Cumberland too much for Lincoln
LINCOLN – According to Cumberland High coach Mary Crowley, you can never take for granted a game between his Clippers and arch-rival Lincoln, no matter what the records are at that point of the season or the experience levels of the two rosters.
Of course, Crowley was right, as the Lions gave his crew everything it had before yielding an 8-2 Division I verdict at the Saylesville Elementary School’s Sullivan Field on Monday night.
Cumberland needed to erupt for five runs over the final two frames to put the verdict away and raise its league mark to 6-3 (6-4 overall). The Lions fell to 2-7 in D-I action.
In a battle of southpaws, CHS senior Jocelyn Bodington outdueled sophomore Molly Thibaudeau, manufacturing a three-hitter with six walks and a whopping 12 strikeouts. Bodington only mustered one hit in four atbats, yet it went for a bases-clearing triple in the top of the seventh to ice the decision.
Other key offensive stalwarts for the Clippers included senior second baseman Renae Lacroix, who finished 4-for-5 with a double, two RBI and a pair of runs scored; and classmate Ally Pina, who posted two hits and an RBI.
“Bods battled (Monday) night, and Ally made a couple of great catches in center field,” Crowley stated.
“It was nice to finally put together a couple of solid offensive innings together.”
LHS skipper Kevin Palumbo admitted to being most enthused about Thibaudeau’s improvement with a new catcher behind the plate. That just happened to be renowned frosh Elizabeth Hien, the kid sister of Lions’ stellar student-athlete Randall Hien.
“When our pitchers are on, we’re good, but there have been times we’ve lost big because our pitching has been inconsistent,” he noted. “Then again, so has the catching. There was one game we had 15 passed balls, so we decided to shake up our lineup (for this game).
“I had a brand new catcher, Elizabeth, and she looked great,” he added. “She only had three passed balls, so that means we’re down 12 (PBs).”
The Clippers leaped out to a 1-0 lead after the top of the first, when Pina’s double to right-center field plated Lacroix, then tacked on another in the second. This time, Lacroix’s two-bagger delivered classmate Cassidy Carr.
They also tacked on one more in the third, when Makayla Chandler’s single scored Pina, though the Lions sliced the deficit to 3-1 in the fourth when Bodington issued a pass to Hien to plate junior Riley Riendeau.
With two outs, senior Julia Lombardi crushed a line drive to deep center with classmate Brie Smith stationed at second, but Pina made a fabulous running grab to squelch the rally.
The visitors tacked on two more in the sixth, courtesy of Lacrroix’s terrific suicide-squeeze bunt, then Pina’s ability to reach on a fielder’s choice/infield error.
That scored sophomore Caitlyn Oliveira. In the seventh, Bodington’s mammoth, opposite-field, bases-loaded triple notched three more to put the game away.
“The big at-bat in the sixth came from (senior) Gretchen Gilbert, who singled despite the fact she was 0-2 in the count,” Crowley said. “That’s what got everything going.”
Cumberland 111 002 3 – 8 – 12 – 0
Lincoln 000 100 1 – 2 – 3 – 1
Jocelyn Bodington and Caitlyn Oliveira. Molly Thibaudeau and Elizabeth Hien. 2B – Renae Lacroix, Ally Pina. 3B – Bodington.