Cooper Strikes Out 11 In Win Over Thomas More

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Washington College softball team continued its best start in 15 years with a pair of victories at DiamondPlex in the team's first day at the Rebel Spring Games.  The Shorewomen topped Thomas More, 2-1, in the morning game and bested Westminster (Pa.), 4-2, in the afternoon contest.  The Shorewomen are now 6-0 and this is the squad's best start since starting 7-0 during the 1999 campaign.

Against Thomas More (0-1), the Saints broke onto the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning with a two-out run when Ana Walter scored on fielding error to make it 1-0.   Three innings earlier, Thomas More had the bases loaded with two outs, but failed to score.

The Shorewomen bounced with two in the last of the fifth to take a 2-1 lead.  Junior Christine Anderson (Palmer Lake, Colo./Lewis-Palmer) doubled home senior Claire Mattox (Arlington, Va./Potomac School) to knot the game 1-1 with nobody out and with one away, senior Hilary Rosenberg (Sweetwater, N.J./Oakcrest) came home from third on a squeeze bunt to put WC in the lead.  Thomas More got a leadoff single in the top of the sixth by Alex Walter, but that was the only runner who reached base for the Saints in the last two innings.

Junior pitcher Kristin Cooper (Georgetown, Del./Sussex Central) was the story of the game as she struck out 11 Thomas More batters, including striking out four Saints in the top of the second inning.  Cooper, who had at least one punchout in five of the seven innings, had her fifth career and second consecutive double figure strikeout effort.  In going to 3-0, she surrendered just five hits, walked two and gave up one unearned run.  Senior Lauren Dockrill (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) had two hits for Washington and recorded her 175th all-time hit on a single in the fifth.

Ronni Burns was the hard luck loser for Thomas More and drops to 0-1.  She struck out five, allowed five hits, two runs and walked two in five innings of work.  Alex Walter had two hits for the Saints.

Versus Westminster, the Shorewomen struck for a pair of runs in the top of the second.  Junior Suzanne Patinella (Fallston, Md./Maryvale Prep) tripled to lead off the frame and she scored on a triple by the next batter, Cooper.  After a pair of strikeouts, Anderson drove in Cooper to put Washington ahead 2-0.  

The Titans struck back for one in the bottom of the third inning when Shleby Brown doubled in Katy Balko to cut the lead to 2-1, but the Shorewomen restored the two-run lead in the top of the fourth when Anderson singled home Mattox on a one-out single. 

With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Brown plated her second run of the game to plate Kelsey Squelch to trim the Washington deficit to 3-2.  However, the Shorewomen restored the two-run lead with two outs in the top of the seventh when Dockrill singled home senior Kylie Nottingham (Ocean City, Md./Stephen Decatur) with two away to give the Shorewomen a 4-2 lead.  Nottingham singled with two outs and stole second to put herself in scoring position. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Westminster (2-2) got a two-out double by Squelch to bring Erika Pamer to the plate as the game-tying run, but sophomore pitcher Sydnee Schorr (Easton, Md./Easton) got Pamer to ground out to Dockrill at first base to end the game and give Washington the win.

Anderson went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI for Washington, while Cooper and Nottingham notched a pair of hits for Washington to spark the 10-hit performance for the team.  In the circle, Schorr went the entire way, scattering seven hits.  She gave up two runs, on seven hits, walking one and striking out three to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Brown had a game high three hits and drove in both of the runs for the Titans, while Squelch also had three hits for Westminster.  Pitching wise, Ashley Smith took the loss for Westminster and falls to 1-1.  She went five innings, giving up six hits, three runs, two earned, walking one and fanning two. 

Washington is back in action tomorrow at the Rebel Spring Games.  The Shorewomen play Geneva at 11:00 a.m. and Suffolk at 1:00 p.m.