O’Donnell hits walk-off homer

Senior shortstop ends 11-inning marathon with two-run home run

NORTH SMITHFIELD — The North Smithfield softball team never led visiting Barrington in the first 10 innings of their Division II showdown Thursday afternoon, but that didn’t matter to Northmen senior Lorenza O’Donnell.

With the Northmen down to their last out and Hope Trowbridge representing the game-tying run at second base, O’Donnell hit what coach Paul Mercier called the longest home run he’s ever seen at the field, as the Northmen earned an incredible, 17-16 11-inning victory in 3 hours and 20 minutes.

“I was really nervous and I just wanted to do my best when I went to the plate,” O’Donnell said. “My coach always says that a line drive

will tie the game, so that’s what I was going for. The pitch was right in my wheelhouse and I just hit it.”

“That is by far the most incredible game I’ve ever been a part of,” said Mercier, who missed the first 90 minutes of his daughter’s birthday party. “The girls kept battling back and that ball Lorenza hit was the farthest I’ve ever seen a ball hit at our field.”

North Smithfield (10-1 Division II) has now won its last 10 games since losing to Mount St. Charles to open the season. Freshman catcher Alex Ledger scored three runs and hit three doubles, while junior pitcher Vanessa Venkataraman hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning.

Barrington (6-2 Division II) jumped all over Venkataraman in the first inning, as Maddie Cox belted the first of her two home runs to help the Eagles build a 4-0 lead. Junior fireballer Paige Concannon, who was clearly dealing with a leg injury, gave up runs in every inning except the sixth before being relieved in extra innings.

“We settled down when we started hitting the ball,” O’Donnell said. “We were definitely intimidated early in the game by how fast she threw, but we settled down and started making good contact.”

North Smithfield closed the gap to just one after Venkataraman’s home run, but the visitors scored three unearned runs in the fifth to open up a four-run lead. North Smithfield sent the game to extra innings when Alyssa Murray singled in courtesy runner Taliia Verboot, before she scored on a wild pitch with one out in the seventh inning.