The Toll Gate softball team is emerging as a contender in Division II and picked up a statement win on Monday afternoon, erasing a six-point deficit and holding off East Greenwich, 7-6.

The Avengers, who moved down from DI this season, scored six runs in the third inning to put the Titans on the ropes. Toll Gate wasted no time responding, though, putting up five runs in the bottom half of the inning and then adding another two in the fourth which would prove to be enough.

The Avengers did not go away, though, and managed to load the bases in the top of the seventh with two outs. Toll Gate relief pitcher Reagan Motta escaped the jam as East Greenwich would interfere with a ground ball to shortstop, forcing the final out.

“I was scared but I’ve been in bad positions before and knew how to get out of them. I just (used) what works,” said Motta. “We’ve been down before, we’ve been in holes early, but we just keeping working to get out of them.”

“It was just about putting the bat on the ball. The lower half of our lineup came through, too, which was big for us,” added Delaney Wilson, who tossed three innings, striking out five batters and allowing no earned runs while also driving in an RBI on offense. Motta finished with three strikeouts in four innings in the circle and earned the win.

Abbi O’Connor also knocked in a pair of runs for the Titans while Aria Eddy and Ava DelVicario drove in runs as well.

The victory improved Toll Gate’s league record to 4-0 and pushed the Titans into first place in the Division II standings. Not only did the Titans beat the Avengers, but they took DI power Pilgrim to deep water in their crossover matchup despite losing, 7-6.

Teams like Johnston, West Warwick and St. Ray’s entered the spring season as the favorites to make deep runs in DII. With the strong start and eye-opening performances, The Titans feel that they also have the makings of a championship team.

“As a group, we have a lot of confidence because we work together and are a close group. A lot of us have been playing for a long time,” said Motta.

Wilson added: “This win was a good boost for our morale, it gave us the confidence boost that we needed. With our experience, we can go far. As a captain I push myself to keep our mood up. Having a lot of talented players helps everyone, including the girls on the bench.”

The Titans were back at it in a pivotal matchup against St. Ray’s on Wednesday, but the results were unavailable at press time.