LEE, Mass. – Lee coach Sam Barbarotta would not have predicted her softball team’s red-hot start to the season.
But she does know that the Wildcats have earned it.
“To be completely honest, I did not know what to expect this season,” Barbarotta said after Friday’s 15-3, six-inning win over Mount Everett. “My girls worked really hard in the off-season, and I knew we were going to come out showing more than we did last year.
“But I didn’t know it would be quite like this, so it’s a nice surprise to come out 5-0 for sure.”
Kamryn Renata went 3-for-5 with a triple and three runs batted in, and Bri Lynch struck out 12, walked one and allowed just two earned runs.
In the process, Lynch lowered her earned run average to 1.17 this spring and helped the Wildcats improve their average margin of victory to 14-2.
Mount Everett coach Joshua King said Lee has put in the work that his Eagles will need to do in the years ahead to get the Sheffield program back where it wants to be.
“There’s only so much that you can do during the season,” King said. “It’s that extra work. I was talking to Sam before the game, and she had 20 girls that were hitting from February to March.
“It’s a commitment to a program, and you can see that they’ve changed their mentality and what they want to do. Kudos to them. They’ve put the work in and, obviously, we’re at a place now where it’s time for us to start putting in that extra time.”
For the fourth time this year, an opponent got to Lee’s pitching in the first inning.
This time, Hudah Ngoy Nkulu led off the game with a walk, stole second and came home on Emma Goewey’s double to left-center to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
That is where it stood after two innings thanks to Mount Everett’s defense.
The Eagles recorded double plays in the first and second innings to help Mariah Broderick, who finished with eight strikeouts against 10 walks.
Five of those walks factored into Lee’s four-run third inning to take control of the game.
After Lee’s No. 8 and No. 9 hitters, Audrey Terzigni and Arianna Hall, each drew a walk to start the inning, Renata drove in Terzigni with the inning’s only hit. Makayala Schuerer and Taryn Bannon each worked an RBI walk before the inning was over.
The Wildcats came back in the fourth with a very different rally, using five hits to score four more runs.
This time, Hall led off the frame with a double to left. Kylie Joyce and Lynch also doubled in the inning, which left Lee with an 8-2 lead.
Autumn Schwab’s two-out RBI triple highlighted a three-run fifth. Lee scored four more in the fifth, ending the game with Lynch’s two-out RBI single to score Schwab to give the Wildcats a decisive 12-run margin.
Lynch, who is averaging 1.6 strikeouts per inning pitched and has nearly five Ks for every walk allowed, left six runners on base including four in scoring position.
“Bri, today, really found her rise ball, and that was super effective in a couple of innings,” Barbarotta said. “She was getting that high pitch that they were chasing. And once they stopped chasing it, she went down with it, and that’s exactly what you need from a pitcher.”
Lee looks to stay unbeaten on Tuesday when it hosts Westfield Tech.
Mount Everett (0-5) goes to Hoosac Valley on Monday.
