Big Third Inning Sends Pittsfield Past Mount Everett
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Mia Alfonso doubled in a run to spark a six-run third inning that propelled the Pittsfield softball team to an 8-0 win over Mount Everett on Wednesday afternoon.
Alfonso went 2-for-3 on the day, and Juliana Johansen drove in a pair of runs during the Generals' big inning to lead the offense.
Jordynn Bazinet scattered five hits and struck out six to earn the shutout win.
"We had called her up two years ago, and she was going to be the backup pitcher last year and pitch last year," Pittsfield co-head coach Jim Clary said of the junior right-hander. "This year, she just stepped right into the roll.
"She's got ice water in her veins. It seems like nothing bothers her. She can be down in the count, down in the score, and she still holds her demeanor very well. I think it comes from her mother who used to pitch here back in the day, Jess Sinopoli."
Bazinet was never really threatened on Wednesday. Mount Everett was not able to get a runner past first base.
The Eagles were not able to get anyone that far before Pittsfield scored a pair in the bottom of the second.
Bazinet helped her own cause with a leadoff single and took two bases on Lauren Crocker's sacrifice bunt.
Bazinet came home on a ball to the backstop to make it 1-0. Mia Arpante walked, stole second, moved up on a groundout and also scored on a ball that got away from Mount Everett catcher Lexi Tomascak.
Aside from some misconnections in the battery, the Eagles played solid defense most of the afternoon. Mount Everett committed three errors in the field but made big plays to make sure neither counted.
After an errant throw allowed Pittsfield's first baserunner to get to third with one out in the bottom of the first, Tomascak made a great hustling play to retrieve a pitch in the dirt and make an out at the plate.
In the bottom of the sixth, an error put runners on first and second with one out. But the next hitter grounded sharply to third, where Emma Goewey fielded the ball, stepped on the bag and gunned to first to complete the double play.
"We made some quality plays," Mount Everett coach Josh King said. "And for a lot of our kids, not many of them do anything outside of the [high school] season. The last time we played was 2019. Not too many of them have been throwing or catching.
"So it's one of those things where we're trying to play catch-up. But I think if we can keep grinding and keep working and improving every day ... and get ourselves ready for that end of the season tournament, I think we'll be in a good place."
The only real low spot for Mount Everett came in that third inning, when Pittsfield batted around and put the game effectively out of reach.
Lexi Sondrini got things started with a single, and Madalyne Creamer doubled in a run to go along with the big hits from Alfonso and Johansen.
Despite the loss, King said Wednesday's game was a "night and day" improvement from Mount Everett's 23-1, five-inning loss at Mount Greylock 24 hours earlier.
Pittsfield also took a step forward after its 10-4 loss to Hoosac Valley on Tuesday.
"They made adjustments in yesterday's game, but it was too little, too late," Clary said. "The fourth inning on, they were pretty much on. Today, they came out strong, ready right off the bat."
One week into the abbreviated spring campaign, Clary said the Generals are starting to hit their stride.
"It was a tough start for all of us," he said. "We had one real week of practice before the games, a couple of practices rained out. We only practiced three or four times before our first game. We had kids coming from volleyball and soccer, so they missed the first week of practice.
"We're starting to kind of fill into the softball roll."
Pittsfield is right back at it on Thursday when it hosts Monument Mountain. Mount Everett goes to Wahconah on Thursday.