A win over the host Alvirne High Lady Broncos in Hudson, followed by a loss to the visiting rivals from Pinkerton Academy last week, brought veteran coach Wayne MacDougall’s Londonderry High softball team into this week contemplating their 5-5 record in tough Division I.
The Lancers drove over the .500 mark to 5-4 on Wednesday, May 7, by besting Alvirne by a 5-3 tally in enemy territory.
The game was scoreless until the top of the third, when the Lady Lancers scored once.
They then upped their lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth before the hosts plated their first run in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 2-1 contest.
LHS answered with two more runs in the top of the fifth to collect a 4-1 lead, and the locals’ lead bulged to 5-1 in the top of the sixth.
Alvirne made inroads toward a comeback in the bottom of the sixth by scoring twice more, but that would be it on scoring in this one.
Londonderry tallied a total of six hits, with Colleen Lewis smacking two of those.
Two afternoons later back at LHS, a strong two-way performance from Pinkerton Academy veteran standout Natalie Fabrizio helped the PA softball team to a fine, Beeman Trophy victory over the host Lady Lancers.
The Lady Astros overcame a 3-0 deficit by plating five runs in the top of the fourth, three more in the sixth, and then two more in the seventh en route to the 10-6 victory.
Along with the fact that the academy girls gave their side a Beeman Trophy win over rival Londonderry, the outcome of the game was important for coach Terry Bailey’s PA bunch because both squads came into the contest with 5-4 records in the congested Division I standings.
Fabrizio’s fine work was seen both through her complete-game pitching performance and her batting success (three hits, four runs batted in, one run scored).
The Londonderry offense reached Fabrizio for 14 hits, but the runs didn’t come in the numbers Pinkerton was able to tally.
The 5-5 Lady Lancers – who used three pitchers in the game – scored twice in the bottom half of the second inning and once more in the third to post the 3-0 lead.
The Astros answered with their five-spot in the fourth to grab a 5-3 advantage.
Londonderry knotted the score at 5-5 in the latter half of the fifth, but Pinkerton responded with three runs in the top of the sixth to go up 8-5, and they pushed their lead up to 10-5 with another pair of runs in the top of the seventh.
The LHS girls were able to plate one more run in the bottom of the seventh, but their comeback effort got no closer.
Like Londonderry, the Lady Astros rapped out 14 total hits, thanks to Fabrizio’s three smacks, three hits from Abby Amato, and two safeties each from Rachel Byrd and Candace Moore.
The LHS attack was led by Brooke Tulley and her three hits and two knocks apiece from Leah Hunt, Shannon Crowley, Colleen Lewis, Julie Hamilton, and Summer Vose.
The Lady Lancers then gave the always-tough Salem High Lady Blue Devils about all they could handle before dropping a 3-2 decision to their hosts in Salem this past Monday.
The hosts scored all of their runs in the latter half of the third inning to snag a 3-0 lead, but Londonderry came back with two runs of its own in the top of the sixth.
The visitors smacked out seven hits total, with Crowley claiming two of those. Leah Hunt pitched well but suffered the pitching defeat.