The Cranston West softball team is battling its way through the crowded Division I playoffs and split its first two games, beating East Providence, 5-2, and then falling to La Salle Academy, 11-4.

The Falcons got off to a solid start in the opening round against the Townies.

After taking a quick 2-0 lead on RBI from Mia Crudale and Lyndsey Brandow, EP would tie things up at 2-2 in the top of the third.

West would respond in the following half inning when Sofia Marella knocked in a run on a sacrifice fly and another reached home on a passed ball to make it 4-2. Siena Nardelli would add some insurance by knocking in a run in the fourth to put the Falcons up 5-2.

“This is a team game. If some girls are struggling, other girls need to pick them up and that’s what they did there. The girls came through, they didn’t falter. (East Providence) came back to tie things up, 2-2, but the girls came right back and scored two more,” said West coach PJ Bessette.

West pitcher Paige Cote picked up the win in the circle, tossing seven innings and allowing just three hits while striking out 12 batters.

Bessette and company were thrilled with the defense’s performance as well, which they feel has been the club’s strongest asset this spring. 

“Paige pitched incredibly. She struggled a bit in the third inning, she likes to pitch up in the strike zone but the ump wasn’t giving her those, so she adjusted and finished with 12 strikeouts. Our defense has been our strongest point all year. Our defense has always been there. I never worry about our defense, our outfield is probably the best there is in the state. The defense has been holding us together,” said Bessette.

Nardelli added: “We didn’t do our best today (on offense), but once we catch up and put the hitting together, we’ll be much better. Today our defense helped back Paige up. We have a strong defense and today that allowed us to come back and respond. Our defense carries us.”

The Falcons are coming off a 2022 spring in which they emerged as contenders after going on an unlikely playoff run with a young team. Bessette wanted his players to use that experience against the Townies, who have been on a similar trajectory in the past few weeks.

“It’s not going to be easy, but we need to get the ball rolling a little more. I told the girls, ‘Don’t let East Providence be us last year, let’s get the win and move on from there,’ and that’s what they did,” said Bessette.

Nardelli and her teammates are hungry as they return much of the same core from last year’s team.

“It’s just about wanting to go further than last year. We have a better record so we’re just trying to work with that and do the best that we can,” said Nardelli, who has been one of the team’s most consistent contributors as a sophomore this spring. “I just try my hardest and feel that if I keep doing it, then it will pay off. I don’t think about it much, I just play like everyone else does and we play together well.”

West would fall to the Rams on Monday to drop to the losers bracket.

Sam Healy, Nicole Silvestri and Cadence Koenig all recorded RBI in the loss.

West will be facing defending champion Coventry on Thursday afternoon.