Sinkus homers as Downingtown West powers past Coatesville

DOWNINGTOWN—Though the weather was on the chilly side, the Whippets’ bats were anything but cold as Downingtown West hosted Coatesville in the Ches-Mont opener for both teams. The Whippets (1-0) pounded out 11 hits on the afternoon, and held off a late Coatesville (0-1) surge to come away with an 8-4 victory.

“We put a lot of runners on base and could have done even more damage,” said West coach Joey Germani. “We grinded out a lot of at bats today, up and down the line-up. We pushed a lot of 3-2 counts and when (Coatesville starter Natalie Florschulz) made a mistake, we did a good job taking advantage. We haven’t won our opener in a few years, so this is a nice win for us.”

The Red Raiders got on the board first with a run in the top half of the first inning. After West starter Natalie Beebe whiffed the first two Coatesville hitters she saw, Kayla Bock (3 for 4, 2B, HR) got a hold of a 2-2 pitch and drove it to deep center for a double, and came around to score when Payton Landis reached on a dropped third strike.

Beebe settled in after that. Despite a patient Coatesville line-up that was also working its way deep in counts, the Red Raider managed just three hits over the next five innings. In the complete game victory, Beebe allowed four runs—three earned—on six hits. She struck out seven, and did not walk a batter.

“I thought (catcher) Caitlin Coker called a great game today, keeping them off balance,” said Germani. “Natalie’s changeup was really on; she hit her spots, and just did a great job changing pace.”

West answered right back with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning. Meghan Sinkus (2 for 2, 3 R, 2 RBI) led off, and was hit by a pitch, then promptly swiped second. Coker followed, drawing a walk to make it first and second. Both runners moved up sixty feet on a sac fly from Taylor Posner, then Beebe brought both runners home with a double to right.

“We did a great job stringing together hits today, which is something we struggled with in our scrimmages,” said Beebe, who finished the day 2 for 4, 2 RBI). “For me, I just focused on the pitches I wanted to hit, and crove it as far as I could.”

West broke it open with back-to-back three-run innings in the fourth and fifth, highlighted by a a double and a solo home run from Sinkus, the first of her career, along with a double from Coker (2 for 2, 2R), a triple from Carly Grandizio, and base hits from Beebe, Posner and Nina Gallagher.

“It was a high fast ball and I just hit it as hard as I can,” said Sinkus. “It’s great to get the win, especially against a team as good as Coatesville. It’s only going to give us confidence as the season moves on.”

Coatesville didn’t just pack it in despite being down seven in the seventh, putting together a nice little two-out rally. Phoebe Clemens got things going when she reached on an error, then came in to score on a single to left from Florschulz. Bock was next, and launched one over the right-centerfield fence for her third base hit of the afternoon. But it wasn’t enough, as West got the last out to hang on for the 8-4 victory.

“I thought we had a good approach at the plate today,” said Coatesville coach Bill Mendenhall. “We were aggressive early in counts when she was around the plate, and did a good job laying off her rise ball. We made her work hard, but we didn’t really get a whole lot of hard hit balls either. But they never quit and battled right through to the end.”