Vikings defense the difference as WC East edges Shanahan
WEST GOSHEN—It’s not like Shanahan wasn’t getting any good contact at the plate. They did. But the West Chester East defense allowed precious little to find outfield grass, or holes in the infield. The outfield, in particular, ran balls down right and left, and accounted for nine putouts in the game.
The Vikings (5-1) offense, for its part, used its speed to take advantage of some Shanahan (5-2) miscues, and stole its way to a 2-1 victory when Kinzie Thompson scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh.
“It’s kind of unfortunate it had to end that way,” said Thompson, who scored both East runs and had a trio of stolen bases on the afternoon. “But we needed to capitalize on any opportunities we got. Shanahan is always tough, and Devon (Miller) is never going to give up a lot of runs, so you need to take advantage of every chance you get.”
Miller and East starter Olivia Ronayne were locked in a duel most of the afternoon, with the game scoreless over the first few innings before the Vikings finally manufactured a run in the bottom half of the third.
Thompson got the Vikings going, beating out an infield single and swiping second on the first pitch. Paige Olson was next, and beat out her own infield single, then tacking on sixty-feet undetected when she caught the Shanahan defense sleeping, concerned with the possibility of Thompson heading home.
Amanda Gomez didn’t earn the number three slot in the order because she is weak with the bat. One of the top hitters in the league probably isn’t asked to drop down a bunt often, but with the go ahead run standing at third with the speedy Thompson, Gomez executed the squeeze play to perfection, and Thompson made it 1-0 East.
“Amanda has an incredible work ethic, and is constantly working on ways to improve as a player,” said East coach Bobby Swier. “She knows that there will be times when everyone in the line-up might be asked to bunt, and she was prepared to come through for us.”
It is nothing more than a simple understanding of her role, according to Gomez.
“I came up to the plate knowing I had a job to do,” said Gomez. “We had to get a run on the board, and so I knew I just had to drop down the best bunt I could to get the job done.”
Shanahan threatened in the top half of the fourth, loading up the bases. The East defense, though, came up with big play after big play. Centerfielder Olson, covered seeming acres of ground to make a running grab in short right-center. Thompson ran down a ball headed for the left field corner for out number two. And third baseman Kelsey McLaughlin plucked a scorched liner out of the air to end the inning and the threat.
“That has been our defense all year,” said Swier. “It isn’t just that we’re not making errors, they are coming up with the big plays whenever we need them most.”
The Eagles tied things up in the top half of the seventh, when Hannah Keiper launched a bomb to left that no defender was going to get to, smacking it off the stone wall behind the left field fence for a solo home run.
“We hit the ball hard all day,” said Eagles’ coach Ron Savastio. “But their defense was amazing, catching just about everything we hit today. And we just made too many errors of our own.”
Thompson led off in the seventh, working a base on balls and swiping second. Olson followed, and singled to left, moving up to second when the throw to third to get Thompson went wild. With Gomez at the plate, once again looking bunt, a Miller pitch got away, and Thompson waltzed in with the game winner.
Miller takes the hard luck loss while going the distance. She allowed two runs on five hits, striking out 13 and walking 4.
Ronayne collects the win, allowing one run on four hits. Romayne struck out two, and walked two.
“In this league, every single game is tough,” said Swier. “We just take the approach of one pitch, one at bat, one game at a time. Getting in these kinds of tight games and finding the ways to win them are going to be important as we get deeper and deeper in the season.
