Mounties could make history
Mount St. Charles must beat Barrington twice to earn D-II crown
MSC pursues its first softball championship tonight
PROVIDENCE — The odds are against the No. 2 Mount St. Charles softball team beating Barrington on back-to-back days to win the program’s first title.
Of course, the odds were against the Mounties reaching Tuesday night’s Division II final when they trailed Johnston 7-2 in the fourth inning, 8-7 in the seventh inning and 9-8 in the ninth inning of Saturday afternoon’s thrilling, 10-9 victory over the Panthers in the losers’ bracket final.
“We’re not thinking about everything being over, we’re just thinking about the next game,” Emily D’Abrosca said after producing four hits and scoring a run on the game-winning play Saturday. “We really want to win it this year.”
“We won, so we feel great going into the Barrington game and we’re just going to keep going like that,” Talia Williams said after producing the two-run walkoff double.
Mount St. Charles (17-4) are looking to do what only East Greenwich in 2014 could do in the last 13
seasons and that’s defeat the winners’ bracket winner twice in a row to claim the Division II title.
To do that, the Mounties have to find a way to solve Barrington junior fireballer Paige Concannon at Rhode Island on Tuesday (5 p.m. first pitch). After producing nine runs and six hits in a regular-season game against the Eagle, the Mounties produced just four singles in a 4-0 Division II winners’ bracket semifinal defeat Friday night.
The Mounties only struck out four times, but Concannon used a curveball and a riseball to augment her fastball to keep the Mounties off balance. No Mountie made it past second base in the 90-minute contest.
“We have to watch out for that riseball,” MSC head coach Cliff Matthews said. “The first time and a half through the lineup we were falling for that riseball and that’s disastrous for us. It looks good coming in, but it’s a true rise – not a fake rise. It looks like a strike, but you can’t catch up to it. You either pop it up or you miss it.”
The Mounties pounded out 20 hits Saturday against Johnston’s Madison Plouffe, but Matthews said he’s pondering a lineup change to cluster the hitters who had success against Concannon at the top of the order. That likely means Marissa Santoro, who had a hit and made contract three times against Concannon, will move up in the lineup in front of catcher Sky O’Connell.
Matthews is also hoping his team can build on the momentum they produced over the final six innings of Saturday’s game.
“We didn’t hit,” Matthews said. “I was thinking back on it after the game (on Saturday), we went a full week without a game for the second time in the playoffs. It’s difficult when you don’t see live pitching. And when you see her, that’s quite an adjustment. We played today, so the kids feel the hits.”
Concannon’s opposite number, Mount senior righty Taylor Newcomb, didn’t allow a run in her first two playoff games. She gave up nine hits and four runs to the Eagles and 24 hours later she allowed just seven runs in just four innings of work.
Freshman Victoria Young earned the win after allowing just two runs and four hits in five innings.
“There’s a lot going on for the seniors because they’re running from here to go to academic convocation and then there’s graduation parties,” Matthews said. “They’re graduating, so there’s so much stuff going on for the seniors. She’s a senior and she’s mature, so she can’t get frustrated. I’m going to give her some rope and she’s earned that with the way she’s pitched this season.”
Offensively, the Eagles are powered by Concannon, speedy catcher Sydney Parkhurst, Maia Villarica, Maddie Cox and Lauren Grove.
Newcomb has been aided by a superb defense late in the regular season and into the playoffs. Led by Santoro, Emily Cornoyer and the speedy outfield trio of Emily D’Abrosca, Kaitlyn D’Abrosca and Sophia Monti, the Mounties have only made two errors in their last six games.
If the Mounties can avenge Friday’s defeat, the two teams will return to Rhode Island College Wednesday at either 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. to play seven innings to decide if the Division II title stays in Woonsocket for a second straight season or goes to the East Bay for the first time since 2007.
“It’s one at a time for us,” Matthews said. “I think we have an excellent chance – an excellent chance.”