Sports Brief: Lady Panthers Fall To EG, 5-4

Number-one seed East Greenwich defeated the visiting varsity softball team, 5-4, on June 3 in the Division II playoffs, leaving the Lady Panthers with a tough road if they hope to make the finals at Rhode Island College.

Johnston tallied an early score with Danielle Gawlik crossing the plate on a Bianca Robbins drive in the first inning. East Greenwich sophomore Lauren Duvall tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the fourth when senior captain Kayla Santos hit a fly ball that cleared first base.

The Lady Panthers broke open the game with two runs on the top of the sixth, but the Avengers battled back in the home half of the sixth on sophomore Kerri Pallister's 2-RBI drive.

Johnston's Arianna Cafesso brought Amanda Columbo across the plate in the top of the seventh to break the tie.

With JHS ahead, 4-3, going into the bottom of the seventh, Duvall drilled a solo home run over the left field fence to bring the teams even again. Senior Danielle Webber brought home junior Karen Lockhart on a bases loaded single down the third base line.

East Greenwich is scheduled to face the winner of the June 3 Narragansett-versus-Classical contest, the results for which were not available at press time.

Johnston is set to face the loser of the EG — Narraganset/Classical contest in a consolation round on June 4, and can still advance to the D-II finals with four wins.

Watch for a full game report, with more photos and video, tomorrow morning on JohnstonPatch.