Big third inning sparks Downingtown East to rout of Oxford

OXFORD—Tied 1-1 after two innings, the Downingtown East bats came alive in the third. The five –run inning broke the tie, and broke open the game, with the Cougars (8-3) in complete control the rest of the way in a 14-3 rout of host Oxford (5-5).

“This league is so tight, you have to be ready to win every time you step on the field,” said East Coach Bill Williamson. “We still have a tough schedule in front of us, with two games left against most of our division. We’ve just got to keep playing the way we know we can.”

The Cougars did just about everything well. They played error-free defense. They got a great effort from starting pitcher Avery Byrnes. And they hit. Everyone got in on the action, too, with at least one hit and one run coming from every slot in the batting order. Of the Cougars’14 hits on the afternoon, five went for extra bases.

In the pivotal fifth, Lexi Hammer got things going by beating out an infield single, and then Byrnes followed with a single down the left field line. Steph Jacoby followed, and worked a base on balls to load up the bases. After Hammer came in to score on a wild pitch, Val Ponto cleared the bases with a blast over the fence in right center.

“I don’t know what pitch it was, I just saw it and hit it,” said Ponto. “I knew it felt good coming off the bat. I was excited when it went over the fence to put us way up. I knew I had my team backing me up and I believe we’re going to stay in this race a while.”

Four different Cougars had multi-hit games—Byrnes (2 for 5, 3R, RBI), Jacoby (2 for 3, 3R), Ally Meakim (2 for 3, 2B, 2R, 2RBI) and Nicki Sudall (2 for 3, 2B, RBI). Chelsey Kacmar and Grave McKelvey chipped in with RBI doubles.

Meanwhile, Byrnes was as solid as you could want in the circle, scattering six hit while striking out nine and walking three.

“I’ve been working on my screwball, so I was trying to work that in as much as possible,” said Byrnes. “My change-up was on as well. Plus the defense played great behind me.”

With the win, the Cougars improve to 8-3, and keep pace in the crazy competitive Ches-Mont National.

“Coming out as a senior and winning games like we have has meant a lot,” said Byrnes. “We were kind of down last year, so to be playing the way we have is great. I also didn’t get to play that much last year, so having a year like this as a senior means a lot.”

The Hornets were playing with a number of starters out of position, and it showed as Oxford committed an uncharacteristic five errors. Combined with five walks and timely hitting from east, it just wasn’t the Hornets day. Though they fall to 5-5 on the season, they are just a half game behind Kennett in the race for the Ches-Mont American title.

“We made our mistakes, and it cost us,” said Oxford Coach Josh Socash. “But the girls played hard, and never gave up, still trying to put runs on the board no matter how far behind. We’ve just got to get back to practice and work hard to get better for the next game.”