West Softball Wins Third Straight in 10-1 Victory Over East

The rivalry between Cherry Hill East and West is frequently a game of inches, no matter the sport.

So it was fitting that the softball teams’ clash Tuesday was defined by a hit that skittered no more than 15 feet in front of home plate.

Linda Kovacs’ surprise bunt single loaded the bases for the Lions in the fourth inning, heaped pressure on the Cougars and set the table for Sierra Machinski, who smacked a three-run double to break a 1-1 tie, propelling West to a 10-1 victory on its home turf.

It was the third-straight win for the Lions, who already got statement victories over Sterling and Camden Catholic in the last four days, and bumps them back above .500 on the season—and more importantly, the players said, gives them inspiration for the rest of the season.

“We’ve been putting in all this hard work—it’s awesome to get the win today,” said pitcher Jamie Robertson. “It gives us a huge confidence boost.”

Robertson did her part on the mound, scattering five hits, mostly grounders, and striking out three Cougars in an efficient outing. Robertson gave up only one unearned run, scored by East’s Megan Martin.

“I was just trying to keep them low,” Robertson said.

On the offensive side, the hits came from almost everywhere in the lineup—Alicia DeFlaviis had a pair of hits and a walk from the leadoff spot, but the Lions got nearly as much production of the bottom of the order, where Diana Cordisco got on base three times and scored twice.

The exclamation point came in the fifth. After flying out the inning before, Chelsea Holiday turned on a pitch and drove it 220 feet to dead center, a bomb that hung forever against a nearly cloudless sky.

“It just felt really good coming off the bat,” she said. “I already knew it was gone.”

While a win over their cross-town rivals—especially now that a former West assistant is the head coach now—is always big, coach Dave Gurst said the rivalry is less important than how much the Lions are coming together at this point in the season.

“This was by far our best game of the season…and our first really complete game,” he said. “For us being a young team, every win’s big.”

And given the difficult schedule ahead of them—including nonconference games against Kingsway and St. Joe’s of Hammonton—getting on this kind of streak now will instill even more confidence and resilience in a team a day removed from a rare, come-from-behind win against Camden Catholic.

“That’s the character of this team,” Gurst said. “They’re so much fun to be around.”

For the players, the winning streak serves notice West will be a tough out the rest of the way.

“We can just build off of this,” Holiday said. “No one can doubt us at this point.”

Check out pictures from the game at:

• Cherry Hill West Softball Beats East [Photos]