Despite Plouffe's One-Hitter Fontbonne Softball Loses to Cardinal Spellman

All it took was one hit to deal the softball team another heartbreaking defeat.

Ace pitcher Bridger Plouffe fired a complete game one-hitter, but it wasn’t enough as the Ducks suffered a tough 2-1 defeat to Cardinal Spellman in Saturday night’s action at Potvin Field.

With the loss, the Ducks fell to 3-3 overall while all three defeats have each been by one run.

“We’ve had some hard luck losses this season,’’ said coach Kathy Berardi. “We’ve played well enough to win every game, but we’ve made some mistakes on the field and have allowed teams to take advantage of their opportunities. (Bridget) pitched an outstanding game, but it was just unfortunate, that we made a couple of errors, and we didn’t come through with some timely hitting to make up for it.”

Backed by Nicole Derba, the Ducks grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Caroline Staples drew a leadoff walk before Cardinal ace pitcher Courtney Zambello retired Kelly Staples and Taylor Shepherd on pop ups. Derba followed, launching a towering two-out double to straight away center, scoring Staples.

“That was a tremendous shot by (Derba),’’ said Berardi. “That was an excellent piece of hitting and she gave it a good drive out there. We had some chances to break things open early on, but we couldn’t build on it.”

After retiring six of the first seven batters she faced, Plouffe was victimized by a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the third. Meggie Gildea reached on a throwing error before moving to second on Liz Mulry’s sacrifice bunt. Sam Curran followed, delivering a towering RBI double that sailed into deep left center, tying the contest at 1-1. With Curran on third, Kate Donohoe grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice, short to first as Curran scampered home for the 2-1 lead.

“We made a mistake on the field, and they were able to take advantage of it,’’ said Berardi. “We’re still working on tightening up the defense and executing plays out on the field. We had a couple of dropped balls, and misplays and that’s been our Achilles heel all season. We have some great senior leadership, but we also have a lot of young girls on the team, who are still getting used to playing at the varsity level. It’s a learning experience for them, and they’ve managed to adjust quite well to it, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

In the top of the fourth, the Ducks threatened as Edie Richardson drew a two out walk, but Zambello silenced the threat, striking out Meghan Shea to end the inning.

“In the middle innings, (Zambello) was untouchable,’’ said Berardi. “She was hitting her spots, and our hitters had a little trouble adjusting to her mixes of pitches. She kept our hitters off balance throughout the whole game.”

Despite a fielding error, the Ducks escaped a jam in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Gildea reached on a dropped fly ball to right, but Plouffe recovered, retiring Mulry on a fielder’s choice while Curran grounded to third to end the threat.

Down to their final at bat, the Ducks failed to generate any scoring opportunities. Shea drew a two out walk, but Zambello secured the win for the Cardinals, striking out pinch hitter Callie Cabral to end the game.

Offensively, the Ducks were limited to just one hit while failing to advance a runner past first base after the first inning.

“We couldn’t get anything going after the (first inning),’’ said Berardi. “(Zambello) pitched a great game for them, and she was able to come through with some huge (strikeouts) for them. Bridget pitched a great game, and it’s just unfortunate that she couldn’t get the win.”

Offensively, Taylor Shepherd has led the way at the plate for the Ducks this season, posting close to a .600 average while Derba and Richardson have also contributed offensively.

As for freshmen, the Ducks are led by Shannon MacIssac, Shea along with Becca Olivieri.

“The freshmen are doing a great job, and they’ve been huge contributions for us all season,’’ said Berardi. “The seniors are doing a great job providing some solid leadership on and off the field.”

The Ducks will return to the diamond on Monday when they’ll travel to face Norte Dame of Hingham.