from the top of my knee almost to the bottom of the knee,” she said. “It’s a cross, maybe God’s watching me, I don’t know.”
Pitcher Ashley Yeager kept Plymouth Whitemarsh in the contest, the right-hander working out of some tough jams – West stranded 10 base runners – but the Colonials did not record a hit until the fourth and finished with just a pair of singles against Williams.
“Frankly, she probably the quickest pitcher that we’ve seen, our league we don’t have as fast as pitching,” said PW coach Dana Moyer of the Whippets’ righty. “But our girls play travel ball, stuff like that, we had some girls that got on it, we just couldn’t string them together.”
#SOFTBALL: @WestSoftball13's @ma_paJAMIES doubles to lead off B5 vs. PW. pic.twitter.com/clnPTnWcBl
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) May 25, 2016
After Rothenberger led off the third with her solo shot, Downingtown West added another run in the inning as Brooke Dailey – courtesy running for Williams – scored after an error on Lily Najim’s fly ball to left field.
In the fifth, PW got a runner on third with one out. Lauren Fuhrmeister reached first on a dropped third strike, stole second then went to third on a ground out. Williams, however, struck out the next two batters to end the threat.
Rothenberger extended the Whippets’ advantage to 3-0 with an RBI base hit in the sixth.
The Colonials tried to mount a late comeback in the seventh. With one out, Fuhrmeister was hit by a pitch and went to third on a Yeager single – Yeager taking second on the throw to third. Williams, however, kept things from getting any more interesting with a strikeout and ground out to clinch the spot in the next round.
“This team, they have a never-say-die attitude. I mean, I can’t tell you how many runs we’ve scored with two outs,” Moyer said. “So I always believe and they always believe. So, it’s something that’s really special about this team and I’m going to miss them being all together.”
Williams struck out nine and walk three in her complete-game effort in the circle.
“She hit her spots today and we probably should have had a lot more called strikes – it was just changing a little bit every now and then – but he’s a good umpire, he stays pretty consistent,” Germani said. “But yeah, she hit her spots. She pitched better when it’s warmer out. She has more movement, so it helps her out.”
#SOFTBALL: @WestSoftball13's Emily Williams with 1 of her 9 strikeouts in the 3-0 win over PW. pic.twitter.com/IwON00ARTj
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) May 25, 2016
Yeager took the loss giving up three runs – two earned – on seven hits in six innings. She struck out four, walked two.
“She’s a worker. That kid works hard,” said Moyer of Yeager. “She’s my warrior and she does, she works out there no matter what. You wouldn’t know if we’re up by 20 runs or down by 20, you’d never know cause she just gets out there and she works.”
Downingtown West loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first with an Nina Gallagher infield single and two hit batters, but a fly out to shortstop and a strikeout kept it scoreless.
The Whippets again threatened in the second and had runners on second and third with one out, but again stayed off the board Yeager got consecutive pop outs.
Rothenberger finally broke the stalemate by belting the first pitch of the bottom of the third over the left field fence.
“I was just looking for first pitch strike right down the middle,” she said. “And I just hit it and it went.”
An error on Najim’s two-out fly ball brought in another run to make it 2-0 Whippets.
Rothenberger started the bottom of the fifth with a double to left and West eventually loaded the bases with no out, but a strikeout and fly out maintain the margin at two.
#SOFTBALL: @WestSoftball13's @ma_paJAMIES with an RBI single B6 for her 3rd hit vs. PW. pic.twitter.com/fHDkxUbJnT
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) May 25, 2016
The Whippets tacked on a third run in the fifth when Caitlin Coker ripped a triple to right center then scored two batters later on Rothenberger’s single.
