Softball: Thunderbolts Survive Late Rally by Villa Novans

A late game rally would not be enough to pull out the first victory of the season for one team, meanwhile the other barely escaped defeat.

The Woonsocket High School (0-5) girls softball team traveled to the Brayton Avenue Complex to take on the Thunderbolts (1-2) on Monday afternoon. Cranston East survived a late-game rally by Woonsocket and hung on for a 5-4 victory.

Both teams had runners in scoring position in the first two innings, but failed to come up with a clutch hit.

Thunderbolts junior Cheyenne Rosi produced the game's first two runs with a double to left center, picking up 2 RBI's in the bottom of the third. Rosi scored the third run on a pop-fly which was dropped in the infield. East starting pitcher Kaleigh Greene helped her own cause with an RBI single, extending the lead to 4-0.

Woonsocket answered in the top of the fourth with a run of their own. Katelyn Kerrigan drove the ball up the middle for an RBI single and their deficit was 4-1.

The Villa Novans consistently scored runs each inning beginning with the fourth. However, their downfall was that each inning only produced one run.

Ally Cartier brought Woonsocket to within two runs with an RBI double in the top of the 6th, as East's lead was cut to 5-3. Despite one more run in the top half of the seventh, their comeback would fall short and Cranston East hung on for the 5-4 victory.

Dan Belisle, Woonsocket's head coach, was pleased with the progress his team has shown. "We have been working hard to eliminate the mental mistakes and we’ve done that," he said.

"The way we played today makes me enthused and happy," he added.

Mike Rachiele, East head coach, felt lucky to come away with a victory. "I thought we were taking some steps toward improving, and I thought we took a step backwards today," he said. "It was a sloppy win."

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