Sweet Ks 11 in Mount Greylock's Win at Drury

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The Mount Greylock softball team Wednesday bounced back from a heart-breaking loss to earn a 5-2 win over Drury at Fran Millard Field.

 

Kamryn Sweet struck out 11, and A.J. Pelkey drove in a pair of runs as the Mounties improved to 8-2 with three games left in the regular season.

 

The last time Mount Greylock took the field, it lost by one run in extra innings at Pittsfield.

 

On Wednesday, it wasted no time getting on the board, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

 

Emma Newberry reached on a fielder’s choice with two out, moved up on Brodi Rosier’s single up the middle and scored two batters later when Abbey Whitley drew a bases-loaded walk.

 

In the bottom of the frame, Drury got that run back when Caroline Cellana walked, stole second, took third on an overthrow and ended up coming home on the Mounties’ second error of the inning.

 

“We had a break of about a week,” Mount Greylock coach Mark Pierson said. “We only had one practice because of the long weekend and rain and stuff. I figured it’d take a few innings to kind of get the kinks out, but after that, we played pretty well.

 

Fortunately for the Mounties, Sweet closed the door with two strikeouts and a line-drive out to Pelkey at first base.

 

“She’s very consistent,” Pierson said of the sophomore pitcher. “She keeps her poise, and she throws strikes and lets the defense do the work.”

 

Mount Greylock’s offense got back to work in the top of the second, regaining the lead when Kelsey MacHaffie drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on Jordyn Codding’s double and scored on Pelkey’s infield single to make it 2-1.

 

The Mounties tacked on some insurance with a pair of runs in the fourth. Pelkey hit a sacrifice fly, and Emma Newberry drove in a run with a single to right.

 

In the fifth, Whitley led off with a triple to left and scored on a single by Vayda Larabee to make it 5-1.

 

The Mounties could have had a few more runs in the middle innings but for some big defensive plays by the Blue Devils.

 

In the second, shortstop Caroline Cellana dove to her right to grab a low liner and fired to second to double off a runner and end the inning. In the fifth, a strong relay from the outfield cut down the speedy Malia Koffi attempting to score on Larabee’s single.

 

“The kids played well,” Drury coach Michelle Darling said. “They play really good defense. They didn’t hang their heads.”

 

Drury’s offense generated a second unearned run off Sweet in the bottom of the sixth. Brooke Bishop reached on an error, moved to third on a couple of pitches that went to the backstop and scored on a single by Mackenzie Dobbert.

 

Sweet retired the next three batters to end that threat and struck out the side in the seventh to end the game.

 

Mount Greylock moves on to finish with Wahconah on Thursday and Hoosac Valley and Taconic next week -- a stretch that Pierson said will prepare the Mounties for the kind of pitching they will see in the Western Mass tournament.

 

Drury (5-4) will look to snap a three-game skid on Friday when it goes to Monument Mountain, the first of two meetings with the Spartans down the stretch.

 

While there are still four games left in this regular season, Darling cannot be blamed for thinking a little bit about the 2022 campaign and beyond.

 

“They’re still young,” she said of the Blue Devils. “You’re looking at seventh- and eighth-graders with some seniors sprinkled in there and a couple of juniors.

 

“Absolutely, it’s a building year. We totally expected them to do a JV season, but injuries happened, and we just started putting them into regular games, and they stepped up. It’s a good learning experience for them. I’m happy. And we will build for next year.”