West Chester East advances with dominant win over Daniel Boone

WEST GROVE—The Vikings had either a hit or a run from every slot in the batting order, and played lights out defense behind the solid pitching of Jess Gomez in the circle. Put it all together, and you have an 8-0 shutout for West Chester East over Daniel Boone Monday afternoon at Avon Grove High School in the first round of the PIAA, Class 5A state softball tourney.

With the win, the Vikings advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal round, where they will face District 2 champ West Scranton, a winner over Elizabethtown, at a site and time to be determined.

“Daniel Boone is no pushover,” said Vikings’ coach Bobby Swier. “They have girls up and down the order that can hit the ball. But our defense today was outstanding, especially our outfielders.”

With Emma Pinto in right, Amanda Gomez in center, and Kate Douglass in left, the Vikings outfield ran down anything that came anywhere near, finishing with a combined nine put outs. Douglass made a highlight reel sliding catch in the fifth, and both Pinto and Gomez pulled in balls at the fence over the course of the afternoon. 

“Everyone on our defense is hungry for the ball,” said Gomez. “Our outies especially want balls to be hit to them. They are just so gritty out there and always have fun. I think that speaks for the whole team right now—we’re all having so much fun.”

Gomez, who has been on fire all post-season, had to rely on her defense behind her more than she has all post season, with just six strikeouts on the day. She picked up the shutout win with seven strong innings, scattering three hits.

“This team really wanted to be here, playing in the state tournament,” said Blazers’ coach Lee Trythall. “There’s a lot of seniors on this team, and you just saw the intensity ratchet up every win we got closer. With so many seniors, keeping focus at this time of year with graduations, and senior weeks and those kind of distraction, it isn’t easy to keep the focus. But they did. And I am proud of the way they battled to get us here.”

Though they made good contact, and put together a bunch of good at bats to elevate the pitch count, the Blazers managed just three hits on the day—singles from Dani Hayes and Amber Williams, and a double from Hailey Koba.

“I thought we’d put in a better effort than we did, to be honest,” said Trythall. “But nobody gave up. The big difference in the game was they put the ball on the ground and we were hitting flyballs. Their centerfielder probably had six catches. Just too many flyouts and pop ups.”

The Vikings got out front in a hurry, pushing across three runs in the bottom of the first, highlighted by RBI singles from Mia Kulp (3 for 3, 2-2B, 3RBI) and Alex Douglass (23, RBI). A Werley single led to a run in the third, then three more runs came in the fourth, keyed by a double from Amanda Gomez. An RBI double from Kulp in the fifth rounded out the scoring. 

“Looking up at the scoreboard to see a three run lead almost before I threw a pitch was a great feeling” said Gomez. “Everybody was up and cheering and having fun.”

Four different Vikings notched multi-hit games at the plate—Kulp, Alex Douglass, Carey Werley (2 for 3, 2R), and Amanda Gomez (2 for 3, 2B, 2 RBI).

“I try not to think too much when I am at the plate,” said Kulp, the designated hitter for the game. “I just try to make good contact and hopefully move the runners. And it was definitely fun to just be a fan on the bench and watch the defense make all those amazing plays.”

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
DNLB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
WCE 3 0 1 3 1 0 X 8 12 1

Daniel Boone
Player AB R H RBI
H Kaba 3 0 0 0
K Dinolfi 3 0 1 0
D Hayes 3 0 1 0
H Cassner 3 0 0 0
A Williams 2 0 0 0
E Kassekert 1 0 0 0
H Johnson 2 0 1 0
G Miller 3 0 0 0
J Heasley 3 0 0 0
R Stoudt 2 0 0 0
Totals 25 0 3 0

W.C. East
Player AB R H RBI
Amanda Gomez 4 0 2 2
Rebecca Crump 3 0 0 0
Carey Werley 3 2 2 0
Allison Hill 3 1 1 0
Haley Greco 0 1 0 0
Jess Gomez 3 0 0 0
Mia Kulp 3 0 3 3
Alex Douglass 3 1 2 1
Abbey McCormick 2 0 1 0

Olivia Cuneo 1 1 0 0
Emma Pinto 3 1 1 0
Alyssa Conlon 0 0 0 0
Grace Koberg 0 1 0 0
Kate Douglass – – – –
Totals 28 8 12 6

2B—Dinolfi, Kulp (2), A Gomez

Pitching
D Boone IP H R ER SO BB
D Hayes (L) 6.0 12 8 6 2 0

WC East

Jess Gomez (W) 7.0 3 0 0 6 1