Hurricanes Snap Slump By Beating Rain, Lee
ADAMS, Mass. — Facing a must-win situation, the Hoosac Valley softball team had little room for error in Monday's game against Lee.Add in the fact that rain showers could cause the game to end early, and the Hurricanes couldn't afford any early slip-ups against the Wildcats. Luckily for Hoosac, sophomore Caroline Tomkowicz was in control from the circle and classmate Kassandra Kazimierczak provided all the offense the 'Canes would need to earn a 4-0 victory at Russell Field on Senior Night.
Kazimierczak broke a scoreless tie with a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning. Her third long ball of the year, a deep shot to left field, provided the hosts with all the runs they would need to earn the victory in game called after five innings because of sloppy field conditions. The win improves Hoosac's record to 8-9 this season, meaning it needs to win two out of its final three games to qualify for the Division 2 Western Mass. tournament.
The Hurricanes gave Tomkowicz a little extra cushion by scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth. A walk, three errors by the Lee defense and RBI singles by juniors Tori Rumbolt and Ashley Ciepiela accounted for the three runs, giving Tomkowicz her fourth shutout of the year. She gave up three hits on the day with six strikeouts and one walk to improve her record to 6-3 this season.
"Caroline had a good day on the mound in the rain," Hoosac head coach Morgan Shafer said. "She was able to have enough control to keep Lee to only three hits. Her riseball and drop were fooling the hitters best last night. I thought that maybe Kassandra's home run was going to be the only run of the night in the rain, but we opened up our bats in the bottom of the fifth inning."
Ciepiela reached base three times on the night, earning a pair of walks and scoring one run.