North vs. South in Division II Fast-pitch Championship
It will be north vs. south at tomorrow’s R.I. Interscholastic Division II Fast-pitch Championship (1 p.m. at Rhode Island College) between Toll Gate and Portsmouth, a matchup featuring one team that is trying to make it two in a row and another that is seeking to win its first ever fast-pitch crown.
``We’re very excited to be playing a team from the other side,’’ said Shana O’Connor, coach of defending champion Toll Gate. ``We have not played them at all this year, so we are not sure what to expect; however, they were in second place (in II-South), so it will be a challenging game for us. They are definitely a team we won’t be able to take lightly.’’
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The Titans enter tomorrow’s game with some impressive credentials. Co-champs in II-North with Smithfield at 13-1, Toll Gate outscored its league opponents, 130-12. Seniors Katelyn Revens (.500, regular season) and Casey Miserandino (.453), along with sophomore Katie Bannon (.418), led the Titans at the plate this season, combining for 69 runs scored and 52 RBI during the regular season. Revens has gone 8-for-11 with 8 runs scored, 2 RBI and 3 stolen bases in Toll Gate’s playoff victories over Tiverton, North Smithfield and Smithfield. Miserandino batted .667 with 6 runs scored and 9 RBI in those games.
Sophomore pitcher Natalie Simas is largely responsible for keeping other teams off the scoreboard this spring. Posting a 0.42 E.R.A. during the regular season and a 0.37 E.R.A. in the playoffs, she has recorded 78 strikeouts while giving up just 6 earned runs, 52 hits and 32 walks in 102.67 innings pitched.
``I expect a very difficult matchup with Toll Gate,’’ said Patriots coach Tom Galib. ``They are excellent on both offense and defense. They’ve outscored their opponents by a ton of runs, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.’’
Portsmouth -- which finished in a three-way tie for second in II-South with Exeter-West Greenwich and Tiverton, all at 9-5 -- has been the model of resilience during the postseason.
Suffering an opening-round loss to Cranston West, the Patriots kept their playoff hopes alive by advancing through the losers’ bracket with victories over Exeter/West Greenwich, North Smithfield, Barrington and finally Smithfield.
Their matchup with the Sentinels in the losers’ bracket final on Tuesday was an extra-inning nail-biter.
Portsmouth -- whose club has been paced both offensively and defensively this season by junior captains Amie Archambault and Tayler Davis -- took the lead with two unearned runs, one in the second and another in the third. But Smithfield scored once each in the third and fourth innings to tie the score.
Still deadlocked after seven innings, the teams each started the eighth with a runner on second – as specified by the international tiebreaker rule.
With Patriots junior center fielder Vicki Chelf on second, Caitlyn Casey sacrificed her to third, and Davis singled her home.
After Archambault reached with a walk, Alicia Loffredo drove in Davis with a single to put Portsmouth up, 4-2.
In Smithfield’s half of the inning, Alex Gerlach, who had tripled earlier in the game, singled home Briana Moretti to get the Sentinels within one. But Portsmouth pitcher Meg Lynch retired the next three batters to secure the win. The junior hurler, who boasts a post-season E.R.A. of 0.97, improved to 12-5 in league play, 15-5 overall.
The Patriots, who placed second in Division I in 1996 and again in 2003 after moving down to Division II, ``fought their way back by winning four in a row, which is a tremendous accomplishment,’’ said O’Connor. ``So they will be ready to play again.’’