Perry, Blue Devils Come Back, Stay Unbeaten

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Brooke Bishop and Norah Wood each homered.

 

Olivia Perry allowed no earned runs.

 

And the Drury softball team refused to lose.

 

Perry struck out seven on Monday as the Blue Devils came from behind to beat Ludlow, 4-2, and improve to 12-0 this spring.

 

It was a 2-0 lead for the Lions going to the bottom of the fourth.

 

That is when Bishop crushed a pitch over the fence in right-center with one out to put Drury on the board.

 

After Ludlow pitcher Madison Sunderland got the next batter swinging to tie the school’s career strikeout record, Wood hit a line drive deep to right and raced around the bases for an inside-the-park homer to tie it, 2-2.

 

“I kind of was hoping for the best,” Wood said. “The last time we played them, I didn’t do very well. But we were all together and confident in each other, and that’s what I think made it better for us.

 

“I just saw [coach Michelle Darling at third base] waving her hands and the whole team waving their hands, and I thought, ‘Just keep going.’ And I kept going.”

 

The Blue Devils came back an inning later with three hits and two runs to take the lead, and that was all the help Perry needed – even on a day when she may not have had her best stuff.

 

“She actually didn’t feel well today, but she managed to rise, so I’m happy,” Darling said. “There was talk about, ‘Do we put in someone else or not?’ And she’s like, ‘No, I can fight through it.’

 

“That’s what she did.”

 

Perry pitched out of jams in the first and second innings.

 

In the first, Ludlow worked a pair of walks and put runners at the corners with two out before Perry got out No. 3 on a line drive to Michelle Wood in right field.

 

In the second, a single and a walk put runners on with one out before an error loaded the bases. Perry got the next hitter to ground to Maddie Saunders at second, and she fired home to get the out..

 

But the Lions got a walk and a hit-batter back-to-back to bring runs home and make it 2-0 before Perry got a grounder to Marley Brothers at third to leave the bases loaded.

 

She did not allow another runner past first base the rest of the way.

 

Perry retired the side in order in four of the next five innings. Only a leadoff error in the top of the fourth gave Ludlow another player on base.

 

Drury’s bats got to work in the bottom of the inning, starting with Bishop’s fourth home run of the season.

 

“We got started with Brooke’s home run,” Darling said. “That gave Liv [Perry] a little extra energy. When the bunts started working for us, that gave Liv all the energy she needed.”

 

Michelle Wood’s one-out bunt single in the bottom of the fifth started the winning rally.

 

She moved up when Kaley Bushika singled to left. After a passed ball moved both runners into scoring position, Saunders’ RBI groundout put Drury ahead, 3-2. Arianna Rivard then reached on an infield single to make it 4-2.

 

Perry closed the door from there, eventually sitting down nine straight Lions to earn the win and move Drury to 12-0 on the season with its second win over Ludlow (12-2).

 

“It feels really good to get two wins against them, because every game, my team is improving,” Darling said. “Each kid, if you look at them, has contributed to every single win, and today was proof that everybody is part of it.”

 

Drury faces a big non-league test on Tuesday when it hosts Mount Greylock (9-3) at Francis Millard Field.