Lincoln comeback falls short vs. Oakers
Lions score three in 6th; Coventry answers with three
LINCOLN — After the Lincoln softball team came back from a three-run deficit in the sixth inning to tie Coventry, the Oakers turned to their two junior standouts who played a big part in the run to the 2015 state title.
First, catcher Jess Dabreo gave Coventry the lead with two outs in the top of the seventh inning when she smashed a double to the leftfield fence to plate Jess Mahoney. Apitch later, the lead was three runs when second baseman Mackenzie Ricci crushed a Bella DiOrio offering for a two-run home run.
The Oakers, fresh off a victory over La Salle, downed the Lions, 6-3, Friday afternoon at Saylesville Elementary School thanks to three RBIs and a run scored from Ricci and a pair of RBIs from Dabreo.
“They will keep doing that and I’m counting on them to,” veteran Coventry coach Chris Daigneault said. “Jordan (Dwyer) also needs to be in the mix and getting hits. Those three need to go, go, go because when they’re going, we’re good. This is the first game where I hit Jess at leadoff and it worked.”
Lincoln (4-3 Division I) struggled for the first five innings against Coventry freshman Sierra Ricci, but a Delaney Cavanaugh bunt sparked a three-run uprising in the sixth inning to tie the game. Sophomore shortstop Riley Riendeau crushed a two-run double and then freshman Hope Walinski followed with an RBI double to knock Ricci out of the game.
The Lions, who brought the game-tying run to the plate in the seventh, came into the contest on a three-game winning streak. Lincoln continues to be one of the top run-prevention teams in the state, but they were held to four or fewer runs for the fifth time in seven games.
“The team is improving,” Lincoln coach Kevin Palumbo said. “Coventry is a very good team that just beat La Salle and they can bunt and they are very quick. We did everything we could. I do like what I’m seeing because we came back today against Coventry, one of the best teams in the state.”
Coventry (6-2 Division I) isn’t built like Daigneault’s state title teams of the past. Instead of a lineup loaded with power hitters, the Oakers are using the speed of Dwyer, Leah Giampietro, Carly Furtado and Mahoney to create offense.
In the circle, sophomore Diana Petrarca earned the win after allowing two hits in 1.2 innings of work. Ricci went the first 5.1 and gave up five hits and three runs while striking out five.
“I’m pleased with this team,” Daigneault said. “This team has lots of character. We’ve come back so many times already, it’s unbelievable. Even though that wasn’t necessarily a come back, it felt like it because we let them tie it up and we came back again.”
DiOrio, who struck out seven in a complete-game effort, cruised through the first two innings, but Coventry’s speed created a run in the third. Mahoney reached on a bunt single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Mackenzie Ricci single.
Coventry doubled its lead two innings later when Giampietro bunted for a single, stole second and scored on a Dabreo single. Tara Dawley extended the lead to three in the sixth when she singled in Dwyer.
Ricci cruised through five innings, but an infield single by Cavanaugh set the stage for a Lincoln comeback. Jordan Delisle brought the game-tying run to the plate with a single before Riendeau and Walinski hit back-toback doubles to tie the game at 3.
“I just turned around and asked (former Coventry All-State Kate Carroll), ‘Kate do you think we should switch them,’” Daigneault said. “Maybe we went one batter to long. I’ve been using both of them to try and get a feel for when I should take them out. Sometimes I do it on time and sometimes I’m a batter late.”
DiOrio set down the first two batters of the seventh, but another Mahoney bunt single brought up the dangerous Dabreo. The junior took a strike so Mahoney could steal second before rifling a double to left.
“I pitched outside against her and I pitched inside – I charted that team like you wouldn’t believe,” Palumbo said. “They hit everything. There’s nothing we could’ve done.”
Daigneault had a feeling Ricci would hit a home run if DiOrio made a mistake on the outer half of the plate. And she did one pitch later, as Ricci crushed a ball to center field for a two-run home run.
“Usually she throws me inside, so that’s where I thought she was going to go again,” Ricci said. “Every once in a while she goes outside with it, so I was kind of thinking it might happen. It most definitely felt good off the bat.”
While the Lions head to Aqueduct Field Tuesday afternoon to take on Cranston East, the Oakers face undefeated Moses Brown in a non-league game Saturday morning.