Late Heroics Push Mariners Past Johnston

Narragansett pitcher Hannah Lindsley has shown that she can be in control when on the mound, but the Lady Panthers probably weren’t expecting to see what she can do with her bat.

Lindsley hit a two-run inside-the-park home run to deep right field in the eighth inning to give the Mariners a 4-2 victory on June 5 at Mazzulla Field in Johnston.

Narragansett advanced to the quarterfinals in the consolation bracket of the Division II playoffs and eliminated Johnston from postseason play.

“I was just trying to hit it on the ground for a single but she (pitcher Alaina DeNoncour) left one right down the middle so I just went for it,” Lindsley said.

Johnston, the number-eight seed in the tournament, faced Narragansett one day after a tough 5-4 loss to top-seeded East Greenwich.

The game was Narragansett’s second extra-inning game in a row and third playoff game in as many days. Mariners coach Brittany Wnuk is glad the team redeemed itself after a tough 3-2 loss to Classical on Friday.

“It was definitely big having who we had up and who we had on base,” Wnuk said.

Lindsley took care of business on the mound as well, pitching her second eight-inning game in a row and surrendering just three hits and striking out eight.

“She pitched a really good game and that just topped it off,” Wnuk said regarding the home run.

The game began in Johnston’s (10-6 Division II-Central) favor, with the first four Lady Panthers reaching base in the first inning and scoring two runs to take a 2-1 lead. A long single to right field by senior Bianca Rossi tallied Johnston's only two scores.

Narragansett tied the game in the third when a bunt attempt by Cassie Couture was thrown wide left to first base by Johnston senior catcher Victoria St. Angelo and landed in right field. That led to Lindsley scoring all the way from first base and Couture reaching third on the error.

It appeared to be a pitching duel at first, as Lindsley retired 13 in a row. DeNoncour sent 10 'Gansett batters back to their bench empty-handed and finished the day with seven strikeouts over eight innings

On defense, Johnston forced Narragansett into 11 groundouts and the Mariners caught two Panthers stealing.

“Our defense is always behind Hannah,” Wnuk said. “They’ve been cutting down on their errors a lot. They’re focused.”

Narragansett received multi-hit games from Lindsley (3-for-4), Cassie Couture (2-for-4) and Danielle Smerbeck (2-for-4). The Panthers were led in hitting by Amanda Colombo (2-for-3).

The 13th-seeded Mariners are schedules to play at the loser of the Portsmouth-Middletown game on June 7 at 4 p.m.

Lindsley is looking forward to the team’s next game.

“With one day’s rest I think we’ll be ready to go,” Lindsley said.