OA Softball Takes Pivotal Game Against Stoughton

The softball team defeated Stoughton, 5-3, Monday afternoon to take a critical divisional match-up.

With the win, the Tigers improved to .500 with a 7-7 record and moved into the Davenport Division driver's seat as the season winds down.

Visiting Stoughton, which dropped to 6-9 overall and fell into a tie with for second place in the division, stranded the bases loaded twice in the game: once in the fourth and once in the sixth.

"There’s something about this team," OA coach Lindsey Allison said of her squad. "They love to play with the bases loaded. They love to bat with two strikes. It’s just great to know that if their backs are against the wall they’re not going to give up."

The Black Knights scored twice in the fourth, thanks to singles and runs scored by Jordan Angelos and Michelle Bisbee and RBIs from Emily Cramer and Samantha Mattie. In the 6th, Stoughton only came away with one run on a Nicole Barton RBI single - despite loading the bases with one out.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game and we needed to play solid defense and have some offensive output, and our defense let us down and we didn’t do enough offensively," Stoughton coach Janet Sullivan said. "Oliver Ames is a good team. They got some good hits. They did what they needed to do and we left too many kids on base."

Oliver Ames was led by pitcher Elizabeth Batsinelas, who pitched 7 innings, striking out 6, walking 2 and allowing 3 runs on 6 hits.

"She keeps us in the game the whole time," Allison said. "Even if she has a couple of walks she doesn’t let it take over her completely. She can get her composure back and get it done. She’s been very solid for us this year and very reliable."

For Stoughton, Emily Cramer pitched 7 innings, striking out 4 and walking 5.

Most of Stoughton's troubles came from the top of OA's lineup.

Leadoff hitter Lexi Soucie went 3-4, including an RBI double in the fifth inning. 3-hitter Arianna Scurti went 3-4 with 2 RBIs and 2-hitter Erin Lynch propeled the Tigers during a 4th inning rally on a bunt that produced an errant throw and scored two. Haley Allen also chipped in for the Tigers, going 2-3 and scoring twice.

The Tigers look to stay in the Davenport drivers seat against 5-7 Sharon Tuesday.

At 6-9 and with Sharon, Attleboro, Canton and a Kelley-Rex crossover game remaining, Stoughton still has an opportunity to make the South Sectional tournament. With the Hockomock League split into two divisions, the top two teams from each division will make the tourney.

But, "we're making it a lot harder on ourselves," Sullivan said.