By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
The varsity softball team got back on track quickly this week, beating Mashpee 16-7 last Wednesday, Chatham 30-4 Friday and Diman 3-2 Monday.
The Whalers (3-2) were scheduled to visit Provincetown yesterday, too late for this edition of Sports, before breaking for spring vacation.
“These three wins are huge. It is nice to see the positive turn-around. I knew after the first two games we hadn’t played the way we were capable of playing,” head coach Chris Maury said.
Against Diman Monday the Whalers matched up against a perennial Division III South tournament contender.
“We knew that would be a big game for us. To go up there and play well on the road was a big positive,” Maury said.
After struggling with some control issues in the first two games of the season, starting pitcher Kelly Reid found her rhythm this week, shutting down the Bengals without a hit through five innings. The defense also stepped up in the win, limiting the miscues that had plagued the team early in the season.
The improvements in the field were key Monday as the Whaler offense, which had broken out for 46 runs in the previous two wins, struggled to score.
Nantucket had a runner in scoring position in every inning except the fifth, but only scored in the second.
Morgan Dugan led off with a single, stole second and third and beat the throw home on a grounder to shortstop to get things started. Thayer Dugan reached on a fielder’s choice and later scored on a single from Grace-Anne Tornovish.
Tornovish worked her way around the bases on a steal and a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Morgan Tornovish to cap the scoring for Nantucket.
Diman did not score until the sixth inning and in the seventh Reid shut the door for the Whalers’ third straight victory.
“I thought the girls did a real good job of keeping their composure, playing good defense and doing what they needed to do,” Maury said.
The Whalers had no trouble dismissing Chatham Friday afternoon. Nantucket was up 15-0 after two innings and tacked on another 15 in the remaining three of the mercy-rule shortened game.
Maury started substituting right away, but even the Whalers bench found success against the Blue Devils. Twelve of the 14 players who got into the game got hits as the Whalers wracked up 22 in the game.
“I was real happy with the way the kids that came off the bench came in and played. We didn’t really skip a beat,” Maury said.
Lindsay Fry had the highlight hit of the game, a grand slam in the third inning. The junior shortstop finished 4-for-5 with eight RBI and four runs scored. Angela Paterson (four runs, two RBI) and Reid (three runs, two RBI) had three hits each, while Grace-Anne Tornovish, Thayer Dugan, Katie Godlesky and Morgan Tornovish had two hits apiece.
Reid pitched three innings and allowed only one hit while striking out five. Morgan Tornovish came on in relief for the final two innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on two hits and two walks. Godlesky replaced Tornovish at second base and played well for the Whalers.
The Whalers jumped on top early at Mashpee Wednesday to earn their first win of the season.
Nantucket scored two in the first and after the Falcons tied the game in the bottom of the inning, the Whalers added six more in the second and four in the fourth to take the 13-2 advantage.
Reid had a solid outing in the circle, pitching all seven innings, allowing seven runs (three earned) on seven hits and three walks, while striking out six.
The Whalers notched only three extra-base hits in the game (two doubles from Reid and a double from Jessica Guevara) and did most of their damage with singles and good baserunning in the second inning.
Guevara, Reid and Fry each finished 3-for-5. Paterson, Morgan and Grace-Anne Tornovish had two hits and two runs scored a piece.
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