Howarth, LaBree lead Saints to win
Duo combines for three home runs in regular-season finale against Islanders
PAWTUCKET — St. Raphael lead-off hitter Haley Howarth had to make a late addendum to the speech she delivered Tuesday afternoon in honor of senior teammate Kamryn LaBree.
Following the Saints’ 10-5 Division II-East senior day victory over Middletown at the Hank Soar Softball Complex, Howarth spoke about how next season she’s going to have to find a new teammate she can call at 11:30 p.m. to grab a late dinner.
She added that she’s also going to have to find a new teammate she can hit home runs with after the duo each homered Wednesday afternoon. Howarth, a junior speedster, belted a pair of inside-the-park home runs as part of a five-RBI performance and LaBree came up a double short of the cycle in what was likely the last home game of her distinguished career as a Saint.
“We got us going was little base hits and once that happens we start to get doubles and that turns into triples and we’ll score off of those,” Howarth said. “No, I’ve never hit two home runs in a game, so this was awesome.”
“No, this was not too bad. I think I ended the regular season on a pretty good note,” LaBree said after producing three hits and a pair of runs scored. “I think we all ended the regular season well. This was a good way to end it for all of the seniors. The hitting was just contagious. Once the lead-off girl gets on all the girls get on base.”
While every senior day is an emotional affair for coach Ron LaBree, Wednesday’s was a little more special because the sixth-year coach was saying good bye to a special group of seniors who helped lead the Saints to last season’s Division II title.
Oh, and he is also saying good bye to his daughter, Kamryn, who is likely on her way to another All-State selection before heading to Rhode Island College in the fall to play for the Anchorwomen.
“This is tougher for me because the girls who graduated last year I coached since they were 11 on travel teams,” LaBree said. “I don’t even want to talk about (LaBree graduating) because that’s killing me. This has been fantastic because I’m with my best friend (assistant coach Kevin Shea) and now losing my daughter, it’s an emotional time.”
As emotional as Wednesday afternoon was for the Saints, the reality was St. Raphael (10-6 Division II-East) already knew its playoff fate before freshman Sydney Charette fired the first pitch of the game to Middletown’s Alisa Benson. The reigning Division II champions are likely headed to the new Winslow Field in Warwick to face Pilgrim in a single-elimination contest Tuesday afternoon.
Middletown (7-9 Division II-East) likely needed a win to secure a spot in the playoffs. The Islanders were led by starting pitcher Cassie Krue and third baseman Hannah Gibbison. Krue hit a two-run single in the third to give the Islanders their first lead and Gibbison belted a two-run home run in the sixth.
The Saints, who completed a season sweep of the Islanders, opened the scoring in the first inning when LaBree crushed an 0-1 offering from Krue to left field for an inside-the-park home run.
“Honestly, I was expecting a pitch on the outside and I think it was just a mistake,” LaBree said. “It just happened to go over the plate and I had to take advantage of it.”
“For her on senior day with all of her friends here, that was great. It was a good moment,” Ron LaBree said.
Krue’s two-run single in the third inning gave the Islanders the lead and Morgan Rice’s unearned run in the fourth kept the advantage at one, but the Saints scored the game’s next eight runs to blow the contest open.
Kaylee Contreras and Howarth each had RBIs in the fourth to rebuild SRA’s advantage and then the first five batters in the fifth reached base and wound up scoring. LaBree (triple), Haley Mitsmenn (fielder’s choice), Lauren Taylor (RBI single), Brianna O’Rourke (RBI single) and Alex Sargo (RBI single) all reached base and scored.
Howarth put an exclamation point on the inning when she belted a threerun home run off of freshman reliever Kathryn Homer.
“I was just thinking that we need to get runs and all I needed was a base hit, but I guess it worked out in my favor,” Howarth said.