Langdon- Fall Mountain softball hosted Mascoma on Monday afternoon searching for their first victory of the 2018 season, but unfortunately for the Wildcats, they’re search continues. While being down 13-5 in the sixth inning, the Wildcats strung together a rally which scored six runs, and closed the gap to 13-11.
Before the Wildcats took any swings in the sixth inning, you could feel the team’s intensity rising. The players became more involved on the bench and runs started pouring onto the board. When asked what she told her team before the bottom of the sixth inning, Fall Mountain head coach Molly McManus, said, “Just to be cheering the team on, be positive… we know we can hit… we know that we can do it… they just need to have the confidence in themselves. That’s basically what turned it around… the dugout got much louder and they were cheering each other on and that definitely had an impact.”
In the sixth, Molly Cobb had an RBI-single, Nicole Limoges scored from third on a passed ball, Allie Stoddart knocked in Cobb with a single, Savana Wilson knocked in Stoddart with a single, and then Amber Beliveau capped it off with a two-run homer to dead-center. After the sixth, coach McManus was trying to encourage her team, telling them, “Let’s go… let’s hold ‘em. We’ll get last ups… let’s hold ‘em!”
The Wildcats’ defense did their job in the top of the seventh. With two outs and the bases juiced, Stoddart battled the sun to catch a high pop-up at shortstop to get out of the jam allowing no runs. In the bottom of the seventh, however, the Wildcat-momentum stalled and could only manage one walk.
This Wildcat team was missing three starters due to a class-trip to Spain, which hurt their chances of grabbing their first win Monday. Coach McManus: “Missing those three was big… they’re three starters… three of our best hitters. But… we started this way last year and then strung together seven straight wins to make it to the playoffs.”
For Fall Mountain, Stoddart had 3 singles, 3 runs-scored, and 2 RBIs. Limoges and Cobb each had 2 singles and 2 runs-scored. Erin Devanney had 2 singles and a run, and Beliveau had 2 singles and the 2-run home run. Devanney and Makayla Barre combined to pitch for the Wildcats.
Coach McManus, on how her team performed, said, “I think we started off a little slow… definitely didn’t pick it up until the sixth. Batting-wise especially, that was a huge inning for us. When we finally got rolling it was just a little too late.”
Fall Mountain (0-3) travels to Conant (2-0) on Tuesday to try to put one in the win-column. First-pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
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