Mt. Hope Softball Concludes Regular Season With 10-0 Loss to Tiverton

The Tiverton High School softball team solidified its hold on a high seed in the upcoming Division II State Playoffs when it blanked Mt. Hope High School, 10-0, Saturday afternoon at Colt State Park in a game shortened to five innings because of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s “mercy rule.”

Jessica Drolet scattered 4 hits and struck out 9 batters in a complete-game pitching performance and the Tigers cracked 14 hits to conclude their Division II regular-season record at 12-4. Tiverton will now await its first-round pairing in the Division II State Playoffs which open later this week.

Sophomore Sophie Costa went the distance for Mt. Hope and notched 3 strikeouts. The Huskies, who have also qualified for the Division II playoffs, completed their divisional schedule at 6-10.

Showing no ill effects from a busy schedule during the final week of the regular campaign, Tiverton settled the issue early with a four-run outburst in the second inning and a third-run surge in the third frame. The Tigers took full advantage of five costly errors by the Huskies and Drolet wiggled out of three jams to preserve the shutout.

“The girls got down to business today and did what they had to do,” said Tiverton's Coach Arthur Mello. “Jessica pitched well, I thought we hit the ball well and our defense was solid.”

Drolet was in command all the way, bearing down in the clutch in three different innings when Mt. Hope put two runners on base and ending those threats with strikeouts. She walked just 1 batter and also hit 1 batter.

Hannah Glowacki paced the Tiger attack with 3 hits, while Sarah Whiston, Sarah Barboza, Taylor Furtado and Emily Masse all finished with 2 hits. Vivian Ramos, Hanna Forsberg, Courtney Amaral and Christie Ribeiro all collected hits for the Huskies.

Tiverton jumped out in front at 1-0 in the top of the first inning when Glowacki singled, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Sarah Barboza’s two-out single.

The Tigers erupted for four runs in the second frame as Furtado and Emily Masse counted on an error and Drolet helped her own cause with a two-out, two-run single to open a 5-0 cushion. Tiverton added three more scores in the third chapter when Emily Masse doubled in Furtado, Maggie Masse crossed the plate on a miscue and Whiston counted on Glowacki’s infield groundout.

The Tigers concluded their scoring in the fifth inning when Whiston singled home Emily Masse and later tallied on Rachel Pimental’s sacrifice fly.

Meanwhile, the Huskies had no luck against Drolet. Mt. Hope placed runners on first and third base with two outs before Drolet slipped a third strike past Courtney Bragantin and had two more runners on base in the fourth frame until Drolet whiffed Chrystal Leitao. The Huskies’ final threat was extinguished in the final chapter when Drolet fanned Alyssa Olsen with runners at first and second base.

Despite the setback, Mt. Hope Coach Steve Zina said he saw some positive signs in the game for the Huskies.

“We had a couple of people out today and we had to move a couple of players to different positions,” Zina said. “They (Tiverton) have been hitting all season long and they hit well today. I thought we made some good plays on defense and worked on left-handed slapping today.

“We’re trying to mix things up for the playoffs and maybe do some things differently.”

Prior to the game, Zina and Assistant Coach Meredith Friedman honored the Huskies’ lone senior – Ashley Conte – for her contributions to the program. From her teammates, Conte received flowers and a bag of small gifts, and the bench area was adorned with banners and balloons.