SRA still undefeated
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — A lineup of opposing sluggers and a moved-in fence weren’t enough to slow down freshman phenom Sammi Simmonds on Tuesday afternoon. The SRA righty faced off against the toughest varsity squad she’s seen yet, but remained undefeated in a 7-3 win over SK.
Simmonds faced one batter over the minimum through the first three innings, and didn’t allow a hit until the fourth. The three runs she allowed matched the total amount the Saints had allowed on the season coming into the game.
Two of the three runs came on a Faith Hutchins home run in the sixth inning, which safely cleared the temporary fencing brought in this year to shorten the field at Broad Rock Athletic Complex.
“Our freshman pitcher did well,” SRA coach Ron LaBree said. “She pitched against Scituate, had 16 strikeouts against them. This is probably the best hitting lineup she’s faced. Which is good, she’s a freshman, she needs to learn how to pitch, not just to go out there and throw.
“She’s starting to get that now. She knows the pitch that went over the fence was a mistake. If she could get that one back, she would. I asked her what happened: ‘too much of the plate.’ It was middle-outer, needed to be outer-outer. She knows. She’ll learn. Great player.”
The Saints did all their offensive damage in the third and fourth innings. After SK starter Sam Hutchins stranded runners in scoring position in each of the first two innings, the Saints sent up a collective 17 batters in the ensuing two frames.
The middle of the SRA order got the seven-run rally started. Simmonds helped her own cause by driving in the games first run, and RBI knocks by Madison Nault and Saylor Costa soon followed.
“If we get ahead, we’re going to be okay,” LaBree said of the mid-inning mindset. “We have to get ahead, being so young, I don’t know if [we] know how to come from behind yet. If we get to four [runs], we’re okay. 7-3, four would’ve done it too.”
Costa led the offensive charge with three total RBI. Reliever Kacie Curran shut down the Saints over the course of the last three innings. Taking advantage of two picked off runners, Curran put the final nine batters down in quick succession.
Simonds had six strike outs in the win, and didn’t run into serious trouble until the sixth inning homer by Hutchins. The Rebels scored their first run in the fourth on consecutive hits.
“Two good teams, two undefeated teams,” LaBree said. “Two good pitchers. That’s what you want. We came to play. We’re starting to get some players back who were injured most of the season. Still a couple still out, but they’re slowly coming back.
“They play hard, they practice hard, they work hard. We’ve been hitting the cage all weekend, because we know [SK] usually puts up runs.”
The Saints handing the Rebels their first loss of the season means there are now only two unbeatens left in D-II. SRA is joined in that exclusive club by 6-0 Rogers. The teams aren’t scheduled to play each other in the regular season.
The emergence of the newcomer Simmonds has been an obvious boon for the Saints, but they have exhibited all-around excellent play on the softball field so far this season. Tuesday’s game was the first time they failed to score double-digit runs in four games.
“We’re really young, we have one senior,” LaBree said. “Our second baseman is our only senior, and we don’t have a junior starting. All sophomores and freshmen. Both our freshmen were 2-for-4 [today].”
Tuesday’s win over SK was the start of a three-day, three-game stretch for the Saints. They play at Mt. Hope today, and host Portsmouth on Thursday.