Mansfield Varsity Softball Ends a Great Season

The number three seeded Mansfield Hornets were eliminated today when they lost to the eleven-seeded New Bedford Whalers 9-3, ending any State Title aspirations for the Hornets.

The Hornets started things off, striking for three runs in the bottom half of the first inning when five of the first six hitters reached, including RBI singles from juniors Tricia Hansen and Kelly English, and an RBI triple from sophomore Erin Galvin.

Later in the fourth with the score still at 3-0 the Whalers blew things open with a seven run rally all starting with sophomore Alexis Debrossee who had two singles in the inning.

The rally consisted of four doubles and eight hits overall. None bigger than a two run double from senior Cheyenne Howard and an RBI double from sophomore Katherine Guillotte who went 3-4 on the day with two doubles and an RBI.

The Whalers would tack on additional runs in the sixth and the seventh to increase their lead to the final 9-3. Offensively, they tallied sixteen hits and a walk against the Hornets starter Tricia Hansen who came into the game with a .30 ERA, a 19-2 record and over 200 strikeouts.

As for the Hornets, offensively they scattered eleven hits, eight of which came after the first. The highlight on offense was English who went 4-4 and came a home run short of the cycle with two singles, a double and a triple. After having a rough first inning junior Brittany Carvalho did a nice job in the circle for the Whalers tallying four strikeouts.

“We got down early and kept telling ourselves that three runs wasn’t that big of a deficit with the way we’ve been hitting," said Whalers Head Coach Harry Lowe. "We got hot in the fourth; hitting for us has really been contagious.”

The Whalers move on to play the winner of the Silverlake and Norwood later this week.

“ Coming in I thought we were very evenly matched, but today they played better than we did," Hornets Head Coach Jinneane Sperrazza said. "They hit the tar out of the ball, I don’t know how they lost seven games this year. I really didn’t want this to end, we had a great year and I am very proud of the girls, most of them are juniors so I can’t wait for next year.”

The Hornets suffered just their third loss of the season and their first loss to a team other than King Phillip this season. They were ranked as high as number two in the state this season but were eliminated today with the loss. The Whalers will move on to the Semi Finals and play later this week.