'Canes Come Up Just Short in Loss to St. Joe's
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Hoosac Valley softball team left too many runners on base all game long and made too many errors late in the contest in a 5-4 loss at St. Joe's on Thursday.The Hurricanes (11-6) nearly rallied back from a 5-1 deficit in the top of the seventh inning, but came up just a run short in tying the game. All three runs came with two outs in the frame, the first two being scored on an RBI triple by senior captain Karli Schrade, who led the Hurricanes' offense by going 2 for 4 with two RBI and one run scored. Schrade cut the lead to 5-4 when she scored on an overthrown ball from the outfield, but Hoosac was unable to get any more hits after clearing the bases.
The Crusaders (11-5) put the the pressure on the Hurricanes with two singles in the bottom of the fifth frame. Both of those runners scored courtesy of a Hoosac error in the outfield. A couple more errors by the 'Canes allowed St. Joe's the opportunity to score two more times in sixth inning, ruining an otherwise solid start by Hoosac senior Amanda Meczywor. The senior captain allowed just one earned run on six hits, striking out five batters with zero walks to drop her season record to 8-6.
"Amanda did a great job pitching," Hurricanes head coach Morgan Shafer said. "St. Joe's capitalized on the bases today. They used a sacrifice bunt to get runners to second and third base in the sixth inning. Those runs eventually scored on a suicide squeeze play in which a few errors were made on throws."
Hoosac scored a run in the top of the first inning when Meczywor drove in Tori Rumbolt with a double to center field. Shafer's squad was then shut out for the next five innings, however, leaving the bases loaded in the fourth frame and stranding three more runners combined over the next innings. Meczywor finished with two hits and a run scored in, while classmate Samantha Howe also added a pair of hits in the game.