Mount Everett Softball Sweeps Drury
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The Mount Everett softball team Thursday exploded for six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break open a 3-2 game en route to a 9-2 win that completed a sweep of a double-header against Drury.
Allie Brassard, Devan Galli and Chandler DeGrenier each drove in a pair of runs in the rally as the Eagles bounced back from their first loss of the season and improved to 5-1 this spring.
Earlier Thursday, Mount Everett earned a 13-0 win behind a four-hit shutout by Chandler DeGrenier.
In the nightcap, Drury took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning before the Eagles scored two unearned runs on an overthrow that allowed Brassard and Jaclyn Derwitsch to score.
“They were loose going into Game 2, but they didn’t get it going until the sixth there,” Mount Everett coach Kurt DeGrenier said. “Then they started hitting the ball well.
“Two games under their belt. I wasn’t here for the first one [a rare 11 a.m. Thursday start]. But I heard they looked good. Game 2, they hit it good in the sixth, but we can’t stick around that long without hitting the ball.”
In Game 1, Galli went 4-for-4 with two runs batted in and two runs scored to key a 12-hit Mount Everett attack. The Eagles got two hits apiece from Kersten Cutlip and Brassard and took a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the second inning.
DeGrenier struck out 13 while allowing five baserunners in the opener.
She only gave up three hits in the nightcap, but Drury only struck out five times, and the Blue Devils were able to string together three hits in the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead.
Overall, Kurt DeGrenier was happy with the way Chandler DeGrenier overcame the challenge of facing the same lineup in back-to-back games.
“She changes her approach,” DeGrenier said. “I let [DeGrenier and catcher Madison Ullrich] call the game today. Normally, I call the game. But Chandler is used to summer ball, so she’s used to going multiple games in a row.
“She changed it up. I think she made a couple of mistakes there and gave up a couple of big hits throwing the same pitch. But she did well, and Maddy did well behind the plate.”
The Eagles, who scored seven runs in the seventh inning of Game 1, started Game 2 with more of the same, picking up an unearned run when Brassard led off with a single, moved up on a Derwitsch sacrifice bunt and scored on a couple of errors.
But Drury pitcher Maya Howland closed the door from there, getting the last two outs and leaving Galli stranded on third base.
Drury tied it in the top of the fourth. McKenna Pevey led off with a walk, stole second, went to third on Howland’s sac bunt and scored on a Caitlin Tatro sacrifice fly.
In the Drury fifth, Kendra Gallagher led off with an infield single but was erased trying to steal second. Anna Dix then singled and took second on a throwing error and scored on Tess Zoito’s RBI triple down the right field line.
But that was all DeGrenier would allow. The Eagles took advantage of an error to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth and used five hits to build on that lead an inning later.
Although Drury (1-4) came out on the losing end twice on Thursday, there was a lot to be encouraged about in their performance against a 2016 Western Mass semi-finalist that returned most of its team, including its pitcher.
“We had a heck of a game the second game,” Drury coach Morgan Shafer said. “It took us a little while to get warm this morning, but once we got it going, we played really good softball. Even in the middle of the first game, although we were behind, we were playing well.
“It brings us confidence to know we can still play, even though our team is so young. And to go up against a pitcher like DeGrenier, she’s just an all-around player and she’s been pitching for a while. It’s pretty hard to get much off of her.”
Drury goes to Bennington, Vt., on Saturday to face Mount Anthony. Mount Everett travels Housatonic Valley on Friday.