Coventry too much for improving Tigers
COVENTRY — As far as capping the regular season on a high note goes, the Coventry softball team can check that box off with ease. Entering Tuesday’s Senior Day game against Tolman, the Oakers had outscored their previous four opponents by 44 runs, doing what they needed to do against teams beneath them in the standings.
“We’ve been taking care of business,” head coach Chris Daigneault said. “We’ve been playing the teams that kind of haven’t been playing so well and doing our job for the most part.”
That trend would continue against a Tigers squad that has won just twice all year in fourteen tries.
Fueled by a four-run first inning and five-run fourth, starting pitcher Sierra Ricci and reliever Diana Petrarca combined to hold Tolman to just three base hits on the day, as the Oakers prevailed by a 10-0 final in a five-inning contest, bringing their regular season record to an impressive 12-4.
Leah Giampietro and Cassie Lukowicz each notched two-run base hits, while Jess DaBreo and Marissa Allen both recorded sacrifice flies in a game in which the rain drops refused to stop falling. Aly Hills wound up scoring the game-ending run from third on a wild pitch in the fifth, allowing the fans to seek shelter back in their cars.
Daigneault had challenged his team to win each of their five contests ever since falling 12-5 to Pilgrim back on May 9.
“They did that and now, hopefully things fall into place. We should be at the least the number four seed, and with a little bit of help, we could end up being the number three seed,” he said of their positioning going into the playoffs which will begin some time next week.
Though he likes what he has seen out of his club over the past couple of weeks, Daigneault does not feel that it is an accurate indicator of how they will fare come playoff time.
“It’s tough to gauge,” he said. “We’re playing much better defense than we were earlier. Pitchers are pitching well and we’re hitting the pitchers that we have to face. They’re just doing the jobs that they have to do right now and we’ll see. It’s going to go up a notch in a week or so.”
On the other side of the diamond, the Tigers found themselves unable to match the talent of the Oakers despite holding them scoreless in the second and third innings.
“Coventry hits the ball. They hit very well,” head coach Scott Cooper said.
Starting pitcher Hannah Coken lasted 3.1 innings, with the Coventry bats getting to her in the first and fourth, before Jaylee Martinez took over for the remainder of the game.
“Our pitching is decent, but we’re not the fastest pitchers in the world and without speed, they hit the ball. Coventry hits the ball all over the place. Hats off to Chris and his team, they did a great job,” said Cooper.
As for his team’s offense, the Tigers skipper credited Coventry for being in the right place at the right time.
“Fortunately, we put the bat on the ball, but some of the balls we hit went right to their players. We played a great team. We still have a very young, inexperienced team,” Cooper said.
The top of the fourth presented the Tigers with their best chance to work their way back into the game, but nothing would come of it. Trailing 4-0, left fielder Sophie Marchese drew a leadoff walk before Co- ken helped out her own cause with a single up the middle. That threat would end when shortstop Amanda Maillet grounded into a double play and second baseman Rebecca Mason struck out to end the frame.
From there, it was all Coventry, with the Oakers plating six runs to bring the game to an end.
Tolman looks to cap the regular season on a high note tomorrow with a win over Cranston East at Slater Park.