Avon Grove tops Oxford in wild extra inning game
OXFORD—It wasn’t the cleanest game of softball you’d ever see—the Hornets and Red Devils combined for an unsightly eight errors. But it was, from start to finish, two teams unwilling to get down on themselves or ever feel like they were out of it, battling right down to the final out.
Avon Grove (1-1) rebounded from the rough spots and batted around in the top half of the eighth, plating five runs in the process, then fended off an Oxford (1-1) rally in the bottom half to come away with a hard-fought, 10-8 extra innings victory in the Ches-Mont cross divisional game.
“Grit. This was a gritty effort,” said Avon Grove coach Andria Pennell. “It’s just a testament to this team that they are going to battle with everything they’ve got as long as they need to.”
Trailing 4-2 with one out in the sixth, the Hornets took advantage of some Red Devil miscues, riding timely base hits from Alexis Pearson, Shannon Martin and a double from Gianna Coyle (4 for 5, 2B, 3B) to grab a 5-4 lead headed into the top half of the seventh.
Avon Grove answered right back, parlaying back-to-back doubles from Brooke Salisbury and Maddie Grablewski to send the game to extra frames.
“Credit to both teams today for coming up with big hits in big situations,” said Oxford coach Josh Socash. “Both teams made mistakes, and both teams did a good job of taking advantage of those mistakes with timely hits. Obviously we have some things to work on, but a lot of good came out of this game. This team isn’t going to quit.”
The pivotal eighth started rather inconspicuously, with a little comebacker for out number one. Up came Olivia Kunitsky, who got the rally going by working a walk, and moved up to second on a wild pitch. Megan Kristman followed, and delivered a single up the middle to make it first and third for freshman Caitlyn Long.
Undaunted by the pressure situation, Long stroked a ball deep to the gap in left center, knocking in both runners, and pulling in with a double.
“For a freshman to come in that situation and come through like that says a lot about her,” said Pennell. “We all expected big things from her this year, and she’s really shown she can step up to the occasion.”
Long came home when Becca LeStourgeon singled, and the Devils added another couple on singles from Salisbury and Lauren O’Neill.
“We just had to put our mistakes behind us and do what we needed to do,” said Long. “I know I made some mistakes that had me mad at myself, but all of us just had to have short memories and get to work hitting the way we know we can.”
Though down five to start the bottom of the eighth, the Hornets put a scare in the Devils, pushing across three runs on a walk to Rachel Florio, a triple from Coyle, an RBI ground out off the bat of Abby O’Connor, a homer from Maddie Frank, and a double from Karly Rees. But Avon Grove starter Lexi Barnhart, who went the distance for the win, got out number three with her second strikeout of the inning.
“This is mostly a new team,” said Barnhart. “We graduated a lot of seniors from last year’s team, and we’re all still figuring each other out. (Catcher) Olivia Kunitsky and I are starting to find a groove. We’ll battle, and we’ll just keep getting better.”
Also new to the mix is Pennell as head coach. Though a long-time assistant, this is Pennell’s first year at the helm, taking over after the retirement of Mike Diluzio.
“Obviously we’ve got some things to work on like simple communication,” said Pennell. “But this is a great group that will work hard and we’ll get ready for our big game Friday night against Coatesville.”
