Delco’s big bats can’t trigger another comeback
PHILADELPHIA >> After rallying in the bottom of the seventh inning for two Carpenter Cup victories Tuesday, Delaware County tried one more comeback Wednesday.
But the team had no more magic left in its bats.
Delco was eliminated from the tournament’s loser’s bracket with an 8-2 defeat to Chester County at FDR Park.
Trailing 5-0 with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, Delco third baseman Heather Lazer (Haverford) and left fielder Sam Wittmer (Upper Darby) both singled, then a double by catcher Amber Seaman (Interboro) cut Chesco’s lead to 5-2, and Delco had runners on second and third.
But Chester County’s pitching shut the door on Delco the rest of the way.
“We were just one hit from being down one run” in the sixth, said Delco coach Patrick Rafferty, who heads the Sun Valley program. “We have a good hitting team, but we ran into some tough pitchers today. Chesco is a good, good team, and the fact that we struck out 14 times today shows how good their pitchers are.”
For Chesco, Brianna White (Coatesville) struck out five hitters in the first three innings, allowing only one hit, as her team built a 4-0 lead.
Rafferty, who sees White during the high school season in Ches-Mont League play, said, “I can tell you, Brianna White is as good a pitcher as it gets.”
Abby Wild (Perkiomen Valley) combined with White for 14 strikeouts.
Delco had only six hits Wednesday, and only one hit through the first five innings — a third-inning single to left by leadoff hitter Olivia Rigby (Penncrest), who went 5 for 7 in Delco’s two wins Tuesday with four runs scored and a pair of walks. Nikki DePietro (Springfield) got a seventh-inning single to right field, as Delco kept battling to the very end.
Tuesday, Delco trailed Philadelphia PCCAF 5-0 going into the bottom of the seventh, and scored six runs to win 6-5; then tallied three runs in the bottom of the seventh to edge Mid-Penn, 13-12.
“We have a great group of girls on this team,” Rafferty said. “They’re not here for their stats, they’re here to win. We fought back from behind all tournament long.”
Chesco’s early offense was sparked by right fielder and leadoff hitter Gillian Barrie (Perkiomen Valley). In the top of the first inning, she was hit by a pitch, then White drew a one-out walk and catcher Brianna Smith lined a single to load the bases. Center fielder Camryn Glenn (Owen J. Roberts) hit into a fielder’s choice to score Barrie.
In the top of the second, Barrie’s two-run triple to left center plated Marley Weston (Shanahan) and Carley Stoltzfus (Oxford), who had drawn walks. Faith Willenbrock (Downingtown East) hit a sacrifice fly to score Barrie and make it 4-0.
Barrie hit a two-out single in the top of the fourth, stole second, and scored on an outfield error to make it 5-0. She went 3 for 4 against Delco, reaching base four of the five times she came to the plate, and scored three runs.
“She’s been a great sparkplug for us,” said Chester County coach Paul Gustaitis.
In the top of the seventh, Chesco added three insurance runs, highlighted by an RBI triple by right fielder Emily Moll (Upper Perkiomen), an RBI double by Stoltzfus and some fine baserunning by Glenn, who stole second and scored on an errant throw.
