SOUTH YARMOUTH – Down 4-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the team chemistry that has buoyed Division 2 top-seed Dennis-Yarmouth all season long finally reignited en route to a 9-8 victory over Fontbonne Academy.
Dennis-Yarmouth’s Ali Plucinski plunked in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning in the Dolphins’ 8-run deluge.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
It all began with a Taylor Conley solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth, followed by a one-out solo blast from teammate Patty Newhard that narrowed the deficit to 4-3. Grace Bent, who had entered the game for an injured Maggie Johnson (2-2), then followed with a bases-empty single and the wheels literally came spinning off for the 16th seed Fontbonne girls (9-9).
With Bent on first and one out, Meghan Coyle singled and Hailey Miller walked to load the bases. Third baseman Abby Higgins then stepped in and ripped the first pitch she saw from Academy southpaw Danielle Rood to tie it at 4-4.
Still with only one out, Miss Clutch herself Ali Plucinski then wristed a shallow fly on a 3-1 count into no-man’s land in rightfield to make it 5-4. Taylor Deluga singled, Conley got up for a second time and doubled in a pair to make it 8-4 and Kiley Chapasko singled in the final run to make it 9-4.
Perhaps not her usual self that day, sophomore ace Sammi Feinstein saw Fontbonne creep back into the mix with six consecutive hits in the top of the sixth inning before she settled to get out of a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout and fly to Newhard in centerfield. The score remained 9-7 after six frames.
An infield error to start the top of the seventh resulted in an eventual run for the Fontbonne girls after Katie Nolan (2-5) and Jess Olivieri (3-5, RBI) each added hits and the score was 9-8 with two men on before Feinstein got a ground out and then struck out the last two batters to end it for her first career postseason win and the Dolphins’ first tournament victory since 2007 against Foxboro.
Dennis-Yarmouth’s Taylor Conley rounds second base on her fifth-inning leadoff home run and is waved around by coach Mike Bonasia.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
“You guys never gave up,” head coach Mike Bonasia told his team after the game. “We proved one thing today: that we are where we are supposed to be. We got rattled a little bit, but there was no way anyone was stopping us. The first one is always the toughest one.”
The Dolphins, now 19-2, will next face 8th seed Middleboro (15-6) on Sunday (June 7) in the Division 2 South quarterfinals at Dennis-Yarmouth.
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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