Rustin blasts three HRs in win over Henderson to stay unbeaten

WESTTOWN >> Hot hitting West Chester Rustin continued to put up offensive fireworks Wednesday against crosstown rival Henderson. The Golden Knights (3-0 Ches-Mont American, 8-0 overall) blasted three home runs among their 12 hits on the day to cruise to a decisive 13-1 victory over the Warriors (0-3 Ches-Mont American, 3-4) in five innings.

“We are playing extremely well right now” said Rustin coach Dennis Becker. “It starts on the practice field and extends to the games. We aren’t letting ourselves get ahead of ourselves, only looking at the next game at hand.”
Wednesday’s win marked the seventh time in eight games Rustin has scored at least eight runs. The contributions are coming from up and down the order. The Golden Knights got a hit or a run in eight of the nine slots in the order.
“Everyone is chipping in and getting the job done,” said Becker. “This team works hard, you’ll see girls here tonight for another hour and a half, working on hitting, and that is something they are doing on their own.”
The Knights wasted little time in setting the tone for the game, pushing across three runs in the first inning. Gina DelGiorno (2-3, 2 R, 4 SB) did her job as lead-off, beating out an infield single and moving up to second with a stolen base on the first pitch, then over to third when Kelly Fricker beat out a bunt.
Ally Black (2-3, HR, 5 RBI) brought DelGiorno home with a sacrifice fly, then Mairead Hopkins cleared the bases with a two-run homer.

“Gina is just so fast,” said Becker. “She’s an incredible weapon at the top of the order.”
Rustin struck again in the third with a two-out rally. Paige Bentley delivered a single to right to keep the inning going. Taylor Kuhn followed, reaching on an error. Olivia Garner brought both runners home, stroking a double to the wall in right-center field.

Meanwhile, Rustin starter Emily Gillis was keeping the Warriors at bay, holding them to one run on seven hits, working herself out of jams in the second and forth. She struck out three and walked two.
“Henderson made good contact early in the game, but I trusted that my teammates were going to make the plays we needed defensively,” said Gillis. “It’s always fun to beat Henderson, because we know so many of those girls so well. We always want to beat the other West Chester schools, compete for the league and get to districts.”

Still just a sophomore, Gillis has pitched like the ace Rustin has needed.
“Emily has just been fantastic all year,” said Becker. “Getting us to the second round of districts as a freshman, and starting out 8-0 this year is just a testament to her hard work.”
Rustin tacked on four more runs in the fourth, highlighted by a three-run blast from Kuhn, then put the game into mercy rule territory in the fifth, when Black took a ball deep to center and off the glove of the Henderson outfielder and over the fence for a home run.
“I just tried to keep battling,” said Kuhn. “I was nervous, I was down in the count and I fouled off a few pitches before finally I got one inside and just drove it. But like the rest of the year, it was a total team effort. I’m really excited by how we’re playing.”
The Warriors’ lone run came in the fourth, when Hailey Bentz worked a lead-off walk, moved to third on a Brynn Pollard base hit and came in to score on a Carly Grodon single to right.

“We hit the ball much better today, and made good contact even on the outs,” said Warriors coach Chris Hessler. “We have to be aggressive at the plate and put the ball in play. Make them make the play. Good things happen when you put the ball in play.”
Henderson will look to get back to .500 when they square off against Coatesville at home on Monday.
“It’s a young team and we make mistakes,” added Hessler. “Hopefully we live and we learn from them. We need to clean up the little mistakes. But hats off to Rustin, that is a good team that is playing great softball this season.”

West Chester Rustin 13, West Chester Henderson 1, five innings
WC Henderson 0 0 0 1 0—1
WC Rustin 3 2 0 4 4—13
WP—Gillis LP—McCubbin
HR—Hopkins, Black, Kuhn 2B–Garner