RallyNorth.net

Wed, Apr 16, 2008 03:45 PM @ Manchester Essex

Team	Final
Rockport	3
Manchester Essex	4

Hornets knock off Rockport with late rally

Thursday, April, 17 By Nick Curcuru
Correspondent

It all came down to one inning for the Manchester Essex softball team.

Trailing Rockport 3-2 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Hornets needed a player to step up and be a hero. Fortunately for Manchester Essex, Alex Zager and Patty Wright were up to the task.

Zager blasted a solo home run to tie the game at three. Three batters later Wright brought in Breezy DiPietro, who singled, with a walk-off triple to give the Hornets a 4-3 win over the Vikings (1-2) yesterday at Rockport High School. Manchester Essex evened its record at 2-2 with the win.

"This was a very nice comeback," Hornets head coach Mike Mullarkey said. "We were down to our last at bat and we have a freshman (Wright) come up with a big at bat. She battled and she came through with a big hit. The girls really focused. We knew we were facing a good team and a good pitcher in Tia Nelson, but we were able to come up with some big at bats late in the game."

The contest belonged to the starting pitchers. Nelson and Manchester Essex's Lindsey Cambridge both had big games on the mound and both went the distance. Nelson allowed three earned runs and struck out 13, while Cambridge allowed just one earned run and struck out 16. Both pitchers also recorded a four-strike out inning because an opposing hitter was able to reach base on a wild pitch.

The play of Cambridge and Nelson drew praise from Rockport head coach Dianne Parisi.

"It's always going to be a close game with those two pitching," Parisi said. "They are two of the better pitchers in the Cape Ann League and you have to battle to get on base."

The Vikings looked to be in control of the game through four and a half innings, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Jessica Dunn made it 1-0 in the second inning when she scored on a throwing error after reaching on a double. Third baseman Kelsey Keough made it 2-0 when she scored on an error after reaching on a walk.

Right fielder Shianne Stowell gave the Vikings a 3-0 lead in the fifth with her aggressive base running. Cambridge struck out a Vikings hitter with a pitch in the dirt, on the throw to first base, Stowell alertly ran home to score a run.

The Hornets battled back in the bottom half of the fifth inning cutting the Vikings lead to 3-2. A Zager RBI single drove in Rebecca Lynch, who singled, to make it 3-1. Zager came home two batters later on a fielder's choice to make it 3-2.

Parisi was disappointed in the loss, but not with the effort of her team.

"This was a tough loss," Parisi said. "We didn't play bad, we came ready to play and battled at the plate. But they were just able to manufacture more runs than we were."

Zager led the offensive attack for the Hornets with three hits. First baseman Julia Martz also had a good game for Manchester Essex with two hits of her own.

Overall Mullarkey was happy with the way his team battled back from behind to come out with a win.

"We were focused on getting one hit and one run at a time," Mullarkey said of his team's comeback strategy. "This is a game of attrition. Fortunately for us we were able to capitalize late in the game and the end result was what we wanted."