No. 10 St. Raphael downs SK; visits Northmen Monday
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — This time, the No. 10 St. Raphael softball team stymied No. 3 South Kingstown’s seventh-inning comeback attempt.
Just a few weeks after the Rebels scored four runs in the seventh inning to walk off against the Saints, sophomore pitcher Sydney Charette worked around two unearned runs in the final inning to lead her team to a 5-3 Division II losers’ bracket victory Saturday afternoon at Broad Rock Middle School.
“Good effort,” St. Raphael coach Ron LaBree said. “We hit the ball when we had to and Haley Howarth is just a phenomenal player who made big plays to help us win. The defense, even though we made four errors, was solid and we came up with some big plays. Sydney pitched well and kept the ball low and away from their big hitters.”
St. Raphael, which was sent to the losers’ bracket by winners’ bracket finalist Mount St. Charles, grabbed the lead for good in the opening inning when leadoff hitter Ashley Bullen walked and scored on a two-run home run by Howarth. The All-State shortstop went 2-for-2 with two RBIs, two runs scored and two walks. Sailor Costa and Taylor Moreau also added RBIs.
The Rebels grabbed their only earned run in the first. The Saints rebuilt their two-run lead with a run in the fourth before tacking on two more runs in the seventh. Costa doubled in Howarth and then Moreau scored the freshman with a hit.
St. Raphael will play its fourth road game of the playoffs Monday afternoon against No. 1 North Smithfield. The Northmen suffered their first loss since the opening game of the season Saturday, as Barrington’s Paige Concannon fired a complete-game five-hitter in a 2-1 winners’ bracket semifinal win at Rhode Island College.
North Smithfield junior pitcher Vanessa Venkataraman scored her team’s only run in the first inning, but the Eagles tied the game in the fifth. Heidi Groves hit an RBI double in the seventh to plate Rachel Cross for the game-winning run.
LaBree is excited for a rematch with the Northmen after Venkataraman, Lorenza O’Donnell, Alex Ledger and the Northmen secured a 7-5 win at the Hank Soar Complex last month.
“You’re playing at RIC and the next thing you know, you’re in the losers’ bracket and you’re back at home,” LaBree said. “We’re the No. 10 seed playing the No. 1 seed, so we have nothing to lose. We can play with them, but we have to shut down the top of their lineup.”
In the first meeting, each team had 10 hits, but the top of North Smithfield’s order proved to be the difference. Venkataraman had three hits, while O’Donnell, Ledger and Liz Jalette each had two.
Of course, the Saints’ standouts also hit well. Bullen and Howarth each had two hits.
“(Venkataraman) works really hard and she’s not going to give in and she’s going to pitch her game,” LaBree said. “For us, Sydney is going to have to hit her spots and we can’t give them extra outs.”