Clippers, Saints suffer defeat
The original belief was that area softball fans would be treated to a Division I playoff contest between St. Raphael and Cumberland where the defeated team would be sent to the losers’ bracket.
For some strange reason, the powers-that-be opted not to re-seed before the Final Four round. Instead of No. 1 SRA facing the lowest remaining seed in No. 6 Cumberland, the Saints drew No. 5 Coventry. Meanwhile, the Clippers were assigned to No. 2 Pilgrim.
The bottom line is that after Saturday’s action, it’s officially game on for two teams from Blackstone Valley. The stakes are high – a win-or-go-home game in the D-I losers’ bracket semifinals that’s scheduled for Monday night (7 p.m.) at Hank Soar Complex.
In Pawtucket on Saturday, SRA fell behind 4-0 before eventually succumbing to Coventry, 4-0. Down in Warwick, Cumberland was forced to wait out a rain delay before contending with some potent bats in the other dugout. Pilgrim scored four runs in the second and added five more in the third in an 11-3 win that was finished after the sun had officially set.
An error by the Saints helped the visiting Oakers jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Right after SRA committed an error, Coventry’s Elyse Saccocio hit a triple to make it 1-0. Two batters later, Sarah Henault lifted a sacrifice fly to left field.
The Oakers doubled their lead in the sixth. Olivia Saccocio tripled in her sister Elyse before Abigail Choquette doubled in Olivia Saccocio to make it 4-0.
The Saints came alive in the sixth inning with 2021 graduate Tori Jacques singling in fellow graduate Sophia Bianchi, who also singled. Jacques advanced to second after the Oakers committed an error on the same play. Recent graduate Jillian Serra drove in Jacques with a base hit that cut the deficit in half.
The Saints were in prime position to strike for more, but Coventry escaped with runners left on first and third. SRA pitcher Sami Simonds allowed four hits while striking out 11. For Coventry, Samantha Bergantino fanned nine while allowing six hits.
Cumberland trailed Pilgrim 2-0 before scratching out a single run in the second. The Clippers took advantage of two errors and a walk with 2021 Maddie Zancan coming through with a base hit.
The second and third innings belonged to the Patriots, who sent eight to the plate in the second. An inning later, they batted around. Pilgrim finished with 10 hits while Cumberland collected two hits.
“We had a few innings that haunted. In the Final Four, you can’t have those against teams of that caliber,” said Cumberland head coach Marty Crowley. “I’m proud of the kids. They fought hard all night.”
SRA won both ends of a doubleheader against Cumberland that took place at Tucker Field on May 13. St. Raphael head coach Ron LaBree noted the Clippers have come a long way since the day when his squad hung wins by scores of 6-2 and 8-5 on Cumberland.
“Two evenly matched teams,” said LaBree.