Mistakes doom Mounties Barrington takes advantage of errors to score 4 unearned runs

BARRINGTON — The Mount St. Charles softball team faced reigning Division II champion Barrington three times last season – including the D-II final – so Mount coach Cliff Matthews came into Saturday’s early-season showdown with a good idea of Eagle senior pitcher Paige Concannon’s arsenal.

The problem was only three of the Mounties who started Saturday’s game also started at Rhode Island College last June. Concannon mowed through the Mounties the first two times through the order, but the third time through junior captain Talia Williams and freshman Piper O’Connell managed singles.

By the time the Mounties figured out Concannon, it was too late. Heidi Grove hit a two-run single up the middle in the third inning after a Mount error kept the inning alive and freshman starter Marissa Tessier was victimized by two more unearned runs in the fourth inning of a 5-0 Division II defeat at Victory Field.

“We had a book on her and we laid off her strength [the rise ball] for the most part,” Mount coach Cliff Matthews said. “I can talk all I want and tell them what to expect, but until you’re in the batter’s box looking at the pitches, it doesn’t mean anything. All of the sudden, here we go. Going into the third time seeing her, they know what I’m talking about.

“... It was defense that hurt us today and that’s uncharacteristic. We had a miscommunication on a ball, a ball goes off an outfielder’s glove and a throwing error. All of those runs were unearned.”

Mount St. Charles (3-3 Division III) has played the toughest schedule of any team in the division, as they’ve yet to face a team below .500. The Mounties handed North Smithfield and St. Raphael their first defeats, while they’ve been beaten by three teams – Prout, Rogers and Barrington – with a combined one defeat.

The Mounties, who host a Burrillville team that lost to Mt. Hope at home Saturday, are a work in progress according to Matthews with just one senior starter, left fielder Riley Mulligan, along with four freshman.

“Let’s be honest, it looks like there are going to be three teams in the hunt to win the title at the end and this is one of those teams,” Matthews said. “The other two are Prout and Scituate because I think Scituate has the pitcher who can do it. We knew this was going to be a tough test against a good team and a good pitcher.”

Barrington (6-1 Division II) was led by Concannon, who struck out 10 batters and didn’t allow her first hit until there was one out in the sixth inning when Williams singled. The senior didn’t allow a runner past second base.

Tessier went pitch for pitch with Concannon through the first two innings and she should’ve been out of the third inning without allowing a run. After Maia Villarica struck out for the second out of the inning, lead-off hitter Sydney Parkhurst hit a fly ball that bounced off a Mountie glove to bring Grove to the plate. The junior laced a single up the middle for the only two runs Concannon needed.

Maddie Cox sandwiched a single up the middle around two pop ups in the fourth inning. The junior should’ve been stranded at second, but Victoria Young made a throwing error, which allowed Cox to score. Alex Marinelli scored later in the inning on a single.

“She did a great job, but I couldn’t leave her in much longer after the fourth inning because they were starting to solve her,” Matthews said of Tessier.

The Mounties had chances to score over the final two innings, but the failed to record a hit with runners in scoring position. Williams was stranded at second in the sixth inning and Tessier and O’Connell were stranded on base in the seventh when freshman Kaylie Leclair flew out to right field.

“We’ve played the iron already,” Matthews said. “I would like to face a team like this at the end of the season when we’ve had time to work on some things.”

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Marissa Tessier, Victoria Young (5) and Cassie Thibault; Paige Concannon and Sydney Parkhurst.