West Chester East tops Parkland in 11-inning thriller
Allentown >> Minutes after West Chester East knocked off District 11 champion Parkland, 4-3, in 11 innings in their PIAA Class AAAA opener at Patriot Park Monday, Vikings right fielder Kyra Bond praised her team’s never-say-die spirit.
“When we fell behind 3-1, I just kept feeding off our fans’ energy to keep the team going,” said Bond, who had two hits and two RBIs, including the deciding run. “We just kept fighting, just like we have since the beginning of the season, when we started 2-5.”
West Chester East shortstop Leah Ritchey, who ranged all over the field for more than a half-dozen assists, said, “It meant so much to us to have our fans there, they had to come from two hours away. We came together as a team today — we knew what Parkland could do.”
And because West Chester East, the third-place finisher in District 1, lived to fight another day, they will face Avon Grove, the second-place finisher in District 1, Thursday, in the second round of the PIAA state tourney.
West Chester East started Monday’s game by scoring a run in the top of the first inning. Viking catcher Sam Gomez lined a single to left to score leadoff hitter Olivia Francomano to make it 1-0, but West Chester East gave up three runs in the bottom of the first — all unearned. After an infield error by WCE, Parkland followed with three singles, giving the Trojans a 3-1 lead.
“We started a little sloppy,” said Vikings head coach Bobby Swier. “It took us two hours to get here, and it took everyone a little while to warm up….But we came back, and this was a true team effort today — everyone on our team contributed. [Pitcher] Kristen Fuertes kept moving the ball across the plate, and each of our outfielders, Kyra Bond, Olivia Francomano and Amelia Lark, all made great catches.”
In the top of the third inning, West Chester East cut Parkland’s lead to 3-2 when Ritchey reached first on an error by pitcher Aubree Fritzinger, then went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Gomez, then scored on a single to right by Bond.
Fuertes, meanwhile, settled down and retired 12 batters in a row through the fifth inning. She was helped in the fourth inning by a diving catch from Bond in right field. And Ritchey made more than half-a-dozen assists at shortstop, along with several key putouts.
Backed by her defense, Fuertes gave up only two hits in the final 10 innings.
In the top of the seventh, just three outs from elimination, West Chester East squeezed home a run. Lark led off with a double to right center, and Mackenzie Thompson (“one of our fastest girls” according to Swier) went in to run for her.
Viking first baseman Spencer Baldyga dropped a bunt down the first base side, and after Parkland first baseman Shauna Frank got the out at first, she tried to pick Thompson off third base. Frank’s throw was wild, and as her throw went past third base, Thompson raced home with the tying run.
In the bottom of the eighth, Parkland’s Madison Holub led off with a long shot toward the left field corner, and Lark made a leaping, falling catch for the out. That play became particularly important two batters later when the Trojans’ Taylor Knappenberger reached first on an infield error. But Parkland didn’t score.
In the bottom of the ninth, Parkland’s Stephanie Herpel lined a two-out single and stole second. But Frank grounded out to Fuertes for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the 10th, Frank (who scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth in the District 11 championship game) was on third with one out, representing the winning run. Holub hit a grounder to Ritchey at shortstop, who nailed Frank at the plate to save the game.
In the top of the 11th, Ritchey was on second with no outs, was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Gomez, and scored on a grounder to short by Bond.
In the bottom of the 11th, with Parkland’s Jessica Kutteroff at third and one out, Oakley hit a short fly between third and short that looked like it might drop into the outfield, but Ritchey ranged far to her right to make the catch. Fritzinger then grounded to third baseman Kayla MacLaughlin for the final out, and West Chester East was headed to the quarterfinals.
