Kennett edges Downingtown East in district opener
LIONVILLE—No. 12 Downingtown East (13-8) had the tying run on third base, and the winning run on second with just one out in the seventh, but Kennett ace Genevieve Ebaugh dug deep and induced a pair of weak groundouts to escape the jam to secure a 3-2 victory for the No. 21 Blue Demons (15-6) in the first round of the District 1, Class 6A softball playoffs.
With the upset win, Kennett, without a senior on the roster and with a freshman pitcher, advances to the round of 16, where they will square off against No. 5 Conestoga (17-2). The Pioneers earned a first round bye.
“Just had a Gatorade shower, and it feels really good,” said Kennett coach Lauren Gottstein, still dripping with thirst quencher. “This is a young team, and you can see they are still going through some jitters, but we’ve really been gaining some confidence the past few weeks, especially after beating Villa (seeded third in the 5A tournament). Hopefully we can make a little run here, but the future is definitely looking bright.”
Despite loading the bases in the first, the Blue Demons didn’t break the scoreless tie until the third. 
“We left a lot of runners on base today,” said Gottstein. “We did what we had to do to win today, but we have to be able to take advantage of every opportunity if we are going to beat a team like Conestoga.”
Amber Kahrs got things going for Kennett in the third, leading off the inning with a single to right. Ebaugh followed, and chipped in with a single of her own. Shannon Harvey made it bases loaded when she was hit by a pitch, to bring up Ainsley Albert. Albert came through with a line drive to right, good enough to score Kahrs and Ebaugh.
“We all seem to play better when we have runs on the board,” said Ainsley. “So I just wanted to try to take advantage of the chance to put some runs on the board. It feels great to get the win and move on to Conestoga.”
Ebaugh, meanwhile, was dealing. The hard-throwing freshman didn’t allow a base runner until the number nine hitter for the Cougars, Morgan Dey, slipped a grounder through the right side of the infield in the bottom of the third. Ebaugh picked up the win with seven strong innings, allowing two runs—both unearned—on four hits. She struck out 11, and walked just one.
The Kennett hurler helped her own cause in the fourth, delivering what would be the deciding run with an RBI single to the gap in left center.
“I thought I had to help myself and the team, and not think too much past that,” said Ebaugh. “To know we are going to be playing in the second round and hopefully beyond is an amazing feeling. We didn’t even make districts last year, but we are playing really well right now.”
East battled back in the game in the fourth. Nicki Sudall and Steph Jacoby kicked off the inning with back-to-back singles, then Lexi Hammer worked a one out walk to load the bases. Ebaugh got out number two with a strikeout, and looked like she might get out of the inning unscathed when Ally Meakim grounded to third, but the throw got away from the Kennett first baseman, and both Sudall and Jacoby scored.
The Cougars threatened again in the bottom of the seventh. Meakim got things going with s single, then moved up to second when Kelsey Kacmar reached on an error. Morgan Dey sacrificed both runners over, to bring up the top of the East order with just one out. But two ground balls later, and Kennett had the win. 
“I tried not to think about the pressure,” said Ebaugh. “When I let nerves get to me, that’s when I make mistakes. So I just tried to focus on each batter and do my best.”
The loss doesn’t take anything away from the successful season Downingtown East had.
“We hadn’t made the playoffs in four or five years,” said East coach Bill Williamson. “And here we are today and if a ball sneaks through the infield in that last inning and we win and are moving on to the next round. This season we had 13 wins and hosted a district playoff game.”
“We played as a team all year, Williamson continued. “Before today, no one on the roster had played in a playoff game. Now we have a couple of juniors, a sophomore and a freshman that have that experience. They will come back hungry for more, and maybe not feel the jitters as much.”
