Recap for the game: Hoosac Valley vs St. Joe's on May 17
'Canes Offense Shut down by St. Joe's
Staff reports
02:44PM / Sunday, May 20, 2012
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- For the past five games, the Hoosac Valley softball team had the advantage in the pitching circle. The Hurricanes used that advantage to win five games in a row and climb back into the postseason discussion. Unfortunately for Hoosac, though, Saint Joseph's had the pitching edge on Thursday, and the Crusaders use that to their advantage in a 5-1 win at home.
St. Joe's starter Chanler Hospot was on top of her game, giving up just unearned run on two hits in a complete-game performance. Hospot struck out five batters and walked just one, giving up her lone run of the game on an RBI single by junior Carly Kondel in the top of the fifth inning. Had it not been for a Crusaders' error early in the frame, Hospot would have likely earned the complete-game shutout.
The hosts did a good job of giving their starting pitcher confidence early, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first off of Hurricanes' starter Caroline Tomkowicz. Jen Lynch led off with a triple before Erica Quallen drove her home with a base hit. Kendall Smith later made the score 2-0 by scoring Quallen with a sacrifice fly.
Tomkowicz responded with two scoreless innings in a row, but St. Joe's got to her again for three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Lynch led the Crusaders' offensively, going 3 for 4 with a triple and an RBI double. Quallen also had a good day at the plate, batting 2 for 3 with an RBI single in the fourth.
"We had a few runners on base in the first four innings after some St. Joe's errors, but we could not produce any runs," Hoosac head coach Morgan Shafer said. "Caroline started pitching for us, and St. Joe's got the better of her pitches today. Ashley Ciepiela relieved her in the fifth and did a great job of keeping their hitters at bay for the rest of the game. It just wasn't enough for us to capitalize and score to come back from the four-run deficit."
Tomkowicz (5-2) struck out five and walked three, allowing four earned runs to take the loss for the Hurricanes, who fell to 7-8 with the loss. Hoosac will try to rebound with a tough game at Wahconah at 7 on Friday night.
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