Northmen dominate visiting Avengers
NORTH SMITHFIELD —North Smithfield softball coach Paul Mercier knew this was the part of the schedule the Northmen needed to take advantage of and the Northmen did just that.
After losing to Barrington to start the month, the Northmen have reeled off four straight impressive victories, including Thursday afternoon’s 13-0 five-inning Division II victory over struggling East Greenwich at Dowling Memorial Field.
“I just wanted to see our girls play the game with respect and show maturity,” Mercier said. “They treated the other team fantastic, which was another thing I wanted to see. Everything was good today – I have no complaints. I played all of my girls today and the subs got into the game early. The young girls were up there aggressive.”
North Smithfield (9-4 Division II) received a second impressive pitching performance from sophomore Kayla Butler in as many days. After holding West Warwick to just one run on Wednesday, the righty allowed just one base runner, a single by Hannah Tramonti to start the third inning. The sophomore struck out eight batters and didn’t allow a ball to leave the infield.
“Kayla’s pitching very well and she’s hitting her spots,” Mercier said. “She needs to know that hitting her spots is very important. The other good thing is it’s giving Vanessa [Venkataraman] some rest, which she needs.”
The Northmen scored all the runs they would need in the first inning when sophomore catcher Alex Ledger hit a two-out single and scored on a two-run home run by junior captain Liz Jalette. The third baseman finished the afternoon with four RBIs and three hits. She finished a triple short of the cycle.
Jalette now has two home runs and 11 RBIs in her last four contests.
“She started the season very slow, but I think she put a lot of the burden on herself early in the season because she is a captain,” Mercier said. “I’ll be honest with you, she is one of the best captains I’ve ever had. She does a great job keeping the team together.”
Junior outfielder Alyssa Murray (double) and Butler (RBI single) also scored in the first inning to increase the lead to 4-0. Junior Hope Trowbridge singled in sophomore Gianna Capracotta to start a four-run second inning. Venkataraman, Trowbridge and Jalette also scored in the inning.
Venkataraman (walk), Trowbridge (single), Jalette (RBI double), Murray (RBI single) and Butler (error) scored in the third inning. Jill DePari and Kaitlyn Walsh had RBIs in the inning.
The Northmen are back in action Monday against Johnston.
WOONSOCKET — The Mount St. Charles softball team put plenty of runners on base against Scituate freshman Haley Venturini, but the Mounties failed to score in Thursday’s 2-0 Division II loss to the Spartans.
The Mounties loaded the bases in the first, had runners on second and third in the sixth and two runners in the seventh, but the couldn’t break through against the freshman. Mount’s best chance to score came in the sixth when freshman catcher Callie Thibault (two walks and a hit) and Victoria Young (two hits) reached base with no outs, but Venturini worked her way out of the jam.
Mount freshman pitcher Marissa Tessier allowed two runs in the third inning, but settled down to pitch a complete game with seven strikeouts.
Mount St. Charles (7-5 Division II) travels to Middletown Monday.
Scituate 002 000 0 – 2 6 2
Mount St. Charles 000 000 0 – 0 4 1
Haley Venturini and Bailey Lomastro; Marissa Tessier and Callie Thibeault.
NEWPORT — The St. Raphael softball team was just one strike away from earning a big Division II road win over Rogers, but Izzy Booth hit a solo home run to tie the game and the Vikings walked off with a 10-9 victory at Toppa Field Thursday afternoon.
The Saints received home runs from Makayla Bourski and Taylor Troiano, while Taylor Moreau was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and centerfielder Ashley Bullen was 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
St. Raphael (9-4 Division II) returns to Hank Soar Monday afternoon to face South Kingstown.
St. Raphael 132 012 00 – 9 15 0 Rogers 301 202 11 –10 12 2 Jillian Serra and Saylor Costa; Shannon Ward and Mackenzie Palmer