NANTUCKET – The St. John Paul II softball team (13-2) hung onto a one-run lead in the bottom of the seventh inning and defeated the host Nantucket Whalers, 6-5, in a Cape & Islands League game that assured the Lions at least a share of the title.
St. John Paul II catcher Hadley Tate went 2-4 to help pace the Lady Lions to a title-clinching win over Nanucket yesterday.
Sean Walsh/Caepcod.com Sports
Ahead 6-0 after five frames, the Lady Lions saw that lead cut to 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth by the Whalers and then 6-5 before Jackie Smith got out of it by retiring the side with a little help from her teammates’ collective leather.
Smith blanked the Whalers for five shutout innings and finished with three strikeouts while walking two. She allowed three earned runs out of five scored and seven hits.
It was Smith’s bat in the top of the fifth inning that plated a pair of what would prove to be critical runs as she went 1-3 on the day. Battery-mate Hadley Tate went 2-4 as did Kali Tanguay.
St. John Paul II did most of its damage in the second inning, as it scored four runs on a pair of hits mixed in with three Nantucket errors and a walk. Madi Doyle led the second off with a double and scored on an error.
The Lady Lions put across two more runs in the fifth frame after Anna Widdison led off with a basehit, followed by a Tanguay single and Jackie Smith’s clutch RBI-rip.
The Lady Lions next face Bishop Stang on the road on Saturday (May 23). Nantucket (8-7) heads to Sandwich on Monday. Both are non-league games. If the Lions defeat Cape Cod Tech next week, then they will clinch the league title outright.
Feinstein Back from Injury, Blanks Blue Knights in 12-0 Rout
Sammi Feinstein returned to action yesterday afternoon after a two-game respite to heal a muscle strain and handed in another shutout performance in the circle as her teammates staged a 12-0 rout over the Sandwich High girls.
D-Y’s Sammi Feinstein notched another shutout for the Dolphins yesterday.
Sean Walsh/Caepcod.com Sports
Ali Plucinski and Patty Newhard both belted home runs in the one-sided affair, with Newhard going 3-4 and “Plu” going 3-3 with three runs scored. Maggie Johnson, Abby Higgins and Hailey Miller each went 2-4 to add to the 16-hit slugfest. Taylor Deluga went 2-3.
Dennis-Yarmouth is at Mashpee next Thursday (May 28). Sandwich hosts Nantucket on Monday (May 25).
Sandwich junior co-captain and shortstop Helen Colwell went 2-3 for the Knights.
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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