Tomkowicz Powers Hoosac Softball Past Mount Greylock

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — For Hoosac Valley High School senior Caroline Tomkowicz on Saturday, Plan B produced an "A" game.

 

Tomkowicz struck out 12, walked none and took a perfect game into the sixth inning in earning a 4-2 win over Mount Greylock.

 

"I usually have a curve, which works really well, and today it just wasn't really working," Tomkowicz said after giving up just two unearned run in the win.

 

"I had to kind of switch it up a little bit and used mostly rises. ... Usually it takes me a few innings for my curve to start working, so in the beginning I thought, 'OK, it's just going to take a little bit.'

 

"But it never really came."

 

She muddled through just fine, mowing down the first 15 Mounties to come to the plate while Hoosac's offense gave her a 4-0 lead.

 

Mount Greylock's Markell Shea broke up the no-hit bid with a solid single to left to lead off the sixth inning. An error gave Mount Greylock its second runner and moved Shea to third, but Tomkowicz got a strikeout and a ground ball out to end that threat.

 

Two more Hoosac errors figured into Mount Greylock's two-run seventh, which also saw Hailey Guest, Shea and Samantha Betti single.

 

"We kind of fell apart when the started to hit the ball because it was like we forgot we had to play defense behind her when she's pitching so well," Hoosac coach Morgan Shafer said. "Just a few mental errors that they're making, and we're going to try to fix those."

 

Not much needed to be fixed in Tomkowicz's game.

 

"She was amazing out there," Shafer said. "She really dominated that [circle] and came out ready to play today.

 

"She pretty much just used her fastball and her rise ball. Every now and then she'd work in the curve, but the outside corner was really the key to success today."

 

The home plate umpire established a pitcher's strike zone early on, and both Tomkowicz and Mount Greylock's Kendal Frye took advantage.

 

Frye ended up with five strikeouts while allowing nine hits but just three earned runs.

 

Hoosac jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first thanks to Kali Puppolo's triple and a single by Erin Girard.

In the second, the 'Canes scratched out an unearned run when Abby Jamros doubled in Alyssa Pause.

 

Hoosac got what turned out to be needed insurance runs in the sixth.

 

Carrington McGrath got things started with a one-out single and scored on Sienna Witherall's double to left. Witherall went to third on the throw home and scored when Hannah Stansfield singed to make it 4-0.

 

Mouunt Greylock, meanwhile, could not figure out Tomkowicz until the last inning.

 

"I just think we were a little late at the plate," Mount Greylock coach June Blake said. "I think we made a adjustments, but not until late in the game.

 

"It was the sixth inning before we got a baserunner on. We did pretty well after that with two runs in the seventh inning, but we can't wait until the end of the game to make things happen offensively."

 

Hoosac (4-3) hosts Pittsfield on Tuesday, when Mount Greylock (4-6) travels to Lee.