Bench Helps C-C Softball Defeat Newton South

It’s nearly impossible to peg a single position, or spot in the batting order, for that matter, on any member of the Concord-Carlisle High School softball team.

The Patriots’ game at Newton South High School on Thursday afternoon seemed like an endless parade to and from the dugout. Players that entered as courtesy runners or replacements on defense later returned to the bench, only to be sent up to the plate to pinch hit the next inning.

In fact, coach Lisa McGloin shuffled her lineup so much so that it prompted the home-plate umpire to declare his pleasuring at not working another C-C game for the rest of the season. To her credit, the strategy worked against Newton South, much as it has all year.

C-C (10-1) broke open a close game in the sixth and seventh innings – when McGloin ramped up her softball shuffle – and went on to beat the Lions 6-1 in a Dual County League contest.

“I’m luck to say that I don’t think any one of those kids only plays one position, so it’s nice and it gives us a lot of flexibility when we do make subs,” McGloin said.

She’s allowed to take advantage of such depth thanks to her extensive knowledge of her players.

“What I can say about them is that some of our hitters hit low pitches, some hit high pitching, inside, outside, better,” McGloin said. “I have a pretty good feeling of that, so when we see what a pitcher is doing we make some adjustments when we need to.”

The strategy worked to perfection in the sixth inning. Leading by a 2-0 score, McGloin sent three pinch hitters to the plate – Galen Kerr, Sara Bagley and Maddie Creighton – and all delivered a hit to help put two more Patriots’ runs on the scoreboard.

After Allie Colleran, who started at second base, led off with a single, Kerr pinch hit for right fielder Belle Hankey and singled. Bagley followed with a single to score Colleran and Creighton picked up the Patriots’ second pinch-hit RBI of the game with a double to short right field.

In the seventh, Annabelle Collins picked up C-C’s fourth pinch-hit basehit of the game. She and Haley Yang both later came around to score on Kerr’s second single of the afternoon, which gave the Patriots a 6-0 lead.

If anything, the Patriots proved their bench is good for much more than cheering on the starters from the dugout.

“They’re a pretty versatile group,” McGloin said. “We got some work in at a few different positions.”

C-C opened the game with three hits in the first inning, all singles from Brianna Rohan, Yang and Colleran. Rohan scored to put the Patriots on the board.

They extended their lead in the fifth inning when catcher Abby Bruins doubled to right field and later came around to score on third baseman Monica Diercks’ single up the middle.

Newton South scored its lone run when the C-C defense got sloppy in the seventh inning. Designated player Izii Carter walked to lead off and advanced to third on an error to second base. First baseman Andrea Epstein reached first on the play. Carter later scored on Minh An Quinn’s double – her second of the game.

However, the inning did little to diminish the performance of C-C starting pitcher Shannon Laughlin. She went all seven innings for the first time this season, McGloin said, striking out four Lions and allowed just five hits and two walks.

“It was a nice win. We had one of our seniors [pitching], that was her first complete game all year on the mound, which was nice to see,” the coach said.

The victory wrapped up a spot in the Division 1 North sectional tournament for the Patriots, something McGloin planned to surprise them with in her postgame speech.

C-C plays again Saturday at home against Danvers High School in a non-league matchup.