Cougars hand Northmen D-II loss
Mercier believes wins will come once young team starts to develop
NORTH SMITHFIELD — After the top of the fourth inning it appeared the North Smithfield softball team had nothing to play for because powerful North Providence had already scored in each inning to build a nine-run advantage.
But, the winless Northmen had plenty to play for according to coach Paul Mercier.
Just when it appeared the Northmen were on their way to being beaten via the mercy rule in just five innings, thet played some of their best softball of the young season. Freshman pitcher Malibu Champagne held the Cougars to just one run over the next two innings and she delivered a two-run single as part of a three-run fourth inning.
The Cougars, who finished runner- up to St. Raphael in Division II last season, eventually went on to win the Division II crossover contest 14-3, but Mercier was proud of the way his young squad battled.
“North Providence is a good team and they probably came at the wrong time for us after what happened last night,” Mercier said. “Every girl on this team knows what they need to do and they are working hard. They are asking questions and they are listening. I’m just asking them to be patient, because I’m being very patient.
“I told them ‘The heck with the score – the heck with the score.’ I just told them to go out and impress everyone watching the game with the way they play. We had three balls in the hole and my shortstop and third baseman dove for the ball down eight runs. These kids showed me that they are going to continue to work hard.”
North Smithfield (0-5 Division II-North) entered Wednesday’s game on the back of a 9-8, nine-inning defeat to one-loss Johnston where the Northmen were one out away from earning a road victory on two different occasions. Sophomore Vanessa Venkataraman pitched all nine innings Tuesday and called Mercier to try and talk her way into the circle on Wednesday.
Mercier opted to start Champagne to give his talented righty a chance to rest before the Northmen begin to try and claw their way out of the division basement.
“In a way it was tough to come right back today, but in a way they also just wanted to get back on the field,” Mercier said. “It was a tough loss and a quiet bus ride home. When things like that happen you just want to get back on the field. I have to give credit to Vanessa for calling me and telling me she wanted to pitch, but it was 1 p.m. game.”
The Northmen, who also received a pair of hits from center fielder Lorenza O’Donnell, will head to Winslow Field in the north end of Warwick Monday afternoon to face Pilgrim.
Currently, Scituate and Woonsocket lead II-North with 4-1 records, but the Northmen reached the D-II semifinals last season after winning just one of its first six games.
“The first season is done now and I saw something today that I know they’re going to start putting it together,” Mercier said. “A lot of it is mental stuff. We weren’t making the same mental errors today that we were making earlier. There may be some new ones, but we aren’t repeating our mis- takes.”