Mistakes Cost HV in Close Loss to Wahconah
ADAMS, Mass — Still searching for its first win of the season, the Hoosac Valley softball team suffered another narrow defeat on Wednesday, losing 3-2 to Wahconah at Russell Field.Hurricanes head coach Morgan Shafer was hoping a little home cooking would help her team's offense. In its last three games, all of which came on the road, Hoosac (0-5) only managed to score a total of three runs. While her lineup did show some improvement by scratching out nine hits against Warriors' starter Becca Grunow, the 'Canes only managed two runs on the day and left the bases loaded to end the third inning.
"It was another tough loss and a hard-played game," Shafer said. "Wahconah is a good team, and we hung in there with them. We just couldn't get the win. Defensively, we made a few errors, but we also made a few great heads-up plays to keep Wahconah's bats to a minimum. Our lineup started hitting the ball and putting the ball in play. Now, we just need to capitalize on our opportunities to score."
Hoosac did take advantage of a scoring opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth. Down 2-0 entering the frame, senior catcher Tanelle Ciempa (2 for 3) got things started for the Hurricanes with a leadoff single. After a fielder's choice, sophomore Kassandra Kazimierczak scored Jocelyn Duhamel with an RBI triple to left field. Kazimierczak, who finished 2 for 4 on the day, then scored to tie the game when an error was made on throw from the outfield.
The Warriors (3-4) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Bizzy King scored Gabby Lavinio with an RBI single. Lavinio then doubled her team's lead in the third, smacking a pitch from Hoosac starter Ashley Ciepiela deep to left field. Hurricanes outfielder Alexis Bushika tracked the ball down and fired a relay throw to shortstop Tori Rumbolt (2 for 4). She gunned the ball to the plate, but Lavinio slid in just before the tag and was ruled safe in what Shafer said was a "close call."
After Kazimierczak tied the game with her triple in the fourth, Wahconah game right back in the top of the fifth to score the winning run by taking advantage of three Hoosac errors in the infield. Ciepiela allowed two earned runs in five innings to take the loss. She struck out one and walked one before turning the ball over to Bushika, who fanned two batters in the last two frames.
Grunow went the distance for the Warriors, allowing one earned run, striking out four and walking two. Hoosac next hosts Mohawk at 4 p.m. on Friday.