WEST BARNSTABLE – The St. John Paul II softball team remained unbeaten Thursday afternoon with a 14-12 win over host Sturgis West at Lombard Field, but the win did not come without a scare in the seventh inning.
Ahead 14-7 heading into the bottom of the seventh, Lady Lions’ ace Jackie Smith tired as the Navigators plated five runs and three of those runs with two outs before Smith finally retired the final Sturgis West batter with the tying runs on base.
St. John Paul II’s Hadley Tate will have to take a break from her hitting feast this week, after the Providence College-bound slugger belted her seventh home run of the season against Sturgis West Thursday.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports Photos
St. John Paul II stands atop the Cape & Islands League standings with an unblemished 7-0 record overall.
The fiery, gutsy Sturgis West squad fell to 2-1.
Lady Lions’ backstop Hadley Tate and centerfielder Sam Carlowicz continued their torried pace at the plate, with Tate hammering her seventh home run of the season en route to a 4-5 day with four runs scored and five RBI. Tate once again was just a double shy of hitting for the cycle. Carlowicz had an equally if not more impressive day at the plate with a 5-5 performance, including an RBI-triple in a five-run second inning.
St. John Paul II notched three runs in the first, five in the second five more in the fifth and a much-welcomed insurance run in the seventh inning. All combined, the Lady Lions collected 21 hits on the day.
Sturgis West received a 3-4 day at the plate from Shannon Crowley, who was joined by three other Navigators with multiple hits. Althea Turley hammered out a hit in each of the sixth and seventh frames, Rachel Gardner added a pair (including a double) and Emily Langdon had two as well.
St. John Paul II takes its unblemished record (6-0) into the April school vacation and will return to defend it on April 28 when it faces Cape Tech.
Sturgis West (2-1) returns that same date against South Shore Christian Academy.
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
About CapeCod.com NewsCenter
