Ellington wins pitchers’ duel over Rockville, 5-2
VERNON — Key Flaherty had struck out three times against Rockville pitcher Lexi Real on Monday, but she wasn’t the only one.
The Ellington batters had struck out 15 times heading into the top of the seventh inning, with the score tied in the NCCC softball game.
Flaherty, a sophomore, figured it out and with two outs, tripled to center, then scored the go-ahead run when Bryn Eckels singled to center. Ellington scored three runs in the top of the seventh en route to a 5-2 victory over Rockville (11-6).
Real had 16 strikeouts; Ellington freshman pitcher Camryn Fisher struck out 15 for the win.
Fisher struck out the last two batters and had three strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh just before the skies opened up. She gave up three hits and four walks for the Purple Knights, who have won 15 straight games after losing to Haddam-killingworth in the first game of the season.
“If both teams were error-free, we would have been playing till midnight because nobody would have scored a run,” Ellington coach Tom Gordon said. “That was just a great game.”
And Rockville lost another tough one: The Rams lost to E.O. Smith 1-0 Saturday on a walk-off in the seventh.
“Ellington, they had some quality hits. The third, fourth time through the lineup, they started to make adjustments and they got the job done,” Rockville coach Marissa Morris said.
“Our defense could have fielded more cleanly, that would have kept us in the game, kept the score either tied or closer than it ended up at the end of the game, but other than that, it was an all-around pitchers’ duel.”
Ellington got one runner on in the first three innings as Real controlled the game, but the Purple Knights reached base and scored on an error in the fourth, and Kat Czyz, who was 2 for 3, singled home another run to make it 2-0.
Fisher got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth with a strikeout, but Rockville scored two runs in the fifth, when Lila Ward reached first on an error then scored, along with Hannah Lake, who reached base on a walk, on Real’s double to left.
In the seventh inning, Eckels scored on a double by Sydney Matz for the final score.
“We’ve got pretty good hitters up and down the lineup, but I was shocked, my three best hitters had like nine-10 strikeouts between them,” Gordon said. “In the last inning, they got it done.”
Said Flaherty of Real: “She was really good. She had a lot of movement on her pitches.
“Our whole team was just together, picking each other up. Camryn did an awesome job on the mound, and everyone was all together.”