Pitching and Timely Hitting Lead Stoughton High Softball Past Oliver Ames

Clinging to a 1-0 lead over Oliver Ames, Stoughton’s Nicole Hayner legged out a single, driving in pinch runner Jessica Freitas to give the a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.

It proved to be a key run in Stoughton’s 3-1 win over Oliver Ames Thursday afternoon in Stoughton.

After the Black Knights went up 2-0, the Tigers answered with a run of their own in the top of the sixth, cutting the Stoughton lead to 2-1 when Krystina Lincoln grounded out, bringing Erin Lynch home.

But that was the only run the Tigers could muster against Stoughton sophomore Emily Cramer, who turned in another solid effort on the mound.

Stoughton scored again in the bottom of the sixth when Samantha Mattie singled with two outs, scoring pinch runner Katherine Chlus, making it a 3-1 game.

Oliver Ames went down in order in the top of the seventh, as Stoughton secured a win over its Davenport Division foe.

With the victory, Stoughton improves to 3-2 (2-0 in the Davenport), while Oliver Ames falls to 3-2 (1-1 in the Davenport).

“This is huge,” Stoughton coach Janet Sullivan said of the Black Knights’ win. “[Oliver Ames] is an excellent team. They won the Davenport Division last year so we knew it was going to be a tough battle all around. They’ve got good hitting, good defense, so we had to come out and play well in tough conditions.”

Oliver Ames pitcher Elizabeth Batsnelas also pitched well. After Stoughton scored in the first, the Black Knights didn’t score again until the fifth inning.

“Offensively I thought we missed some opportunities; we left a lot of runners on base, but we came up with the timely hits when we needed it,” Sullivan said.

Cramer allowed just three hits. She was also aided by catcher Payton Pizzano who threw out three runners, two in the second inning alone.

“[Cramer] has great control. She was mixing her pitches real well. She was hitting the corners,” Sullivan said.

“She’s gaining confidence every game and our catcher behind the plate, she’s only a freshman, [but] she’s gaining confidence. She threw a big game. She threw three runners out. That could have been a big difference—if you get that runner in scoring position it changes everything we do defensively and what pitches we call.”

Stoughton hosts Norton, Mansfield and Quincy next week (Monday-Wednesday-Friday) during April vacation.