Coventry downs Clippers in D-I
COVENTRY — A little bit of rain was not about to slow the surging Coventry softball team.
As the skies opened up right before the No. 3 Oakers were set to host No. 6 Cumberland in the Division I winners’ bracket quarterfinals, the chances of getting the game in looked slim. Fortunately, the storm was just a passing one, delaying play by just one hour.
When the game did eventually get underway, it was the home team stealing the show, as the Oakers recorded a 6-0 shutout behind pitchers Diana Petrarca and Sierra Ricci, while second baseman Mackenzie Ricci continued to swing a hot bat.
The success of Petrarca and Ricci is nothing new for coach Chris Daigneault, as he has been relying on each of them throughout the course of the season, occasionally switching up which one starts and which one relieves.
“Both of them. I’ve been calling them the ‘dynamic duo,’ are working out well,” he said.
Petrarca started, lasting four innings, allowing just two hits and one walk while recording a strikeout as well.
Ricci came on in the fifth and, despite allowing a pair of hits in that inning, escaped the frame unscathed before retiring six of the final seven hitters she faced to cap off the shutout.
“Pitching pretty consistently. (Cumberland) hit the ball hard, but we played defense behind it,” Daigneault said of his team’s overall play in the field.
Jocelyn Bodington started for Cumberland, with the lefty lasting four frames before Brooke Turnbull came on for the final two. Coventry’s offense got to work early, plating a pair of runs in the first, one in the third and two in the fourth as their pitching denied the Clippers the opportunity to chip away at the deficit.
Mackenzie Ricci, coming off of an big game earlier in the week in which she finished just a single shy of hitting for the cycle, was on fire yet again on Thursday. The senior singled in the first, tripled in the third, walked in the fourth, and recorded an RBI sacrifice fly in the sixth.
“She’s on fire. They walked her that one time and then luckily Jordan (Dwyer) got a hit right after that, so she still got us a run,” Daigneault said referring to the fourth inning in which Dwyer’s base hit resulted in two runs scoring due to aggressiveness on the base paths by the Oakers.
Coventry grabbed 2-0 advantage in the first, with Ricci starting that rally with a single to right. Two batters later, with Ricci at third and Dwyer at second Oaker third baseman Cassie Lukowicz ripped a hard hit ground ball beyond the diving reach of Kailey Brodeur at second, bringing home both base runners for the early lead.
Ricci led off the third with a triple to right and scored two batters later on a single by Marissa Allen to make it 3-0.
The following inning was when Coventry began to put some distance between themselves and the Clippers. With two outs and Jessica Mahoney standing at second, Ricci drew a walk. A single by Dwyer brought home Mahoney to make it 4-0, before Dwyer broke for second, allowing Ricci to come all the way around and score herself, as the Oakers went up 5-0, which would prove to be more than enough.
Daigneault has seen steady progress out of his team since the midpoint of the regular season when they began to put together s stretch of successful play.
“The second half of the season, they’ve been a different team. The first half of the season, if you look at the wins we got, they built a lot of character. They kept coming back and they built that character which built confidence, which I think has helped towards the second half of the season.”
For Cumberland, the loss was disappointing, but there is still plenty of work left to do, given the double elimination setup of the tournament. Head coach Martin Crowley has confidence that his group can turn their misfortunes around.
“We’re not done yet. We just have to keep the right mental makeup and we should be all right,” he said.
Though they were shut out, Crowley felt that his team swung the bats well.
“We hit the ball better today than we have in awhile. Their kids made plays defensively. They’re a good hitting team, they’re a solid team. That’s why they’re the No. 3 seed,” he said of Coventry.
Cumberland’s best opportunity to get on the scoreboard came in the top of the fifth when Brodeur led the frame off with a double before co-captain Samantha Jalbert singled two batters later, putting runners on the corners with one out. The rally would stop there however as Renae Lacroix and co-captain Madison Leite were both retired.
East Providence’s loss to North Kingstown sets up a meeting between the Clippers and the Townies as Cumberland now finds themselves needing to win Saturday at 1:30 p.m. to keep the season going.