Watertown Softball Team Falls to Familiar Foe in State Tournament

Two familiar foes matched up for the third time this season, and Mt. Alvernia's softball team came out on top of of Watertown in the first round MIAA Div. 3 North Tournamant game on Thursday.

Both of the regular season games went into extra innings, said Mustangs' coach Mike Nosky, with Watertown winning the first in 11 innings and Mt. Alvernia taking the second in eight innings. Thursday the Mustangs prevailed 10-6 on their home field.

"Theses are two evenly matched teams," Nosky said. "They are much better than what their record (2-19) shows. Today we just had a little more than they did."

After the game, Raiders' coach Jim Swift said he was pleased with the season.

"We were competitive, and it was the first time we made the tournament in a long time," Swift said. "We fought hard to the end. We played well, but they made a few more plays that we did today."

Watertown, the 24th seed, scored two in the first and two in the second, and led 4-3 after the second inning. No. 9 seed Mt. Alvernia then scored two runs in third, fourth and fifth inning and one more in the sixth, to lead 10-5 going into the seventh. 

The Raiders put together a rally in the final frame, and scored once, but McDermott retired the final three batters to clinch the win for the Mustangs.

Kristen McDermott excelled at the plate and on the mound for Mt. Alvernia, Nosky said. The junior went 3 for 3 at the plate and hit a home run, a double and a sacrifice fly, and was the winning pitcher with four strikeouts.

Victoria Bethoney made a couple of good plays in the field, Nosky said. She also hit a triple and walked once.

Watertown's Erika Kelly led the team by going 3 for 4 at the plate with a double. Jadzia Lee and Leah Baccari got two hits each, and Emma Scavo Alarcon got a hit and two walks. 

The Mustangs improved their record to 14-7, and will travel to play the No. 8 seed Lynnfield (13-7) on Saturday at 4 p.m.