West Softball Players Make History at Carpenter Cup

When softball’s Carpenter Cup gets underway Monday morning at FDR Park in Philadelphia, it’ll be a milestone for Cherry Hill West.

For the first time in the tournament’s history, the Lions are sending two players to the all-star squad—outfielder Alicia DeFlaviis and shortstop Cierra Machinski, who helped the Lions to a 10-win season this spring.

The rising juniors, who were both named All-Conference—DeFlaviis to the first team, Machinski to the second team—will take the field with the Olympic-Colonial squad, which begins play first thing Monday, taking on Suburban One League-Bicentennial in one of two 9 a.m. games.

“I love the fact that they’re representing our kids,” West head coach Dave Gurst said. “It gives the younger kids something to shoot for.”

Both girls already lead by example, Gurst said, putting in tons of work outside of the high school season, and their selection to the Carpenter Cup team both reaffirms the notion of putting in the effort to reach the next level and serves as a benchmark for other players in the program.

“If it’s something you really want to do at the next level, then you get rewarded for it,” he said.

Much like their counterparts in the Carpenter Cup baseball tournament going on at the same time, DeFlaviis and Machinski will have the chance to not only play against top competition from around the region, but also get scouted by colleges from the Delaware Valley and beyond.

The added exposure could give both girls the extra push to play at a high level, Gurst said, following in the footsteps of recent West alums like Alyssa Sims (LaSalle) and Rachel Knable (Temple).

“I know they’re both very interested in playing college ball,” Gurst said of Machinski and DeFlaviis. “I think if they continue to improve, they definitely have the ability to take to the next level.”