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PLYMOUTH MEETING – Alycia Sabol looked skyward and smiled when asked if she’d be keeping an eye on the scoreboard to see if anyone could defeat Norristown in one of its three remaining SOL Games.
“I would love that,” Plymouth Whitemarsh’s senior pitcher said. “Just one team.”
The Colonials certainly did their part to set up an exciting finish in the race for an American Conference crown, handing the Eagles their first defeat of the league season with Tuesday’s 5-2 win. The Colonials (9-2) now trail the Eagles (10-1) by one game as the season enters its final week.
“There always one team in the league – we’re one game behind them, one game behind them,” Sabol said. “The last couple of years it was Cheltenham and Upper Merion, and we were so close.
“This year, beating an undefeated team – just to take that away from them is amazing.”
Sabol had a whole lot to do with the Eagles being knocked from the ranks of the undefeated in SOL play. The senior hurler allowed just five hits while striking out 10 in a stellar outing on the mound. All of her strikeouts came in the final five innings.
“Nothing changed,” Sabol said. “I guess I get more and more focused as the game goes on just so they don’t come back.”
“She’s a (heck) of a pitcher, no doubt about it,” Norristown coach Jon Kandrick said. “A couple of our girls hit the ball today, but we weren’t swinging at good pitches.
“She kept us off balance, which is a credit to her. She’s a good pitcher.”
According to Kandrick, there are worse things than a loss to a good team.
“I told them, ‘We win out, we win the league,” the first-year coach said. “I don’t necessarily mind this loss now.
“I’ll be the first one to admit I didn’t want to go into the playoffs undefeated. We just have to learn from this. Credit them – they made the plays, they hit the ball hard, and Sabol is a good pitcher, and her defense finally backed her up today.”
Senior catcher Kim Detwiler believes the loss will actually help the Eagles.
“It relieves a lot of pressure from going undefeated, and we know we have to battle back,” she said. “We can definitely learn from it.
“It’s good because going into the playoffs undefeated puts so much pressure on us. They’re a good team. I would rather lose to them than any other team.”
For the Colonials, the win avenged a 4-0 loss to the Eagles last week.
“Today was basically the exact opposite of the last time we played them,” Sabol said. “The last time, their defense was on, their hitting was on, and our defense was a little shaky, and we didn’t hit.
“Today our defense was absolutely outstanding, and we hit all the way up and down the lineup.”
The Colonials served early notice that things would be different this time around when – after Renee Stiteler lined a lead-off double to left center – Alyssa Butcher roped a two-out triple to the fence in deep left to give PW a 1-0 lead in the third. Butcher scored on an error, and the Colonials had a 2-0 advantage.
“Everything has changed since the last time we played them – from the positive attitude to the communication,” Butcher said. “The last game, we weren’t really bonded together as a team, but now we came together both on and off the field.”
In a preview of the leather the Colonials would throw at the Eagles on Tuesday, Butcher did a split stretching for a throw on Daisy Foster’s sacrifice bunt in the top of the second, robbing Foster of a basehit.
“It didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would, but I’m probably going to feel it in the morning,” Butcher said of her acrobatic play.
“Those plays make the game,” Sabol said. “That would have been an error on me, and the girl probably would have gone to second, but instead, she saved me.
“We all left it on the field today, and that’s how you beat undefeated teams.”
PW went on top 3-0 in the fourth when Kayleigh Flaim, who had walked, scored on Alexa Borkowski’s line double to center field.
“From the beginning, our heads weren’t in it as much as they should have been,” Detwiler said. “If we play Norristown softball, we can beat any team on any day. We just have to come out with good attitudes.”
The Eagles plated a two-out run in the fifth when Maggie Creciun, who was a near-perfect 3-for-4 at the plate, delivered a two-out RBI single to make it a 3-1 game.
In the bottom of the inning, the Colonials got that one back when Butcher, who opened the inning with a bloop double to right, scored on Erika Miller’s sacrifice fly to center.
Norristown’s Shauna Byrnes led off the sixth with a single to left and scored on a pass ball, trimming PW’s lead to 4-2, but again, the Colonials had an answer. Borkowski, who lined a two-out double to left – her second double of the game, scored on Katie Wacker’s line single to center.
Sabol did the rest, fanning a pair in the seventh to earn the big win.
“I think we were geared up for the game,” PW coach Rich Server said. “We knew we didn’t play our best game against Norristown the last time. We knew we could beat them, but everybody had to play to the best of their ability, which we didn’t do the last time.
“I don’t think we booted any (balls) today, and that was the big difference in the game as opposed to last time. We’re a very good offensive team, and we cover for our mistakes defensively by hitting but not against Norristown. Everybody played well.”
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 5, NORRISTOWN 2
Norristown: Maggie Creciun ss 4 0 3 1; Shari Lynn Kluth lf 3 0 0 0; Shauna Byrnes cf 3 1 1 0; Gabby Berry 3b 2 0 0 0; Kim Detwiler c 3 0 0 0; Daisy Foster p 1 0 0 0; Steph Sugaski cr 0 1 0 0; King 1b 3 0 0 0; Henrick rf 2 0 0 0; Melito pr 0 0 0 0; Stephanie Dinolfi 2b 3 0 1 0. TOTALS 24 2 5 1.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Alycia Sabol p 4 0 1 0; Renee Stiteler ss 4 1 2 0, Alexa Borkowski c 3 1 2 1; Katie Wacker cf 4 0 1 1; Alyssa Butcher 2b 4 2 2 1; Carlee Nosek 1b 3 0 1 0; Emile Cruz rf 3 0 1 0; Erika Miller lef 2 0 0 1; Kayleigh Flaim 3b 1 1 0 0. TOTALS 28 5 10 4.
Norristown 000 011 0-2
PW 002 111 x-5
E-PW 0, Norristown 2. DP-PW 1. LOB-Norristown 5, PW 9. 2B-Alexa Borkowski 2, Renee Stiteler, Alyssa Butcher. 3B-Alyssa Butcher. SB-Alyssa Butcher, Carlee Nosek. Steph Sugaski. SAC-Daisy Foster. SF-Erika Miller.
IP H R ER BB SO
Norristown
Foster (L) 6 10 5 2 2 3
Plymouth Whitemarsh
Sabol (W) 7 5 2 1 2 10
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