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WYNCOTE – A simple phrase kept running through Rene Stiteler’s mind as she stepped into the batter’s box with two outs in the seventh inning of Monday’s SOL contest against Cheltenham.“I was just thinking ‘Can’t stop, won’t stop,’” the Plymouth Whitemarsh second baseman said of a phrase that is the team’s mantra this year. “You just have to keep going.”
Forget the fact that no one was on base, the Colonials were trailing by one run and down to their final out. Or that Stiteler had not collected a hit this season.
The Colonials’ ‘can’t stop, won’t stop’ mentality apparently works.
At least it did on Monday.
Stiteler ripped the first pitch she saw to deep left field, circling the bases for an electrifying home run that knotted the score in the most dramatic of fashions.
“I felt it,” she said. “I didn’t know it was hit that far, but I felt it.”
Two innings later, the Colonials exploded for five more runs to earn an 8-3 win in nine innings over the Lady Panthers.
“This boosted our confidence completely,” Stiteler said. “This whole game we weren’t exactly in it. We weren’t down, but we weren’t in it completely, and stringing these hits together and plays together really helped.”
On the mound, Alycia Sabol just kept getting better and better as the game progressed. After allowing two runs and five hits in the fifth, Sabol was all but untouchable the rest of the way.
The only Lady Panther runner to reach base over the final four innings came with one out in the eighth when Alexis Streets was safe on an error. She was erased attempting to steal second.
“I always have one inning where the other team gets at least two or three runs,” Sabol said. “Sometimes our team doesn’t come back and hit, but today our team came back and hit like I’ve never seen before.”
Comebacks, according to Sabol, are nothing new for the Colonials.
“We always manage to come back,” she said. “I think it was my freshman year against Cheltenham – we were down six runs in the last inning, and we came back and beat them by one run. We always have good games against Cheltenham every year. It’s a big rivalry.”
On the other side of the diamond, there were mixed emotions.“You have to take the good and the bad, but mostly take the good,” Cheltenham senior Amber Powell said. “You can learn from your mistakes.
“You just have to take the good and run with it. This is pretty disappointing, but you have to get over it.”
One of the ‘good’ things for the Lady Panthers was the performance of freshman hurler Lesenia Santiago, who allowed just three hits and two runs – only one earned – through the first six innings.
“Lesenia’s pitching effort should have been enough to win that game,” Cheltenham coach Mike Fegeley said. “She pitched well enough to win the game. We just didn’t play good enough defense.
“The bottom line is right now we’re not making enough plays to be successful. We don’t have a lot of firepower in the lineup.”
Another freshman – Alexis Streets – had a pair of hits and drove in a run with a huge two-out single in the fourth.
“They’re doing great,” Powell said. “They have stepped up big. Our pitcher is amazing for a ninth grader.“We just have to get ourselves together, and we’ll be alright.”
The Lady Panthers appeared to be in good shape when they went on top 3-1, thanks to a two-run outburst in the fifth. Olivia Tarlo started the two-out rally with a line single to center and immediately stole second.
She scored when sophomore Holly Powell, who had a pair of hits, followed with a line single to center. Amber Powell’s booming double to right plated Holly, and the Lady Panthers had a two-run edge.
The Colonials cut into that lead in the sixth when Alyssa Butcher – who had a pair of triples – stroked a two-out triple to deep right. She scored when Katie Walker grounded a single up the middle, trimming Cheltenham’s lead to 3-2.
Santiago retired the first two batters she faced in the seventh, but that’s when Stiteler stepped to the plate.
“I was so mad the last game because I have been practicing so much, and it just wasn’t coming through,” she said. “I finally put it together.”
The junior second baseman – who bunted into an unorthodox first-to-right-to-first double play in her previous at-bat – broke out of her early season slump in fine fashion.“How about that?” PW coach Rich Server asked. “This is Renee’s third year, and she has played a different position every year, and she is just a marvelous hitter, but she has been struggling this year.
“She has done this several times in past years – come through at the end of the game. She’s just a little kid, but she’s a wonderful player.”
Santiago worked a one-two-three eighth, but the Colonials’ bats came to life in the ninth. It began innocently enough with Carlee Nosek legging out a chopper off the plate. She found herself on third with no outs, thanks to a pair of wild pitches. Kayleigh Flaim followed and drew a walk.
The go-ahead run scored on Alexa Borkowski’s sacrifice fly to shallow right, but the Colonials were just getting started. Stiteler beat out a bunt single and stole second. Santiago struck out the next batter she faced for the inning’s second out, but Sabol – whose steal of home in the third inning put PW on the scoreboard – poked an RBI single to right.
“Through the first five innings, we had one hit, and then all of a sudden…,” Server said. “But the Cheltenham girl (Santiago) did a very nice job.”
Tori Baritucci’s fly ball to the outfield was misplayed, allowing a run to cross the plate, and Butcher followed by roping an RBI triple to deep center, putting the Colonials on top 8-3. It was more than enough for Sabol, who retired the Lady Panthers in order in the seventh.“We really got together as a team and started hitting, and then our defense picked up,” Sabol said. “When we win like this, it always picks us up and gets us in really high spirits.
“We have a big rivalry with Cheltenham. It was very nice to beat them the first game this year, especially in extra innings. That was a very nice surprise.”
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 8, CHELTENHAM 3 (9 INNINGS)
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Alycia Sabol p 4 2 2 1; Tori Baritucci dp 4 1 0 0; Alyssa Butcher ss 5 1 2 1; Katie Walker cf 5 0 1 1; Carlee Nosek 1b 4 1 1 0; Kayleigh Flaim 3b 2 1 0 0; Emilie Cruz ph 1 0 0 0; Alex Borkowski c 3 0 0 1; Renee Stiteler 2b 4 2 2 1; Erika Miller lf 1 0 0 0; Kristin Heatley ph,lf 3 0 1 0; Lindsay Dender rf 0 0 0 0. TOTALS 36 8 9 5.
Cheltenham: Mary Siegal ss 5 0 0 0; Olivia Tarlo 2b 4 1 1 0; Holly Powell 1b 3 2 2 1; Amber Powell 3b 4 0 1 1; Katie Bohr c 4 0 2 0; Nikki Maurer cr 0 0 0 0; Alexis Streets lf 3 0 2 1; Lesenia Santiago p 3 0 0 0; Dana Eisensmidts cr 0 0 0 0; Rae Leventhal rf 4 0 0 0; Kara Naseef cf 3 0 0 0; Nikki Maurer ph 1 0 0 0. TOTALS 34 3 8 3.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 001 001 105-8
Cheltenham 000 120 000-3
E-Cheltenham 3, PW 1. DP-Cheltenham 1. LOB-PW-5, Cheltenham 7. 2B-A.Powell, Bohr. 3B-Butcher 2. HR-Stiteler. SB-Miller, Stiteler, Sabol, H.Powell, Tarlo. SF-Borkowski.
IP H R ER BB SO
Plymouth Whitemarsh
Sabol (W) 9 8 3 3 1 11
Cheltenham
Santiago (L) 9 9 8 5 2 7
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