Lincoln doubles up North Providence
Four-run fifth delivers Lincoln a 6-3 D-I win over North Providence
A four-run fifth was the difference as the Lincoln High softball team chalked up a 6-3 D-I victory over North Providence on Saturday.
LINCOLN — Through its previous games – you can’t call them contests – Lincoln High suffered three consecutive losses to Moses Brown, Chariho Regional and North Kingstown. It did so while registering a scant four hits.
That’s why head coach Kevin Palumbo was more than concerned prior to his squad’s Division I regular-season finale against North Providence on Saturday afternoon.
“We weren’t getting any time- ly hits; we got blown out by Moses Brown and North Kingstown, and lost 1-0 to Chariho,” he stated. “We also didn’t score any runs. Was I nervous? You know it!”
The Lions picked a fine time to break out of their collective slump. They only produced six hits in all, but they were plenty enough to post a satisfying – not to mention thrilling – 6-3 triumph over the Cougars before at least 150 fans at Sullivan Field.
Senior righthander Bella DiOrio proved stellar on the day,
yielding six hits and three runs (one earned) while fanning nine, as playoff-bound Lincoln closed its regular campaign at 8-9. It was only appropos, as the hosts celebrated their Senior Day with some pageantry.
Still, freshman Hope Walinski and sophomore Riley Riendeau provided most of the offensive fireworks. Both finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored, though the former walloped a two-run dinger in the first and Riendeau a two-RBI double in the fifth.
Other plate stalwarts included junior Brie Smith and sophomore Grace Swanson (1-for-3, run); and senior Nicole Accardi ( 1- for- 2, stolen bag, RBI, run).
“Riley has had a fantastic year; she made third-team All-State, and Bella was first-team All-Division and second-team All-State,” Palumbo stated. “That means Bella’s one of the top 16 players in Rhode Island.
“As for Hope, I called her one of the best incoming freshman in the state before the season started, and she’s lived up to that,” he added. “This was a crazy win, a crazy, good win. After losing three in a row, we needed this.”
Both Palumbo and NP skipper Mike Tuorto indicated before the clash that a win would be instrumental in attaining a higher seed for the upcoming tournament. Palumbo figured afterward that his contingent would earn either the eighth or ninth ranking, while Tuorto already knew his Cougars (6-11 overall and the No. 13 seed) would travel to top-seeded La Salle for a preliminary match-up at 4 p.m., Tuesday or Wednesday.
“I thought (senior) Arielle (Lacroix) pitched great,” Tuorto said of his starter, who scattered six hits and six runs (three earned) while whiffing nine, just as DiOrio did. “The cardinal sin for us for most of the season has been making the late-inning errors, those that allow a team to come back.
“We’ve had the lead on the thirdthrough 12th-seeded teams in the playoffs at some point in a game, but an error caused us to lose,” he continued. “We made two crucial mistakes in the fifth inning, and that allowed them to score four.”
Tuorto referred to the back half of the fifth, after NP had manufactured three immediately preceding Lincoln’s at-bat.
With one down, Smith whacked a soft hit to center, and Grace Swanson rapped a bloop double to shallow right to push Smith’s pinch runner, freshman Emily Kennedy, to third. Accardi followed with a perfectly-executed safety-squeeze bunt to plate Kennedy, and Swanson hustled home after junior Julia Lombardi beat out an errant throw to first, one that pulled senior Caitlynn Douglas off the bag.
Riendeau then drilled a two-run double to deep right, though was thrown out trying to stretch it into a three-bagger.
Still, the Lions had collected the 6-3 cushion.
DiOrio retired the last nine Cougars in order.
Lincoln opened strong, courtesy of a two-run surge in the bottom of the first. Lacroix had struck out the first two hitters, but Riendeau slapped an opposite-field hit just over the reach of first baseman Douglas, and Walinski sent an 0-1 pitch just over the center-field fence for the 2-0 lead.
After that, and to exhibit Lacroix’s dominance, she set down 11 straight batters before the fateful fifth.
In the interim, the Cougars threatened in the third, when senior Ashley D’Ambra beat out an infield single and classmate Kayla Prior sacrifice-bunted to her second. Sophomore Ashley Verduchi however, flew out to center.
They did so again in the fourth, when sophomore backstop Jessica Rizzo ripped a leadoff double to deep center, yet DiOrio whiffed the side.
NP regained its power in the fifth, but it started when frosh Hannah Doorley reached second on a fly-ball drop in left. Classmate Mary-Catherine Fornaro immediately roped a single up the middle, sending her to third, and D’Ambra’s stellar safety-squeeze bunt sliced the gap to 2-1.
Both Fornaro and D’Ambra (2for-3, RBI, run) moved up on a wild delivery, and senior Kayla Prior (1for-4) stroked the two-run double to the right-center hole to snag the 3-2 lead.
In the top of the sixth, it appeared Lacroix herself would ignite a flurry, sending a flare into short right, but senior Delaney Cavanaugh made a phenomenal diving catch forward to squelch it. Actually, catcher Walinski snatched a tough foul ball off of Doorley’s bat for the final out of the frame.
“This feels amazing!” said Cavanaugh, who will attend the University of Mississippi later this summer, as teammates celebrated around her. “You can’t ask for anything better on Senior Day. Then again, it was a fun win, too, coming from behind.”
When told of the key contributions from the underclassmen, she offered, “We wouldn’t have been able to do what we have this season without them. All of our wins this whole year have been team wins. Everyone steps up when we need them, from the freshmen all the way up to the seniors. “Everyone does something.” Noted Palumbo: “With the fifth, I had a feeling it was only a matter of time before we did start hitting the ball, and the safety squeeze was huge. My message to the girls after was we played a good game, and I liked how we came back. Bella pitched strong and we answered.
“They punched us, and we counter-punched.”