Stoughton High Softball, Lead by "Army of Seniors," Bows out of Postseason

After earning the final seed (#24) in the Division 1 South Sectional bracket, the Stoughton High softball team in the preliminary round on Friday, pulling off a thrilling come-from-behind win in extra innings. 

The then traveled to #8 Somerset-Berkley on Sunday for a first round game, looking to set up a likely date with Hockomock League foe King Philip, the top seed, in the quarterfinals (heavily-favored KP plays #17 Taunton in a first round matchup on June 4). 

However, behind solid pitching and even better hitting, Somerset-Berkley cut short Stoughton's Cinderella run, beating the Black Knights 12-0 in six innings, ending Stoughton's season.

"We knew we were facing a tough team, they play in a tough league, their hitters are solid top to bottom in the lineup and their pitcher does a nice job. We knew we had our hands full" Stoughton coach Janet Sullivan said.

"They were the better team. They won today [Sunday]. We're alright with that; we gave it our best effort and it just wasn't enough today."

Stoughton put runners on first and second in the top of the second (Megan Flaherty and Emily Cramer singles) but Somerset-Berkley's Meaghan Kay kept the Black Knights off the board.

The Blue Raiders scored first in the bottom of the second, loading the bases, but Cramer allowed only one run to score.

Jordan Angelos singled with one out in the top of the third, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball, but was stranded. She was the last Stoughton batter to reach base.

After going down in order in the bottom of the third, Somerset-Berkley scored five times in the fourth, three times in the fifth and three more in the sixth to end the game.

The loss concludes the high school careers of what captain Felicia Baptista calls an "army" of seniors.   

The team carried 12 seniors this season: captains Baptista, Nicole Barton and Nicole Hayner, as well as Kelsey Moriarty, Hannah Carpenter, Katherine Chlus, Jess Freitas, Liz Roch, Jackie Kuhn, Ashley Gibson, Stephanie Herr and Liz Casano.

"That's the most seniors I've ever had on one squad. Some coaches would say I was crazy; you can't keep 12 seniors happy, but this was a good group of kids. They all contributed in one way or another during the season and they're going to be missed next season," Sullivan said. 

Despite the loss of a dozen seniors, the team will still return a solid core next season. Moriarty started at first and Barton started at third, but the primary starters at the other positions were non-seniors. Cramer, a sophomore, accrued a significant amount of experience on the mound. She'll be joined by projected returnees Flaherty, Angelos, Michelle Bisbee, Emma Zuk, Samantha Mattie and Payton Pizzano, among others.

Stoughton ends the 2012 spring season at 9-12 (8-11 in the regular season). 

"We had a great season. We started off just 20 kids, 20 individuals and I think you saw [Sunday], saw in the last tournament game [at Marshfield], they really game together as one team. They're very supportive of one another, they care about each other and care about the game," Sullivan said.

"I won't forget this team anytime soon," Sullivan added. "They gave me a lot of fun this season."