Sports

Wildcats run past Tigers, 18-4

NEWPORT – The Wildcats’ bats were about the only warm thing on the cold and windy day, as Fall Mountain finished with 13 hits, giving first-year head coach Kevin Hicks his first win with a convincing victory over Newport, 18-4.

“Hitting is contagious,” said Hicks after the game, beating the Tigers who had a perfect regular season last year.

It started in the first inning for FM as they plated two quick runs off Newport ace Lacey McNeel. Erin Brady got things rolling as she scored off a Chloe Vogel double then Savanah Wilson’s triple to right center brought Vogel around for a quick 2-0 lead.

Newport grinded out a run in their half of the first with a walk, two steals by McNeel and a Kelsey Wheeler RBI, but McNeel jammed her knee stealing third base and continued the game in a bit of pain.

FM extended their lead to 6-1 in the third as Nicole Limoges, Brady, Vogel and Sarah Schadler all crossed the plate with a combination of miscues, along with a Tess Marsden double.

“We had a rough day today and we’re still trying to put people in positions to be successful… this game is behind us and we’ll go on from here,” said Newport head coach Sam McNeel as the Tigers committed 11 errors on the day.

As the FM bats were providing offense, Vogel was in control on the mound allowing only seven hits.

“It felt great to pick up a win today against a really good Newport team… everyone contributed and our defense was spot on,” said Vogel.

The Wildcats tacked on 10 runs in the final three innings, with all doubles coming off the bats of Vogel, Schadler and Marsden in the four-run sixth inning to ice the game.

The FM batters kept the pressure on Newport plating runs in every inning except the second and ended with nine players getting hits.

On defense, the Wildcats didn’t commit a single error.

FM was led by Marsden with a 3-for-5 day with 2 RBIs. Kaylee Lintner and Vogel each collected two hits apiece.

For the Tigers, Shelby Adams and Jenna Maheu had two hits each.

Vogel picked up the win for FM with a 116-pitch complete-game effort, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 11. McNeel also went the distance allowing 7 earned runs while fanning 5 batters.

“I can’t say for sure if the M&M rewards for reaching base had anything to do with today’s win but you can bet I’m going to be restocking our supplies,” said Hicks after the game.

FM (1-1) will host Trinity (1-2) on Wednesday for their first home game while Newport (0-1) will welcome Mascenic (1-1), also on Wednesday.

Avatar photo

As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.