NEWTON, MA—Seven home runs, including one grand slam, were scored today at Taylor Field in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference softball doubleheader between St. Joseph’s College of Maine and hosting Lasell College. The Monks came out on top in both games, 10-6 and 12-2, and were led by the Emily Leverone (Hampton, NH) who went 6-for-8 on the day with three home runs, eight RBI, and five runs.
League leading St. Joseph’s continues on a 23-game winning streak (27-5 overall) and holds an undefeated mark in conference play (20-0). Lasell’s record lands at 16-18-1 overall, 12-8 in the league after today’s duel setback.
St. Joseph’s settled into a 4-run lead, in the first inning, after as many batters. Leadoff hits by Danyelle Chufelt (Sutton, VT) and Leverone, and a walk by Liddy van der Linden (Worcester, MA) loaded the bases and set the stage for cleanup hitter Alyssa Dunn (Standish, ME) to do just that. Dunn cleared the bases launching a grand slam over the left field fence
The second inning nearly replicated the first as Heather Tripp (Lovell, ME) walked, and Anna Willis (Gorham, ME) singled before Leverone hit her first homer of the day past the center field fence for a 7-0 Monk advantage.
Lasell plated two runners in the second after an Ashley Laramie (Lynn, MA) single and a Kelly Barden (Quincy, MA) walk. Kerrie Starkey (Keene, NH) hit into a fielder’s choice which turned into a Monk error, scoring Laramie, and a sacrifice fly by Tricia Culver (Northampton, MA) brought Barden home for the hosts second run.
Van der Linden took her third walk of the day in the fourth and scored on a base-hit by Maria Labbe (Lewiston, ME). Dunn reached base on a fielder’s choice and scored walking, when Tripp took her second base on balls, bringing the score to 9-2.
In the fifth inning, Leverone hit her second home run of the game, a solo, to nearly the same spot in center field. The junior left fielder went 4-for-5 in game one, with three runs and four RBI.
In the bottom half of the frame, singles by Haas and Talia DeChiara (Kingston, MA) brought Tricia Culver (Northampton, MA) home, for a 10-3 score with two outs. A subsequent knock by Jacqueline Saluti (Braintree, MA), which rolled between first and second base, scored Haas, and a Laramie hammer into left field scored DeChiara to cut the Monks lead in half, 10-5.
There was no change in score through the top of the sixth, after which point the Lasers scored their last run. Culver walked to leadoff and a single to the pitcher by Kelly Silvia (Oaks Bluff, MA) put runners on first and second, at a restart of the batting order. Haas knocked a fielder’s choice which got Silvia out at second, leaving runners on first and third. Culver scored on the throw of DeChiara’s ensuing ground out.
Haas and Laramie each went 2-for-4 for Lasell in game one. DeChiara earned two RBI and Jacqueline Saluti, Laramie, Starkey, and Culver each brought around one runner for the Lasers.
Kiera Walsh (Benton, ME) pitched seven innings for the Monks, giving up eight hits and six runs with one strike out in the victory. Lasell’s senior pitcher Nicole Slader (Harrisville, RI) worked for five and a third innings on the Lasers mound, fanning two batters and allowing three earned runs.
St. Joseph’s got off to a 1-0 lead in the first inning of game two when Leverone reached on an error and then came home on a van der Linden double into left center. A ground rule double by Dunn in the following play plated van der Linden for a 2-0 advantage after the first half inning.
St. Joseph’s took a decided advantage in the second frame. Katelyn Call (Portland, ME) turned a single into a run on a Laser error. Willis scored on a base-hit by Shufelt into the left field, at which point St. Joseph’s tallied back-to-back bombs. Leverone dumped a two-run homer out of the park, followed by a van der Linden slug clearing right field, giving the Monks a 7-0 edge in two innings.
With a seven run differential in the second, Barden rocketed a cannon deep over the center field boundary putting Lasell on the board with her first of two solo home runs.
A four-hit, five-run inning for the Monks developed in the third. Consecutive doubles by Call and Ellen Neff (Chester, VT) gave St. Joseph’s a seven run lead, and a Leverone single sent around two more Monk runners. Shufelt, the final run of the game for St. Joseph’s, was scored, unearned, on a passed ball.
The final home run, and final run scored in the game, came on Barden’s second solo-blast of the afternoon in the bottom of the fourth. The senior third baseman raked the ball clear of left center field for her second homer in as many chances.
The Monks got two hits each from van der Linden, Leverone, Call, and Westcott in the latter of the two games. Christy Wezowicz (Granville, MA) enjoyed the win in game two, striking out eight Lasers, with just six hits and two earned runs scored.
Haas and Barden each produced two tallies in the second game and Jacqueline Saluti and Starkey ended up with one knock on two attempts each.
The Lasers, who have been playing doubleheaders for five straight days, will have one day’s rest before traveling to Norwich University on Friday, April 16th for a 3:00 p.m. start with the Cadets.