BOSTON – Suffolk softball, the North Division's second seed, fell behind early and never came back as the top seed from South Side, Simmons, captured the elimination contest, 8-1, Friday night at Daly Field.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 1 | Simmons 8
RECORDS: Suffolk (21-18) | Simmons (20-22)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Simmons gained a three-run lead in the first. The first run of the day came on an erratic pitch before a bases clearing, two-run double from Shannon McMahon gave the Sharks the 3-0 advantage.
A Rams error an inning later allowed Simmons to catch fire and put a pair of runs on the board before Jaclyn Davis went to her bull pen, bringing in Hannah DelCervo to take over for Kennedy Reyes. The fresh arm couldn't keep the Sharks bats quiet as another run came around to double the deficit to 6-0 after 1.5 innings.
Suffolk broke onto the scoreboard in the home half of the third to erase the shutout. Grace Boehler started things off with a base hit, moved 60 feet on a wild pitch and took third on Brianna Loughlin's sac bunt. Ashley Zulla brought the Boehler with a double to left center to put the first Rams' run on the board. Simmons kept the blue-and-gold there as Maddie Castigliego came in to deal. She secured back-to-back outs to keep the Sharks ahead by a comfortable cushion.
Ivy Vann made Simmons cushion even greater with an unquestionable two-run shot over the left field fence to stretch the Sharks lead to seven, 8-1.
Neither team scored from there as the Sharks kept the Rams' bats quiet the rest of the way to end Suffolk's season.
PITCHERS PICTURE
- DelCervo had a stand-up relief performance with two runs allowed on six hits and three walks with three Ks.
- Reyes suffered the setback after giving up six runs on five hits and two walks over 1.2 frames of work.
- Castigliego earned the victory with 4.2 scoreless innings and four punchouts.
- Hailey Yabroudy tossed 2.1 innings and let up one run on five hits and one walk with one strikeout.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Boehler, Flint and McGrath each had a two-hit day at the dish with Boehler scoring one run for the Rams.
- Zulla brought in one run for the blue-and-gold of her lone hit, a double.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk and Simmons met in the GNAC postseason for the sixth time and first since 2014.
POST-GAME PIC
