’Bolts blast their way to 4-1 start

Posted 4/17/14

Time will tell if Cranston East can cement itself as one of the top teams in Division II softball, but with five games in the books, the ’Bolts are already at the top in one category.

East is …

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’Bolts blast their way to 4-1 start

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Time will tell if Cranston East can cement itself as one of the top teams in Division II softball, but with five games in the books, the ’Bolts are already at the top in one category.

East is crushing the ball.

With a 14-4 win over Johnston on Monday, East improved to 4-1 while notching its fourth double-digit run total of the season. The ’Bolts have scored 58 runs in five games, more than any team in Division II and second only to D-III Juanita Sanchez’s 59 for the best mark across the entire state.

There’s still work to do on the defensive side, the schedule will get tougher, and East knows it missed an opportunity in a loss to North Smithfield, but head coach P.J. Bessette can’t complain too much. Trotting out one of the state’s most prolific offenses is quite a place to start.

“The only hiccup we have is a little bit of defensive trouble, but they get by it,” Bessette said. “We can hit with the best of them. When we’re on top of our game, we can play with anybody in this league. The girls are starting to jell together, starting to get their feet under them, starting to get used to each other. Things are going really well right now.”

The ’Bolts had 12 hits in the win over Johnston and scored at least three runs in each of the first three innings to blitz the winless Panthers. Sarah Nolan had three hits while Jaylyn Lomba and McKenzie Richards had two apiece. Pitcher Paula Frost allowed two earned runs in six innings of work.

It was a familiar script – East has feasted on its Division II-North mates. Outside of a 7-2 loss to North Smithfield, the ’Bolts have out-scored the other teams in the league by a combined score of 56-14.

“We’ve got a good thing going right now,” Bessette said.

The season started with a bang as East blew past Ponaganset 12-0 on April 2 and the bats haven’t cooled down much since. In a 13-7 win over Burrillville, Richards had four hits, while Lomba, Alexa St. Angelo and Amanda Rosa had three each. In a 17-3 victory over Scituate, senior Alexis McCarten smashed a pair of two-run home runs and Richards hit one.

The only misstep was the defeat to North Smithfield, which is now 5-0. The ’Bolts didn’t hit as well as usual and they struggled defensively.

“We faced a good pitcher, but we gave up five unearned runs and lost by five,” Bessette said.

Monday’s game was their first since the loss, and the ’Bolts wasted no time getting back on the horse. After a one-two-three inning by Frost, they came up in the home half, drew three first-inning walks and capitalized on the scoring chance thanks to RBI singles by Nolan and Brittany Rice and a two-run single by freshman Taylor Sukys.

Johnston took advantage of two errors to plate three runs in the second, but East responded with three of its own. Richards walked, St. Angelo singled and McCarten reached on an error that allowed two runs to score. McCarten raced home later in the inning when a pitch got away.

The ’Bolts added three more in the third inning on key hits by Nolan and Richards then finished off the mercy-rule victory with three in the sixth. McCarten had an RBI single to clinch it.

It was a solid all-around performance for the ’Bolts.

“Paula struggled a little bit because she didn’t have as much time to warm up as usual, but she pulled through,” Bessette said. “We had a lot of great contributions. Sarah Nolan had a great game today. She’s a quiet leader. She doesn’t say anything, she doesn’t complain. She just goes out there and plays the game. She’s done a great job.”

East will now jump outside of Division II-North, and the slate will get tougher. Their goal is to hold steady and avoid the kind of struggles that struck them after a good start last season.

“It’s just about being positive,” Bessette said. “We had a spaghetti dinner yesterday and the girls all came together. We want to treat this team as a family – get them to stay together and stay focused. They’re good kids. They back each other up. That’s the key – just keep going the way they’re going and keep going forward.”

The ’Bolts were scheduled to play Exeter/West Greenwich on Wednesday, with results unavailable at press time. On Saturday, they’ll visit Pilgrim at 1 p.m.

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