W.C. East loses, despite 3 Ingram homers

Jackie Ingram's first home run was the shot in the arm that her West Chester East softball team needed.

Her second brought the Vikings to within a run of visiting Downingtown East.

By the time her third long ball of the day cleared the high fence and rolled on the football field, her coach, Chuck Lindsay, was shaking his head in disbelief.

"Unbelievable," he said, as Ingram rounded the bases with a similar look of amazement across her face.

On practically any other day, the moment would have belonged to Ingram, as the senior had seven RBIs Friday. Instead, the resilient and hot-hitting Cougars spoiled Ingram's career-best game, scoring two runs in the eighth inning to defeat their Ches-Mont National opponents, 11-10.

"I was just looking to hit the ball, honestly," said Ingram, a senior outfielder.

"It's funny because I've been struggling the past few games, and I know it's been in my head and I've been working on it."

The Cougars (12-3 overall, 7-3 league) jumped out to an 8-1 lead, as they received contributions up and down the lineup.

But an Ingram homer put the game within reach for the Vikings (13-4, 6-3), and another in the fourth gave them the momentum they had been missing in previous innings.

"After we didn't score for a little bit, we just kept trying and eventually we put the hits together," said Sarah Ercolani, the Cougars' shortstop.

With the game knotted 8-8 and then 9-9, neither side scored in the seventh inning.

Dana Ercolani singled to start the Cougars' eighth, and a sacrifice by Aryah Aungst moved the outfielder to second. A hit by Amanda Violante advanced Dana Ercolani to third.

Two batters later, Kristin Owen put the ball in play, giving the Cougars the lead. Sarah Ercolani singled, scoring Violante, to put the Cougars up by 11-9 - a much-needed cushion run.

Much-needed because Ingram was due to start the eighth for the Vikings.

Surprise, she homered.

Downingtown East 350 001 02 - 11 16 4

West Chester East 130 410 01 - 10 9 1

WP: Casey Thompson. LP: Olivia Rogers. 2B: DE-Renee Petrucci, Paige Warfel, Aryah Aungst. HR: WCE-Jackie Ingram 3.