Pittsfield's Pierce No-Hits Mount Everett
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- All baseball and softball fans have heard about not talking to a pitcher about a no-hitter during the game.
But no one in the Pittsfield dugout Thursday seemed to even know that Giuliana Pierce was posting a no-no until after the Generals’ 5-1 win over Mount Everett.
“I didn’t know that,” Pierce said. “I try not to focus on things like that -- stats, anything. I just try to focus on my next pitch.”
Pittsfield coach Gregory Marchbanks certainly wasn’t going to be the one to jinx Pierce during the game.
“There were no hits?” he said after his postgame talk to his players. “I didn’t even look at it. You know, you’re right.”
And the inattention to personal achievement was right in line with the ethic of this Pittsfield team.
“Our three seniors, they've been awesome,” Marchbanks said of Pierce, Hayley Tobin and Britney Perkett. “They rally around team. It's never about them this year.
“There's a Starburst Player of the Game, and none of our three captains, our seniors, can get it. They pick it. They decide who gets that. And it's been about the team. That's what we've established this year.”
The Player of the Game, featured after each game on the team’s Twitter account, went to Brianna Clary on Thursday after she went 2-for-3 with a triple and scored two runs.
Mount Everett (5-6) jumped on top early Thursday with an unearned run in the top of the first.
Devan Galli reached on an error and moved up when Gwendolyn Carpenter reached on an error. Jaclyn Derwitsch’s sacrifice bunt got them to second and third with one out, and Madison Ullrich’s sac fly to right brought Galli home.
That was the last ball Pierce allowed out of the infield until the top of the sixth.
“She did a great job of moving the ball around,” Marchbanks said. “It was a big [strike] zone today for both pitchers. And you mix those speeds up, and you can really have a good day. She took advantage of it.”
Mount Everett’s best chance to break up the no-hitter came with one out in the seventh when Marion Devoti drove a 1-0 pitch into the gap in right center. Perkett raced to her left and snagged the fly ball.
“Britney with the catch, that's always nice,” Pierce said. "Everyone helps out, but a big play like that is awesome for team morale. It brings us up, and it shows us what we can all do.
The inning’s third out came on a hard grounder to Clary at third, who threw to Sarah McMahon at first to end the game.
After falling behind in the first inning, Pittsfield responded with an unearned run of its own in the second. Tess Lyon started things off with a single up the middle. Hayley Tobin’s sac bunt moved her into scoring position, and a two-base error in the outfield tied the game.
In the fourth, the Generals broke that tie when Clary hit a one-out triple and Pierce drove her home. Jordyn Lummus came in as a courtesy runner for Pierce and stole second, and McMahon singled to left to bring in the go-ahead run.
In the fifth, Hayley Tobin drove in an insurance run, and the Generals tacked on one more in the sixth when Pierce singled to left and Clary raced all the way home from first.
Pittsfield (7-0) is home on Friday against Hoosac Valley.
Mount Everett hosts Lee next Thursday.