Pats ousted by Northmen in first round of D-II playoffs

Matt Metcalf
Posted 6/9/15

Everything was set up perfectly for the Pilgrim softball team to advance to the double-elimination portion of the Division II playoff bracket.

The Pats earned a No. 3 seed after a 13-3 season, …

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Pats ousted by Northmen in first round of D-II playoffs

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Everything was set up perfectly for the Pilgrim softball team to advance to the double-elimination portion of the Division II playoff bracket.

The Pats earned a No. 3 seed after a 13-3 season, setting up a first-round home game against No. 6 North Smithfield, which compiled a 9-7 record for the regular season.

But the two teams proved that numbers truly don’t mean anything when it comes to a one-game playoff.

The Northmen struck first for four runs in the top of the third inning and rolled to a comfortable 7-2 victory over Pilgrim at Winslow Park, abruptly ending the Pats’ season.

“I’m not totally surprised that North Smithfield played really well,” Pilgrim head coach Bill Aquilante said. “There are no easy games in the playoffs. Unless you go 16-0 or 15-1, you don’t draw a team with a losing record. So coming in, we figured that it was a 50/50 game. We knew that we had to play well.”

Unfortunately for Pilgrim, it encountered offensive and defensive issues against North Smithfield.

After two scoreless innings to open up the game, the Pats’ defense began to fall apart.

Emily Larson started the top of the third off with a single, but that would be the only hit of the inning for the Northmen.

Pilgrim then botched a sacrifice bunt, allowing runners to move to second and third with no one out on an errant throw.

Morgan Almon then uncorked a wild pitch to allow Larson to score to make it 1-0.

Hannah Gaboriault drew a walk to put runners on the corners before Melissa Cianci hit a groundball back to Almon who airmailed the throw over Tayla Ferreira’s head at first. Vanessa Venkataraman scored on Pilgrim’s second error of the frame.

Gaboriault came around to score on another wild pitch by Almon to make it 3-0.

North Smithfield plated its final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Julia Cloutier that scored Cianci.

Just like that, it was 4-0 Northmen.

And with North Smithfield pitcher Katie McMullin dealing, Pilgrim suddenly found itself facing a steep uphill battle.

“We had the defensive problems in the [third inning] that really set the tone,” Aquilante said. “I have to give credit to Katie McMullin, who pitched very well. She kept us off balance and their defense made some really good plays out there.”

Before the Pats could register a run, North Smithfield went back to work at the dish in the top half of the fifth.

This time, it was Nicole Turcotte who connected for a double, scoring Cianci and Cloutier to make it 6-0.

Pilgrim didn’t score its first run until the bottom of the fifth.

With two outs in the inning, Madison Balutowski hit a gap shot for a double that brought Taryn Stringfellow home.

In the sixth, Jeriann Evans crushed a double off the fence in centerfield that plated Victoria Blanchard to cut Pilgrim’s deficit to 6-2.

But with runners on second and third and two outs, McMullin forced Karly Evans to ground out to Cianci at shortstop to end the threat.

In the top of the seventh, North Smithfield added some insurance when Turcotte laced an RBI single to up the Northmen’s lead to 7-2. Turcotte went 2-for-4 with three RBIs in the win.

Ellen McDonnell came in and tossed the final two innings for Pilgrim, allowing three hits and just the one run in the seventh.

The Pats’ final attempt at a rally fell short in the seventh, as McMullin retired Pilgrim in order to close out her complete-game effort.

McMullin allowed four hits, one earned run and struck out seven to pick up the victory.

Offensively for Pilgrim, Balutowski, Ferreira, Almon and Jeriann Evans picked up hits in the game.

It was a disappointing exit for Pilgrim, but Aquilante knew that it would be a tough game coming in, as there isn’t much separation among the top teams in Division II.

“That’s part of the deal, only one team can win,” Aquilante said. “When you exit is when you exit. But I’m proud of them.”

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