Plymouth Whitemarsh capitalizes, keeps Upper Dublin in check

UPPER DUBLIN >> Jen Byrne was pumped up Friday afternoon.

The Plymouth Whitemarsh outfielder hadn’t performed well at the plate in Thursday’s win over Wissahickon and wanted to prevent an early season slump from creeping up. She had a couple good hacks prior to her sixth inning at-bat against Upper Dublin, but this time felt different.

The junior got the big hit she wanted, delivering a two-run home run to punctuate a 6-1 win over the Cardinals.

“I told myself I needed to do well today and I just brought it today,” the center fielder, who went 2-for-4, said. “I just waited for the perfect pitch, I saw it come right through the middle and just took a hack at it. I felt it.”

PW improved to 2-0 on the young season thanks to an offense that took advantage when it needed to and a stellar pitching effort by junior Allison Beausoleil. The hurler struck out six and allowed just four hits as she kept the Cardinals’ potent bats silent for most of the afternoon.

Returning most of the key players from last year’s squad has helped PW, which is in the same familiar boat as almost every other team in the area limited by outdoor practice time. While having continuity is a plus, it would only go so far if the Colonials hadn’t improved individually.

Beausoleil, who pitched a lot of innings last year, has certainly gotten better.

“I was just hitting my spots, whatever the coaches called, I hit it,” Beausoleil said. “Even warming up, it was really there. Once I got to the first better I thought ‘I’ve got this.’”

The junior pitcher said since last season, she’s been attending pitching camps at St. Joe’s and doing strength and agility drills to up her endurance. It’s translated to more pop on some of her pitches, more stamina and most importantly, more accuracy.

She only walked one Cardinal batter on Friday and retired the first nine hitters in order before Meghan Muth led off the fourth with a single. UD’s lone run came in the fifth inning and even then, Beausoleil managed to hold the Cardinals, getting a fly out with the bases loaded to end the frame.

“She did a lot of work over the past year and I could see it even in her location and spins, and I’m proud of where she’s at already,” PW coach Dana Moyer said. “We have a lot of possibilities, a lot of girls we can put in different spots. You also look out defensively and I know they all know what’s going on.”

For Upper Dublin, which dropped to 1-2 on the season, some early defensive gems couldn’t overcome the off day at the plate. While PW threatened early, a combination of catches in the outfield and some sharp plays in the infield dirt prevented the Colonials from scoring until the fifth inning. Right fielder Jayme Rubenstein made a tough inning-ending catch in the third

“On a day with tough wind, especially for our outfield, Taylor Avery came up with a couple big catches and Jayme Rubenstein came up with a big one to get us out of an inning,” UD coach Heather Boyer said. “Our bats were just too quiet until too late.”

Beausoleil also had a hand in starting both PW rallies. She led off the fifth with a walk and reached on a one-out error in the sixth, both the start of three-run spots for the Colonials. Just as key were the contributions of No. 9 hitter Sydney Melillo, who singled both times after Beausoleil reached.

In the fifth, Melillo’s fake bunt-slap hit turned the lineup over, with the first run scoring on an error with Byrne and Lauren Fuhrmeister following with RBI singles. An inning later, Melillo hit a flare single into right, scoring courtesy runner Regan Gehman from second before getting caught stealing.

It was only a roadblock, as Kammy Kropinski worked a walk and then scored on Byrne’s blast to deep left field.

“We’re hyped every time we go into a game, we think we’re a pretty good team and we can show it,” Byrne said. “Upper Dublin is a good team too, but we knew we just had to take hacks at it. Sometimes, they’ll make errors and we just kept hitting away.”

Boyer has seen flashes of her team’s ability, like the defense on Friday or some of the hits in Thursday’s loss to Quakertown, but the Cardinals haven’t translated their gym work onto the field.

“You can’t give free passes and by my count, four of them scored, which can’t happen if you’re going to win games,” Boyer said. “We have yet to be on a field for a practice and you do your best to try and convert that indoor practice to outdoor ball but we haven’t put it all together yet.”

Starting with two wins, Beausoleil said the Colonials can go into next week confident in themselves but also not too overconfident. PW wants to push for the postseason and the junior pitcher said that only happens if the players stay focused on what’s in front instead of what they’ve already done.

“We just work together, we’re really supportive and encouraging of each other, we’re loud and it just helps,” Beausoleil said. “Our lineup is one after the other, everyone can hit. Encouragement really helps, especially me on the mound, I like hearing my teammates saying my name and telling me I can get the job done. Stuff like that helps everyone.”

PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 6, UPPER DUBLIN 1
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 000 033 0 – 6 6 3
UPPER DUBLIN 000 010 0 – 1 4 4
2B: UD – Korynn Bischoff. HR: PW – Jen Byrne. SO-BB: PW – Allison Beausoleil 6-1, UD – Erin Gallagher 2-4. Multiple hits: PW – Jen Byrne 2-4, Sydney Melillo 2-3.