CLERMONT, Fla. – The West Chester softball team (11-5) continued its Spring Break trip to Clermont, Florida squaring off against St. Thomas Aquinas (1-8). The Golden Rams won their fourth straight prevailing by a final score of 5-2.
West Chester broke through first scoring in the third inning, when
Cat Hammer (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) singled to right field to score
Annamarie Hartman(Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier College Prep) giving West Chester the 1-0 lead.]
St. Thomas Aquinas answered right back in the fourth, when they scored one run to tie the game at 1-1 heading to the fifth.
In the fifth, Hartman registered an RBI of her own with a single to center that scored
Caroline Adams (Media, Pa./Renaissance Academy) to give West Chester the 2-1 lead.
Sara Ercolani (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) followed this up with a sac fly RBI to bring in
Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg), thus, giving West Chester the 3-1 lead heading to the sixth.
In the sixth, West Chester tacked on another two runs courtesy of RBI singles from
Heidi McCollester(West Chester, Pa./Henderson) and Hartman which scored
Alyssa Herion (Avon Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) and McCollester to extend the lead to 5-1. St. Thomas Aquinas answered back in the bottom of the sixth, with a run of its own to cut the lead to 5-2. But, this was not enough as West Chester escaped the inning surrendering just one run before cruising through the seventh to earn the 5-2 victory.
Brooke Harner (Chadds Ford, Pa./Kennett) got the start and went 3.1 allowing no hits and surrendering just one unearned run while also striking out one.
Amanda Houck (Gap, Pa./Pequea Valley) (7-2) entered in relief and earned the victory as she pitched the remaining 3.2 allowing just two hits and one unearned run while striking out two.
West Chester will be back in action later this afternoon against Fairmont State beginning at 4:30 p.m.
