RallyNorth.net

Clutch Vikings Sink Clippers

Saturday, April, 12 By Evan Mugford
Staff writer

Yesterday at the Triton Regional High School, the Vikings battled the Newburyport Clippers in a River Rival league match-up. A stalemate for the majority of the game, it was a handful of big plays, and big errors, that helped finalize the outcome.

Under a gray sky and amid chilled air, the Vikings (2-1) battled back from a two-run deficit to beat the winless Clippers (0-2), 5-4.

Both teams were coming off of tough losses, and though the rain was holding at bay, girls from both sides were decked out in leg warmers and seemed determined to stay warm and focused.

The Vikings struck in the bottom of the first inning, capitalizing with a series of head's up base running. But, the Clippers, off of a nice piece of hitting by Lindsey Tomasz (1-3, RBI, 2 stolen bases), tied it up in the second. With two on in the same frame, the Vikings and pitcher Marion Dulleau (5 Ks and 4 hits), played the field well and worked themselves out of a jam.

The third saw the Clippers lose a little concentration and allowed the Vikings to load the bases with a single out. But thanks to a pop-up and a line out, the Clippers held strong and helped get their pitcher | Ashley Rowe | leave unscathed.

The fourth inning saw some nice action from both teams.

Thanks to some nice hitting and base running, Tomasz stole second and third. Then when a pitch sailed into the dirt, Tomasz was given the green light to run home only to be gunned down thanks to a nice throw by Marissa Strangie (2-3, 2 RBIs) and catch-and-tag by Krista Landry. Newburyport had their own sweet play to end the fourth when Rowe made a miraculous catch, nabbing a line-drive bullet with a flick of her wrist.

The fifth inning saw Dulleau initiate a trio of easy outs, prompting a nice 1-2-3 inning. In the inning's bottom half, the Viking offense emerged from it's slumber and put another run on the board when Kristina Spencer blasted a double to push the Vikings back on top, 2-1.

With Triton back on top, the single run lead was too small to dishearten the Clipper bunch, and a valiant effort in the sixth was yet to come.

Thanks to some nice hitting by Strangie and Chelsea Hersey (1-3, run, RBI), Cassandra Davis continued the onslaught and drove two runs in with a clutch single. Then soon after, Rowe hit a sac-fly to extend the rally and the Clipper lead to 4-2. Dulleau finally got of the inning when she forced a single down the first base line for a nice back hand by play by Spencer.

Suddenly down two runs, Triton needed a comeback, and possibly a little help from the other team, which they received.

The Vikings launched out of the box, batting aggressively to regain the lead. A hit by Landry, and bunts by Dulleau and Katie McCance proved invaluable when Rowe suddenly lost her aim and continued to plunk Viking batters, eventually pushing two across the plate and letting another score thanks to a Kerri Carleton single.

The Vikings played safe, and maybe got a little lucky, but they persevered and closed out the top of the seventh for the win.

Viking coach Jim Hounam knew his team didn't play exceptional, but he was still content with the ugly win.

"What it came down to," explained Hounam, "was that Newburyport just made more mistakes than we did. The sixth inning just fell in our favor.

"We did get the ball in play and forced them to make some plays," said Hounam. "But in reality, they helped us out a lot."

Freshman right-fielder Alyssa Conley who had the game-winning RBI when she was hit by a pitch, did the majority of her damage defensively.

"The win feels great. I'm happy about it," said Conley, who gave all the credit to her teammates. "They're all great girls, they've been working hard all season, and I couldn't ask for better girls to play with.

"Marion played really well, she kept us in the game," explained Conley. "Kristina had some nice grabs at first, and Krista, our catcher, did an amazing job keeping us composed."

Newburyport coach Peter Murray said his team has talent, but if they're going to get victories, they can't keep shooting themselves in the foot. So far this year, the Clippers are averaging seven errors per game.

"In the end, we beat ourselves," stated Murray. "We hit a couple batters at the wrong time and unfortunately we couldn't leave with a win.

"We had a nice comeback, and I think between this game and our last game, we've already made some big improvements. Other than field work, I think we need to work on our composure and learn how to close out games."