Northmen thrash Huskies, earn No. 1 seed
North Smithfield wins final 16 Division II games to win league title
The season couldn’t have started much worse for the North Smithfield softball team.
Playing one of the favorites to win the Division II title in the opening game of the season, the Northmen saw visiting Mount St. Charles crush three home runs in a 14-4 blowout victory at Pacheco Park.
And then the Northmen started winning – and they never stopped. North Smithfield crushed reigning Division III champion Mt. Hope, 13-2, in five innings Wednesday afternoon at Colt State Park to finish the regular season riding a 16-game winning streak to enter the Division II playoffs with the No. 1 seed.
“It’s incredible and I’d be lying if I told you I expected this,” North Smithfield coach Paul Mercier said. “Without our shortstop from last year, I wasn’t sure how good we were. My goal was to win 10 games and when we reached that, I was like ‘Wow, the team has gotten better.’
“(Tuesday) against Middletown, the defense was all there. I was really impressed with our defense and that’s what I’ve been waiting for all season. Our defense is coming around and I’m very excited going into the playoffs. I’m very proud of them.”
North Smithfield (16-1 Division II) clinched the No. 1 seed with Tuesday’s mercy-rule win over the Islanders. Wednesday, Mercier played his entire roster, which meant freshman Kayla Butler earned a start in the circle in place of ace Vanessa Venkataraman. Butler allowed just three hits and two runs.
Offensively, freshman Hope Trowbridge led the way with a pair of doubles. Freshman Gianna Capracotta chipped in with two hits, as did sophomore Hannah Goodier.
Mercier said the biggest reason his team finished two games ahead of the chasing pack was offense. The Northmen scored a division-best 185 runs and they reached double figures in 11 games. Venkataraman ignited the offense from the leadoff spot by hitting .538.
Returning players Lorenza O’Donnell, Liz Jalette and Alyssa Murray also contributed, while the Northmen received an injection of offense from a trio of freshmen. Catcher Alex Ledger provided power in the middle of the order, while Trowbridge and Butler added length to the lineup.
“It’s the hitting. Hitting has bailed us out all season,” Mercier said. “We would make five errors, six errors and the offense would score enough runs. We were a very powerful hitting team. We seemed to be able to score runs at will. Kayla Butler hit like .470 at the bottom of the lineup. She’s been a real surprise. We had three freshmen who not only made the team, but made a big impact.”
For the first time since 2010, D-II’s top seeds won’t have to play a pressurepacked single-elimination game to reach the quarterfinals. Mercier is relieved by that because his undefeated squad was shocked in 2014 by No. 16 Prout.
The Northmen, who will likely host either Portsmouth or Westerly in the quarterfinals next Thursday, will spend the next week practicing to get ready for what Mercier hopes is a trip to the D-II final for the first time since 2005.
“This team has to focus and know that there isn’t an on-off switch that we can just turn on,” said Mercier, whose side will travel to Wrentham, Mass. Monday to scrimmage reigning Division I state champion King Philip. “We have to go out and take it because it’s not going to be given to us.”
Mount St. Charles, which thrashed Narragansett Wednesday afternoon, will be the No. 2 seed followed by talented South Kingstown and Barrington, which the Northmen beat in 11 innings earlier in the season, will likely by the No. 4. Mercier believes those teams will make a deep run at RIC, but he’s also not counting out No. 10 St. Raphael.
“Absolutely, those are good teams,” Mercier said. “I’d also like to throw St. Ray’s in there, too. They’re not playing good as of late, but they have a bunch of girls that will fight and battle. They have the opportunity to play well.”
St. Raphael, Davies and Burrillville will all be on the road in the single-elimination round, which is expected to be played on Tuesday.