Downingtown West surges late to take out Conestoga

DOWNINGTOWN—As the Whippets were coming to bat in the fifth inning still tied with Conestoga 3-3, Downingtown West coach Joey Germani was suffering an unsettling sense of déjà vu. Just about a year ago, in the same quarterfinal round of the District 1, Class 6A tournament, the Whippets were caught up in an extra innings battle with another Central League team in maroon, Garnet Valley, and the Jags wound up winning 9-3 in eleven innings.

But this time around, it was the Whippets with the late surge, breaking the tie with a run in the fifth, and five more in the sixth as No. 4 Downingtown West (19-2) picked up a 9-3 win over No. 5 Conestoga (18-3).

With the win, the Whippets advance to Tuesday’s semi-finals, when they will travel to No. 1 Spring-Ford, an 8-0 winner of Garnet Valley Friday afternoon. They also clinched a berth in the PIAA Championship tourney.

“Going into that inning tied, I kept thinking that this felt way too much like Garnet Valley, so we’d better start getting the bats going,” said Germani. “I couldn’t be more proud of these girls. They’ve worked really hard to get to this point. It feels great to know we’re going to states. But first, we need to get ready for Spring-Ford. The district title is still out there for us.”

The Pioneers jumped out to the early lead with a pair of runs in the first inning. Claire Overton (2 for 2,

2B, R) kicked off the rally with a one-out double to left center. Olivia Cepielik followed, and worked a base on balls to bring up Jenny Noll. Noll delivered, ripping a double to the gap in the left center to plate both runners.

West answered right back. Caitlin Coker (2 for 2, 2B, 3B, 2R) led off the Whippets half of the first with a double, and then Nina Gallagher was hit by a pitch to bring up Taylor Posner. Posner emptied the bases, smashing a monster home run well over the fence in left.

“It was a little low and outside, and I just tried to drive it,” said Posner. “I wasn’t sure I got enough of it, so when I saw it go over the fence I was excited. It was great for us to respond the way we did and get ahead. I’m so excited for us, especially the seniors. This year was their last chance, and now we are going to states.”

‘Stoga tied it at 3-3 with a run in the fourth on a single from Kate Clement and an RBI double for Faith Walker, but that marked the end of the Pioneers offense for the day.

“We gave them too many outs and that is too good a team to give extra outs,” said Conestoga coach Pete Ricci. “And we just didn’t hit. We couldn’t string enough together and get the timely hits.”

After West tied it with Coker triple and an RBI single from Gallagher in the fifth, they blew it open with a five run sixth. Carly Grandizio got things going with a one-out single, moving up to second on an error, then Nicole Lioumis reached on an error, with Grandizio moving over to third in the process. As Conestoga pitcher Lauren Lofland got out number two with a strikeout, Lioumis moved up to second uncontested.

Coker was next up, and the Pioneers opted to intentionally walk her, setting up a force play in addition to the show of respect for one of the top hitters in the state. Gallagher, though, made them pay for it, ripping a shot up the middle to score both Grandizio and Lioumis. Posenr (2 for 4, HR, 4RBI) kept the two-out rally going with an RBI single, and Morgan DeFreitas finished off the scoring with a 2 RBI double.

“To be honest, I was a little pissed that they walked Caitlin to get to me,” said Gallagher. “But then I just wanted to get a hit and get a few more insurance runs on the board for Natalie (Bebee). We are all super pumped about the win. It has been a long time since West has been in states. But first things first, we’re going to get back to work Monday to get ready for Spring-Ford.”

Beebe picked up the pitching win going seven strong innings. She allowed three runs on five hits—none after the fourth inning—while striking out nine and walking two.

Conestoga isn’t done, though. The Pioneers still have a chance to reach the state tournament, but will have to get through a play-back bracket. Next up, “Stoga will host Garnet Valley on Tuesday.

“We’re not done,” said Ricci. “We didn’t hit the way we needed to hit today, but we just need to put this in the rearview mirror, and keep looking through the windshield and keep moving forward. All the big and important things are ahead of us.”