Pats elude Panthers’ comeback bid, remain unbeaten

Joe Russo
Posted 4/16/15

It may have been only the fourth game of the year, but Tuesday’s girls’ softball game between Johnston and Pilgrim had the feeling of a playoff game, with the undefeated Pats edging out the Lady …

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Pats elude Panthers’ comeback bid, remain unbeaten

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It may have been only the fourth game of the year, but Tuesday’s girls’ softball game between Johnston and Pilgrim had the feeling of a playoff game, with the undefeated Pats edging out the Lady Panthers by a score of 3-2 at Warwick’s Winslow Park.

Pilgrim improves to a league-best 4-0, while Johnston falls to 2-2, as the game featured the top two scoring offenses in Division-II-West. Pilgrim had scored 52 runs so far in this young season, while Johnston plated 36, but most of those runs were against Central and Classical, the two bottom teams in the division, so this game was a big test for both squads.

The game was scoreless until the third inning when Pilgrim’s Madison Balutowski scored all the way from first base on a wild pitch and throwing error.

The Lady Panthers’ freshman left-fielder, Jordan Moretti, kept it a 1-0 game as she threw a perfect strike to catcher Gianna Vizzacco to end the third inning.

“Jordan has been a fantastic player for us,” said Johnston head coach Steven Day. “If she does not make that throw it could have opened up the game for Pilgrim. It takes a good team effort and everyone on this team does a good job.”

The Pats tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning with an RBI single by Olivia King and a ground out by Taryn Stringfellow that produced a run to make it a 3-0 game.

Pilgrim sophomore pitcher, Morgan Almon, held the Lady Panthers scoreless through six innings, until they rallied for two runs in the top half of the seventh inning. Moretti’s sacrifice fly plated Johnston’s first run of the game and Lauren Civetti jumped on Almon’s first pitch for an RBI single to cut the Pats’ lead to one. With the tying run on third and two outs, Almon, who struck out five in the game, dug down deep and struck out Vizzacco to end the Johnston rally and game.

“We were in the same situation last week with Cranston East,” said Pilgrim head coach William Aquilante. “They had the tying run at second base and Morgan struck out the final batter to end the game. You have to love that.”

Despite leading the league in runs, Aquilante said he would like his team to improve offensively and use their speed to their advantage.

“We have to work on our offense getting some good at-bats,” Aquilante said. “We hit some balls hard today, but Johnston made some good plays defensively. We have some good team speed and we are going to be aggressive on the base paths this season. We have a lot of young players that are getting better.”

Day was not discouraged by the loss saying, “We have a great group of kids and they have been fighting since last year – now they are reaping some of the rewards. We had a few mistakes here and there, but if we correct those mistakes, we will be fine and our pitcher Alicia Carvalho did a nice job for us today.”

The Lady Panthers won only three games last season, while Pilgrim won seven games and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Both teams have improved this season and it seems that they will have something to say within the division this year.

“Our goal is to make the playoffs,” Day said. “I don’t think there is anything that is going to stop us from making the postseason because every time we take the field we shoot for perfection. There are 15 games left and we would like to win them all. There is a lot of softball left.”

These two teams will play again in mid-May at Johnston’s Mazzulla Field which, could prove to be a big game for both teams. Day stated, “The next game with Pilgrim could be a determining factor. They have good coaches, but we will get them.”

Pilgrim’s next game will be on Tuesday against Warwick Vets at 3:45 p.m. at Winslow Park.

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