Pittsfield Softball Edged in State Tourney Opener
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – The Pittsfield softball team Monday played one of its better defensive games of an up-and-down season.
Unfortunately for the Generals, the opposing pitcher was up to the challenge.
Southeastern Regional’s Maddie Hornung struck out 11 and allowed just two hits to lead the Hawks to a 1-0 win in the first round of the Division 3 State Tournament.
No. 18 Southeastern of South Easton scored an unearned run in the top of the third, and Hornung made that lead stand up to get her team to the Sweet 16.
“I hadn't heard anything about her,” Pittsfield coach Jim Clary said. “We did a lot of research and found absolutely nothing about her whatsoever until she showed up here today.
“The rise ball was giving us trouble. We tried to move them up in the box, but still every batter was still getting underneath it. We had a tough time on that rise ball. It seems to do us in every time. There are a couple of pitchers around this area that throw it too. We weren't too successful with it.”
Hornung cruised through the first three innings, striking out six batters the first time through the Generals’ lineup.
Her offense gave all the run support she needed in the third.
After the leadoff hitter reached on an error and was replaced on a fielder’s choice, Caleigh DeMartino singled to put runners at the corners with one out. Ava Selter then singled down the line in right to drive in the winning run.
“That one inning, a couple of seeing-eye singles up the right side, a miscue on the throw, and they got a run across the board,” Clary said. “Otherwise we'd be in extra innings right now.”
And except for that lone unearned run, Pittsfield pitcher Amanda Pou was in control most of the day.
“Amanda, for only being a sophomore, has been almost a leader in the circle,” Clary said. “On a team that had five pitchers on it, it's been very hard to decide who to pitch every day. We went with Amanda because Amanda has a little more velocity than the others. The others have a little more finesse.
“It's good to have her back for the next couple of years, for sure.”
Pittsfield did not get its first baserunner until the bottom of the fourth, and the Hawks ended the threat as quickly as possible.
Jordynn Bazinet crushed a two-out double to right field but was thrown out attempting to stretch it into a triple, ending the inning.
In the fifth, Mia Arpante reached on a two-out infield single, but Hornung got the final out looking at a called third strike.
She then struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth and retired the Generals in order in the seventh to end their season.
“It was a season of streaks,” Clary said. “We had a good win streak there in the middle of the season and a losing streak toward the end of the season.
“Come to find out today three of my seniors couldn't play today because of COVID. We've dealt with adversity. They dealt with what they had to deal with, and they stepped up, and it was a good game. That's a very good team.”