Robinson softball began Tuesday's game against Westfield seeded third in the Concorde district, with hopes of beating the Bulldogs for the second time this season and sweeping the series. Their dreams were quickly put to bed after two innings, as Westfield jumped out to a 6-0 lead that the Rams could not recover from.
The action unexpectedly came to halt in the bottom of the second inning after Westfield senior Frankie Martinez hit a ground ball into center-field between the legs of pitcher Lauren Stapleton. Realizing that she had time to run out a double, Martinez rounded first base and sprinted towards second. As the ball was thrown by Briana Banks, Martinez made a last minute decision to slide feet first, and what happened next was excruciating to watch.
"[It] broke," said Bulldog coach Dean Ferington.
Martinez's last minute decision to slide placed her left forearm too close to the base and it snapped like a twig.
"I got the ball well after she had already slid," said Ram second baseman, Clare McGowan. "She slid with her arm behind her back while trying to do a slide-by. Her arm got caught cause the base didn't break away. She was in a lot of pain."
Westfield's hitting fell flat after Martinez's injury, but they managed two more runs before the game was called after six and a half innings.
Stapleton also started in the Rams previous win over Westfield, but Tuesday the Bulldogs seemed to be locked in on her pitching.
"They were working it inside and outside pretty well," said Westfield short stop, Jessica McNamara. "But after a while we caught on to their pattern and started hitting great."
Catcher Allie Newcomb has been calling the pitches for Robinson for two straight years, and after two innings, Stapleton had given up six runs on four hits and one error.
"Our outside pitches weren't finding the spots that we wanted," said Newcomb.
The Rams also struggled to field the ball at times and never really got into a hitting groove against Jen Goodman. Robinson committed three errors and only recorded four hits.
"We need to work on moving base runners and bringing home those in scoring position," added Newcomb. "Defensively we do an alright job, but we don't do enough to produce runs."
Now at 9-7 (3-4), the Rams have lost two games in a row and they have three more district games before the tournament. Their next opponent is Oakton.
