By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
 |
Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Morgan Dugan attempts to make the catch on a fly ball in left field during the Whalers’ loss to Martha’s Vineyard Tuesday.
|
Uncharacteristic fielding woes have plagued the varsity softball team in the first two games this season, as the Whalers lost at home to Martha’s Vineyard 15-7 Tuesday and at Cohasset 6-4 last Wednesday.
“In both of these first two games we have made mistakes at inopportune times. When you are playing good teams, you can’t give them four, five, six outs an inning. You are going to get burned,” head coach Chris Maury said.
The Whalers (0-2) looked to get back on track yesterday at Mashpee, too late for this edition of Sports.
In the Whalers’ first home game of the season Tuesday, there were a few bright spots for the squad against a tough Vineyard team.
“We cut down on our strikeouts, we cut down on our walks, we hit the ball much better than we did in the first game. We just have to keep working,” Maury said.
The Vineyard struck first with one run in the top of the second, but Nantucket stole the lead back with two runs on a Grace-Anne Tornovish single and a passed ball. It didn’t take long for the Vineyard to regain control of the game with four runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings, capitalizing on the Whalers’ fielding woes.
Ashley Clinger led a comeback charge in the seventh with a two-run triple, but the Whalers fell short. Morgan Dugan had a solid day at the plate with a 3-for-3 performance with three runs scored and an RBI. Angela Paterson (2-for-4, RBI) and Jessica Guevara (2-for-4) also contributed offensively.
Kelly Reid pitched the first five innings, allowing 12 runs, with seven earned on eight hits and five walks while striking out four. Guevara came on to pitch the final two frames, allowing four more runs on five hits.
Nantucket opened the season at Cohasset last Wednesday and the two squads battled in a scoreless game through three innings.
“Cohasset is a good team and we knew that going in. Basically the schedule is set up to be competitive. That’s what you want if you are going to go to the tournament and you are going to play well in the tournament,” Maury said. “We did not hit well and it just looked like we had first-game jitters. We were very tentative at the plate. We loosened up as the game went on, too little, too late. We fielded the ball pretty well. We made a couple mistakes and when we made mistakes they were at key times.”
The most costly miscue of the game came on a two-run error in the fourth inning. After the Whalers had taken a 3-0 lead in the top of the inning, the Skippers responded with four runs to take the lead with the benefit of the Nantucket error.
Reid pitched all six innings for the Whalers, allowing seven hits, seven walks and three earned runs while striking out seven. The sophomore starter pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning to keep things close. Shortstop Lindsay Fry made the defensive highlight play of the game with a leaping catch of a line drive and a strike to first base to double off the baserunner in the third inning.
The Whalers scattered six hits in the game.
|
