Team Effort Key for Drury Softball
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The last play of Tuesday's game was the best way to describe the kind of game it was for the Drury High School softball team.
The Blue Devils led Mount Greylock, 6-1, with two out and nobody on in the top of the seventh when Celeste Gravel hit a hot shot to the right side.
First baseman Amber Iacuessa got a glove on the ball but could not knock it down, and it looked like the Mounties might have a chance to mount a comeback.
But second baseman Hannah Rivard was there to corral the ball, and Iacuessa scrambled to the bag to cover and take the throw that ended the game in a 6-1 Drury win.
"That last play of the game, Amber misses it, and I definitely thought it was getting through," Drury coach Mary Ann Maroni said. "I don't know how [Rivard] got to it, but she did.
"That's one thing we've been saying: Support one another as a team. If the pitcher has one heck of a game, it doesn't matter if you guys are going to drop the ball all over the field. You've got to put both ends together, offense and defense. You've got to help the pitcher out by making plays, and she's got to help you by getting the ball over the plate."
The Blue Devils made all the plays on Tuesday.
Cat Record allowed just two hits and an unearned run while striking out five. Iacuessa went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and two RBIs. Jenna Gavazzi had two of her team's four stolen bases. And Drury got solid defensive play all over the field, including behind the plate, where Ingrid Olsen retired three batters on foul pop-ups.
Iacuessa's leadoff double keyed a one-run first for Drury. Ali Brassard followed with a walk, and Gavazzi's ground ball to the right side moved both runners to second base.
Record then drove in the game's first run with a single up the middle.
Mount Greylock coach June Blake said she was happy with the way starting pitcher Kendal Frye settled down after a rocky first inning.
Record, meanwhile, was sharp throughout. The one hiccup was a double to left by Frye, who drove in an unearned run in the top of the fourth.
"We saw her early on, and I thought we did a better job of hitting her early on," Blake said of Record." She certainly threw a better game this game [Tuesday].
"The difference was her offspeed pitch, and she got ahead of batters. We got behind. It's tough, especially against a pitcher who can mix up her pitches, to battle back from behind."
By the time Mount Greylcok got its run in the fourth, Drury already had a 4-0 lead thanks to a two-out rally in the bottom of the third.
Gavazzi got the first of four straight hits to score the runs. Record's double, Heather Morris' triple and Olsen's single did the rest.
"You've got to string hits together," Maroni siad. "Yesterday, when we did get hits, we scattered them throughout the six innings."
In the fourth, Alison Cellana led off with a single, and Cat Marceau reached on an error before Iacuessa's triple to right brought in two runs to finish the scoring.
Drury (3-3) hosts Bennington, Vt.'s, Mount Anthony on Wednesday before hosting Hoosac Valley on Saturday.
Mount Greylock hosts Taconic on Thursday.