DALTON, Mass. – It may not have been fully by design, but the Wahconah softball team may have fallen into a good thing.
For the second straight game Friday, coach Dustin Belcher split the pitching duties between Taylar Hickey and Casey Wilson.
And for the second straight game, Wahconah came out on the winning end, breaking a four-game skid and improving to 6-5 on the season with an 8-4 win over Mount Greylock at Pine Grove Park.
“They’re a little bit different in the way they throw,” Belcher said. “But really what it comes down to is we need to be fresh in the circle. Taylar struggled a little at times having to go seven innings – that was her observation. And Casey, she’s a competitor, senior captain, battles in the circle.
“So, yeah, if they can do that, we’re going to be tough. If they can keep us in the game and give us a chance to win, and we can clean it up a big defensively, we’re going to be tough.”
Each Wahconah pitcher struck out just one, but they combined to walk just three. And the switch to Hickey after the fourth inning did play a role in quieting a Mounties offense that has scored 12 or more runs six times this spring.
“I think the change in pitching definitely worked for them,” Mount Greylock coach Mark Pierson said. “It was an adjustment. One of them threw differently than the other girl. One threw harder, so that was an adjustment.
“I thought we put our bats on the ball. But they made plays. They’re a solid team.”
The game started out looking like Mount Greylock might be able to score in bunches once again.
After Malia Koffi drew a one-out walk, Audrianna Pelkey and Emma Newberry hit back-to-back singles, the latter driving in Koffi.
Kami Sweet hit a sacrifice fly to right, and Mila Marcisz drove in Newberry from third with a single to make it 3-0 before Wahconah picked up a bat.
In the circle, Sweet (five strikeouts) kept the hosts from crossing the plate through the first two innings, stranding three runners along the way.
But Wahconah came back to tie the game in the bottom of the third.
Emma Belcher and Dani Barry singled back-to-back to get it started, and Wilson drove both home with a double to left-center. Wilson then scored on an RBI single from Hickey to make it 3-3.
Wahconah took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth, when four Mount Greylock errors led to four unearned runs to put the Mounties in a 7-3 hole.
“We’ve been working on our defense a lot, and it’s coming along,” Pierson said. “That’s all I can say. … We hadn’t had a field yet. We’ve been sharing a field with the JVs. So we haven’t had as many ground balls as we would like. We’re gonna keep working.”
Wahconah needed just two hits to do the damage, but one was key, a two-run shot up the middle by Ainsleigh Sullivan to make it a four-run game.
“Senior, playing in that role as a [designated player],” Belcher said. “She’s a very confident hitter in the box, and I’m really happy for her tonight.”
Mount Greylock got one run back in the sixth against Hickey.
Newberry led off the inning with a single and got to third with no out thanks to a pair of pitches that got to the backstop. Marcisz brought her home with a sacrifice bunt. Then Abbey Whitely crushed a two-out triple to right center.
But Hickey limited the damage by getting the next hitter to ground back to the circle and kept it a 7-4 game.
Her offense rewarded her when Barry hit a one-out triple and scored on a groundout off the bat of Elena Iovieno to provide the final margin.
Belcher was happy to see his team get back-to-back wins against quality opponents – Taconic and Mount Greylock – after going 10 days and four games without a win.
“In high school sports, it’s not easy to lose four in a row and bounce back,” he said. “I think it’s even tougher in this sport because, this sport isn’t really designed to be played in 18 games in a short period of time. Look at Major League Baseball or college softball, you’re going to go through ebbs and flows [in a long season].
“I think the dangerous part of softball in high school is sometimes it’s hard to get off the snide a little bit. So for us to bounce back and beat two very good teams is key. I’m proud of the way we responded.”
Wahconah gets a few days to rest up for its next game, Wednesday at home against Frontier.
Mount Greylock (6-3) is scheduled to host Greenfield on Saturday morning.
