Pierce Pitches Pittsfield Past Wahconah

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
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DALTON, Mass. -- Pittsfield’s Giuliana Pierce had half as many hits at the plate as she allowed from the circle on Tuesday as she led the Generals’ softball team to a 3-1 win over Wahconah at Pine Grove Park in the season opener for both teams.
 
On offense, Pierce drove in the game’s first run and doubled to help produce an insurance run for PHS (1-0).
 
Pitching-wise, she was lights out, striking out nine and scattering four hits. Twice she struck out the side, and homestanding Wahconah did not get its first hit until the fourth inning, when it already was down, 3-0.
 
“I thought she attacked the zone really well,” Pittsfield coach Greg Marchbanks said of the junior. “She had good command of three pitches. She was locating, and she seemed very confident.
 
Pierce had one of three hits in the top of the first inning. Hayley Tobin, who walked, came home with the game’s first run.
 
The Generals got some insurance in the fourth when Pierce hit a two-out double, moved up on a single by freshman Madison Tobin and scored on sophomore Tess Lyon’s basehit up the middle.
 
In the fourth, Natasha Shade singled and ended up coming home on one of two errors committed by Wahconah (0-2).
 
Wahconah coach Dustin Belcher declined to blame the late start to the spring season and extended time in the gym for his team’s 
 
“I thought the plays we made mistakes on, we should have been able to make no matter where we’ve been practicing,” Belcher said. “I feel like we didn’t do a good enough job defensively.
 
“We struggled at the plate, too, though. We never really strung anything together, never got anything going other than that one little inning. But at the end of the day, I thought if we had played a little cleaner on defense we would have had a chance at the end.”
 
The one successful inning offensively for Wahconah was the fourth.
 
Ashley Zink got things started with an infield single. Abby Wells moved her over with a sacrifice bunt, and a groundball got her to third with two out. Jess Warren delivered an RBI single to right field to give Wahconah its first run of the season.
 
Wahconah will look for its first win on Thursday when it goes on the road to face Mount Greylock.
 
Pittsfield goes to Mount Everett next Monday.
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