LENOX, Mass. – Lee High’s Bri Lynch Saturday mowed down the Millionaires early and held them off late to secure a 6-4 win.
Lynch struck out 12 to lead the Wildcats (9-6) to their eighth win in their last nine games.
After she retired the side in order the first three innings, Lenox (10-6) put runners on in three of the next four innings and got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh before Lynch recorded a game-ending strikeout.
“I felt good,” Lynch said afterward. “My curve and my rise were working really well today. They got a lot of girls.
“My team did so good today. I was so proud of them. The bats came alive, and they backed me up in the field.”
Delaney Reed went 2-for-4 with a double and three runs batted in, and Lily Brancato doubled. Lynch helped her own cause by going 2-for-3 with a walk and drove in a run.
And in the circle, she raised her strikeout total for the season to 178 in 82-? innings – a little more than two per inning pitched.
“Bri’s been on fire on the mound for us,” Lee coach Shaun Hall said. “She’s just been a Steady Eddie, throwing strikes and doing what she does. She has been the key to our defense the whole season.
“She has been doing the job. She’s one of our leaders. And she’s just been doing a fantastic job.”
Lee came into Saturday’s game having allowed eight runs in its previous nine games.
And for a while, it looked like it was going to be that kind of day again for the Wildcats. But Lenox, one of the best hitting teams in the county all season, finally broke through in the fourth to break up the no-hit bid and earn its first run.
By that time, Lee had a 3-0 lead.
The Wildcats got started in the first when Julianna Schuerer led off the game by bunting her way aboard. She went to third on a double by Taryn Bannon and scored on Lynch’s single to make it 1-0.
In the third, Lee tacked on two more runs with a two-out rally.
Lynch got it going with a single up the middle. MaKayla Schuerer doubled to put two runners in scoring position, and Reed drove them both home with a single to right.
In the bottom of the fourth, Lenox’s most dangerous hitter, Evelyn Julieano, got her team’s first hit of the afternoon, a one-out double. She then stole third and came home on sister Grace Julieano’s double to left center.
Lynch stopped the bleeding there by getting the next two hitters to strikeout and keeping it a 3-1 game.
Lee added to its lead in the fifth with a two-run rally helped along by a defensive miscue to make it 5-1.
The insurance came in handy as Lenox got a run back in the fifth. Evelyn Julieano doubled her way aboard, stole third again and scored when the throw to third got into left field.
In the top of the seventh, Reed hit a one-out double and ended up scoring in from third on a delayed double steal with Brooke Delaguistina, who had reached on an error.
“I told them defense was going to be a big part of winning this game,” Lenox coach Justin Lenski said. “We just had a few defensive miscues that led to some runs that we made up. When you’re facing Bri [Lynch], you’ve got to stop as many runs as you can to beat them.
“It’s a tough game, but I think we did a good job. I really liked that we were able to keep fighting through and keep scoring. We could have given up against them early when they started scoring some runs, but we kept playing and just came up a little short today.”
Down, 6-2, going to its final at-bat, Lenox got a one-out infield single by Amaya Alger to start a rally.
She moved up on a passed ball and scored on an RBI double by Anna Nealon to make it a three-run game.
With two out, Autumn Biernacki hit a line drive to center field to drive in Nealon.
But Lynch was able to close the door with a strikeout to leave Biernacki at first and end the game.
In the circle for Lenox, Evelyn Julieano struck out three and walked three.
Lenox wraps up the regular season this week at home against Mount Everett on Monday and Monument Mountain on Wednesday.
Lee plays three games left on its schedule, starting on Monday when Drury makes the trip to South County.
