Portsmouth High Softball Wins 1-0 Against 'Gansett, Advances in Playoffs

The margin between victory and defeat was razor thin on Wednesday afternoon, as a single hit in the third inning led to a 1-0 win by the Patriots against the Narragansett Mariners.

Narragansett starting pitcher Hannah Lindsley had been mowing down Portsmouth hitters. She started the inning by striking out freshman Eileen Eads and sophomore Alison Hamilton.

However, senior captain Noelle Robinson drew a walk on five pitches, and stole second. Then, on a 2-1 count, junior Amy Hamilton provided what would prove to the game winning hit, a sharp line drive up the middle. Lindsley got a glove on the ball, but couldn’t catch it.

The ball bounced off Lindsley’s glove toward the shortstop position. Unfortunately for the Mariners, the shortstop had gone toward second to cover the base, and the third baseman was covering third. Robinson went two bases on Hamilton’s infield single for the game’s only run.

On the mound, Portsmouth’s Kelly Beck shut the Mariners (10-10, 8-8 Division II-South) down with a variety of off-speed pitches. The senior froze several Narragansett hitters with a repetoire of slow changeups, and finished with nine strikeouts.

Portsmouth (14-7, 11-5 Division II-South) head coach Tom Galib said Beck’s performance was the key to the win.

“She changed speeds, hit spots,” she said. “That’s what it takes to keep a team from a solid lead.”

Narragansett coach Brittany Wnuk said Beck gave the Mariners something they hadn’t seen in a while.

“She pitched very well,” Wnuk said. “We haven’t faced a slow pitcher in a while.”

The Mariners had chances to tie the game in the fourth and seventh innings.

In the fourth, catcher Danielle Smerbeck led off by drawing a walk. Freshman Emily Buonanno came in as a courtesy runner for Smerbeck, the catcher.

Buonanno stole second, and the ball kicked away from the second baseman in a cloud of dust. After a moment of hesitation, Wnuk told Buonanno to take third, but by then the defense had recovered. A throw from second to third cut down Buonanno.

In the seventh, Smerbeck hit a groundball to the third baseman, who was playing in. An initial bobble allowed Smerbeck to reach first, and another error on the throw left her on second with no outs.

Buonanno again came in to run for Smerbeck. Senior Marissa Pelkey struck out for the first out of the inning, but Buonanno tagged up and moved to third on a sacrifice fly to right field by Ali Castrovillari.

However, Beck ended the inning by striking out senior Lucy Tillman with the tying run on third.

Wnuk praised the effort of Lindsley, noting that she pitched all but three innings of the Mariners’ 20 games. After the third inning, Lindsley didn’t allow a runner past second, and finished with seven strikeouts.

Wnuk said she wasn’t disappointed in the outcome of the game.

“We had an awesome season,” she said.

The Patriots play on in the Division II playoffs, facing Prout 5:30 p.m. today at Rhode Island College. Prout beat Classical on Wednesday afternoon to advance in the losers’ bracket. The winner will face the loser of East Greenwich and Middletown 5:30 p.m. Friday at Rhode Island College.