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04/27/2013 12:00 AMThe Westbrook softball team showed why they are one of the strongest teams in the conference, which was evident by the Knights’ 18-3 defeat of Valley Regional on April 24 in Deep River.
Michaela Lavy was the starting pitcher for Valley. She had recently pitched a perfect game, but had no idea about the extent to which the Westbrook bats would come alive that day, especially that of Kaitlin MacMillan, who had a monster day in which she went 5-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored.
“I think I was successful hitting because when I got up to bat, most of the time there were runners on base,” said MacMillan. “I knew it was my job to advance the runners and do my best to score them. When I was on the mound, my movement pitches were really breaking and I think it really kept the hitters of balance which worked to my benefit.”
To begin the game, Westbrook’s Jordan Shamas was able to reach base and steal second before Lavy produced her first out with a strikeout. Shamas then stole third and took home on a subsequent wild pitch.
“I think we all had success hitting the ball because of the amount of pressure our coach had put on us,” said Shamas, a junior captain. “Before the game she told all the girls that little hits to the infield are no longer acceptable, if we weren’t making solid contact with the ball, our varsity spot would be taken away. The bottom of the lineup, which previously was not hitting the ball well, really stepped up because they didn’t want to lose their spot and were able to hit all the right gaps.”
MacMillan, who was Westbrook’s pitcher for the day and who notched 13 strikeouts, then hit a double to start off her impressive game, but Lavy ended the inning with a strikeout and a pop out.
Jill Cayer led off for Valley (4-5). MacMillan threw absolute gas to Cayer and was able to maintain her velocity the entire game. On the ninth pitch, she took the offering from MacMillan on the arm and Cayer then moved to second on a wild pitch. After Lavy struck out, Jordan LaCasse drew a walk. Leah Sopneski then struck out, but the runners advanced on a wild pitch. Sarah Curran walked to load the bases, but with two outs, MacMillan struck out Chloe MacNeil.
Taylor DeMusis started the second for Westbrook (4-3) with a four-pitch walk. On the next pitch, DeMusis thought Valley’s catcher Paige LaCasse lost the ball in the dirt so she tried to take second, but a strong throw from LaCasse ended her on-base tenure. After Lavy got the ensuing batter to fly out, Westbrook’s Becky Lee Bennett hit a single to left. Lavy was able to strike out Julia Honan to finish the inning, but the Knights took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the second.
MacMillan made quick work of the bottom of Valley’s order in the second and Shamas began the inning by getting on base after a Valley error. In what became an unfortunate recurring theme for the Warriors, Shamas then took second on a wild pitch. Lavy struck out the next Westbrook batter, but MacMillan laced another hit to left to put runners on first and third. MacMillan stole second on the first pitch. Jessica Forrest reached first on an infield hit and the bases were now loaded. After a pass ball gave the Knights a 2-0 lead, a wild pitch brought in their third run to make it 3-0 before the inning ended.
MacMillan worked the bottom of the third and earned three strikeouts and when Westbrook came up in the top of the fourth, Mackenzie Lamb singled up the middle and promptly stole second to put the Knights in great position from the outset of the fourth inning. After an infield error at shortstop, both runners advanced one base on a wild pitch. Lamb scored on a passed ball and it seemed Valley was handing Westbrook easy runs. Jordan LaCasse made a good play at third on the next at-bat, fielding a grounder and then throwing the runner out at home in a bang-bang tag play. Lavy struck out the Knights’ Ari Tomassetti for the second out of the inning, but MacMillan laced a hard single to bring two Westbrook girls home and break the game open as the Knights were out in front 6-0. Forrest, who was 4-for-5 on the day with four RBI, then hit a bloop single to drive in another run after MacMillan advanced to second easily on a wild pitch. Lavy mercifully ended the inning with a strike out.
Sopneski hit a solid single up the middle to start the bottom of the fourth for the Warriors. Curran then worked a walk and after MacMillan struck out MacNeil, Paige LaCasse hit a deep fly to left, but Westbrook’s left fielder dropped the ball, bringing in Valley’s first run. Westbrook’s catcher Lamb then made a gorgeous catch on a foul ball and Thayer grounded out for the second and third outs of the inning.
The Knights had a 7-1 lead at the top of the fifth.They would soon add to this advantage when Lamb singled to center and Bennett followed that with a double, scoring Lamb, and Westbrook was able to add another run on before Lavy got out of the inning.
Westbrook put the game out of reach in the sixth. MacMillan kicked the inning off with a single down the third base line. Lavy then walked Forrest and both runners moved up a base on a passed ball. MacMillan beat the throw home on a grounder to first, pushing the score to 9-1. Rachel Russo stole second, and on a wild pitch, Forrest scored and Russo took third. DeMusis struck out, but a ground out from Lamb scored another Westbrook runner. A flyout ended the inning, but the Knights now boasted a double-digit, 11-1 score to lead.
Thayer came in for Lavy in the top of the seventh and had a rough go of things. Westbrook’s first two batters reached base on a walk and an error. Another walk jammed the bases and yet another single from MacMillan put the Knights out in front, 12-1. Another single from Forrest followed by an infield error saw the lead swell to 14-1. Valley got its first out on a grounder, but Lamb nailed a double, bringing the score to 16-1. A bloop single froze the runners, but a bases-loaded single gave Westbrook a whopping 18-1 lead. The Knights scored once more on a single then Thayer ended the inning with a strikeout before the Warriors tacked on a couple of runs to end the game.
“Kaitlin threw a great game and we had timely hits,” Coach Caitlin Eichler said. “The bottom of the order hit the ball well, as well as the top of the order. We just executed in every facet of the game.”