Lions too much for Falcons

Jacob Marrocco
Posted 5/28/15

After the second inning, the Lincoln High School softball team huddle erupted with the chant of “Hit the damn ball.”

And they did. The Lions (9-8) recorded 11 hits, six in their five-run third …

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Lions too much for Falcons

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After the second inning, the Lincoln High School softball team huddle erupted with the chant of “Hit the damn ball.”

And they did. The Lions (9-8) recorded 11 hits, six in their five-run third inning, to defeat Cranston West, 6-2, at the Brayton Avenue Softball Complex on Saturday afternoon. Starting pitcher Isabella Diorio did her part, too, with a complete-game effort to go along with seven strikeouts, zero walks and seven hits. She never had more than two balls in a count to a batter.

“She was throwing the ball very good today,” Lincoln head coach Randy Licciardi said. “She pitches the best on Saturdays. So we need more Saturday games.”

Right fielder Nicole Accardi led off the third frame with an infield single that shortstop Marissa Cushman chased into the hole, but could not field cleanly. With one out, centerfielder Adriana Toro drove an RBI double deep to right field near the fence that plated Accardi. Left fielder Kaisha Licciardi continued the attack when she grounded an RBI single up the middle on the first pitch of her at-bat.

A base hit from Diorio and walk from first baseman Gabrielle Smith loaded the bases for third baseman Delaney Cavanaugh, who picked up an RBI on a hit-by-pitch to put the Lions up, 3-0. Second baseman Jordan Delisle and pinch hitter Cianna Dumas hit a pair of back-to-back RBI singles to extend the Lincoln advantage to 5-0. The Lions sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning.

After the Lions made it 6-0 when Cavanaugh scored on an error by third baseman Keara Pedroso in the fifth, the Falcons started to claw their way back into the game. First baseman and captain Arianna Viccione grounded a double that hugged the left field line with two outs to give West its first runner in scoring position. She scored on second baseman Nicole Bucci’s RBI double down the left field line to cut the deficit back down to five.

“It’s one of those times where we were down five runs in the third inning and we had been playing well to that point, [they] just got a couple of seeing-eye hits and ended up putting the bases loaded, but the difference was we were down 5-0 and we didn’t quit,” Cranston West head coach Jeff Smith said. “That’s what I was saying [to them after the game], we don’t quit until the last batter.”

The Falcons’ bats showed some life in the final frame as they looked to rally. Right fielder Blake Jackman led off the inning with a single to left field, and centerfielder and captain Lauren Salisbury crushed an RBI triple in the same direction to pull West within four.

West (7-10) went silent after that play, though. Designated hitter Danielle Carmody picked up her third strikeout for the first out of the inning and Viccione flew out to centerfield, but not deep enough for Salisbury to come home. Bucci fouled out to end the game with Salisbury stranded at third.

Cranston West’s offense had trouble figuring out Diorio through the first four innings. None of the first eight Falcons’ batters left the infield before Bucci singled to left field with two outs in the third. Cushman popped up to Diorio to end the threat. Left fielder Giuliana Hathaway began the fourth inning with a base hit to right field, but was caught stealing. Pedroso was hit by a pitch with two outs to give the Falcons another base runner, but Jackman grounded out to second.

Outside of Bucci, who went 2-for-3 on the day, the Falcons went 5-for-23 at the dish.

Brianna Caputo also threw a complete game for the Falcons, settling down and getting out of three separate bases loaded situations.

“It’s just getting her first-pitch strikes,” Smith said. “She’s pitched some decent games, and this was without a doubt her best performance. She kept us in the game.”

The Falcons got back to their winning ways against La Salle on Senior Night, emerging with a tight 9-8 victory. They were scheduled to close out the regular season on the road at East Providence on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. Results were not available at press time.

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