First-year varsity coach Kristen Abbott and her Pinkerton Academy softball squad haven’t been getting a whole lot of payoff for their hard work recently.
Coach Abbott’s Lady Astros suffered their fifth and sixth consecutive defeats last Wednesday and Thursday, April 29 and 30, in games against Manchester Central and Dover, and saw their season record slip to 2-7 with those defeats.
The academy squad was clipped by Central by a 12-1 tally in Derry in the first of those contests, with the visiting Little Green grabbing a 7-0 lead by the end of two innings.
The Central lead bulged to 11-0 by the top of the fourth frame, and Pinkerton plated its lone run in the latter half of that inning.
The visitors finished with a bonanza of 16 hits while their hosts managed seven, with Abby Amato and Lauren Phillips each smacking two.
“Abby Amato had a solid game on both ends. She was always heads-up in the field and a leader in that today, and she had two solid hits to try to get the bats going in the game,” said coach Abbott. “Caitlin Hogan was aggressive on the bases and had a solid hit. Defensively, she made an outstanding catch at shortstop and threw over to first base for a double play.”
In the Lady Astros’ road contest on the home field of the defending Division I champion Dover High Green Wave, PA pitchers Lizzie Hayward and Carrie St. Peter held the champions’ potent offense to a handful of runs, but their own offense was held short in a 5-1 defeat.
The Green Wave grabbed a 2-0 lead in the latter half of the second inning but saw Pinkerton cut its deficit in half in the top of the third.
However, the hosts scored twice more in the bottom of the third and then once more in the fourth to make the score 5-1.
The Lady Astros smacked out five hits but hurt their cause by committing four fielding errors. Hogan collected two of the Pinkerton hits.
“Lizzie Hayward and Carrie St. Peter pitched well, striking out six batters and keeping their hits down,” said coach Abbott. “Ashley Walalis made a diving catch in center field to hold base-runners and get out of an inning late in the game. Caitlin Hogan was consistent at shortstop, getting big outs late in the game, and she was also 2-for-4 at bat with two stolen bases. Nicole Gonya got herself on in two out of three at-bats, fouling off and then getting walked twice.”
