April 28, 2012
Softball Drops Two to Mitchell in NECC Preview
Leicester, Mass. --- Lindsey Romagnino (Totowa, N.J.) had a combined three hits with five RBI and Marissa Thomas (New London, Conn.) allowed only one earned run while striking out six as the visiting Mariners of Mitchell swept the Hawks of Becker, 4-2 and 10-1, on Saturday at Russell Field in NECC Softball action. Mitchell, winners of twelve straight games with a 19-13 record and a 16-2 mark in the conference standings, clinches the second seed in the NECC Softball Championship Tournament. Becker, at 10-28 with a 7-11 conference mark, claimed the seventh seed on a tie-breaker, and will travel to Mitchell on Tuesday, May 1st for their opening-round playoff game.
In the first game of the day, Mitchell wasted no time getting on the board in the top of the first, as Romagnino's RBI ground-out scored Tiffany Person (Waterbury, Conn.), who had earlier walked and proceeded to steal second and third. Becker answered in the bottom half of the frame as Larissa Paula (Lynn, Mass.) slapped an RBI single through the right side, scoring Kaitlyn Kenney (Woodstock, Conn.). The Mariners would add runs in the second, third and fifth innings, with RBI base-hits by Tricia Tomaselli (Guilford, Conn.) and Nikki Hoxie (Winsted, Conn.) and a score by Person off a passed ball.
The Hawks got one back in the bottom of the fifth when Talan Barron (Methuen, Mass.) drove an RBI single up the middle, scoring Megan Bolduc (Dover, N.H.) and cutting the lead to 4-2. But that would be as close as the hosts would come, as Thomas (9-7) shut Becker down in the sixth and seventh innings. Megan Cordon (Watertown, Conn.) (6-15) struck out six Mariners while scattering eight hits. Bolduc finished 2-for-4 with a run.
The the nightcap, Tomaselli (9-6) gave Mitchell another strong pitching performance, tallying five strikeouts and giving up only one run in six innings of work. The Mariners scored two runs in the top of the first, with one coming off a passed ball and the second the result of a wild pitch. The score remained 2-0 going into the top of the third when Brittany Zaccaria (White Plains, N.Y.) hit an RBI ground-out to score Chelsea Arpin (Killingly, Conn.). On the very next at-bat, Romagnino singled to the left side to drive Person home, as Mitchell took a 4-0 lead. They Mariners added another two runs in the fourth as Dylan Riccardi (Elmont, N.Y.) had an RBI sacrifice-bunt to score Hoxie from third and Meghan Burke (Bronx, N.Y.) reached home on a wild pitch.
The Hawks finally broke into the scoring column in the bottom of the fourth when Shawna Drown (Watertown, Tenn.) singled to shortstop to score Barron. Mitchell extended their lead to 7-1 in the top of the fifth when Burke's sacrifice ground-out brought home Stacey Suplicki (New London, Conn.). Finally in the top of the sixth, Romagnino came to the plate with the bases loaded and blasted a double to deep left-field, driving in three runs and giving her team a 10-1 lead, the final score. Person scored three times during the game while hitting 2-for-4, and Tomaselli and Arpin each had two hits and a run for the Mariners. Drown went 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Hawks.
The two teams will play each other in the opening round of the NECC playoffs at Mitchell on Tuesday, May 1st at 4:00pm.
