PHOTO COURTESY OF LAUREL CLACE '25
STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (8-8, 2-0 GNAC) earned a pair of wins over Anna Maria College (3-12, 1-3 GNAC) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) softball doubleheader at Richard W. Bailey Field on Friday afternoon. The Monks opened with a 3-0 victory and capped the sweep with a 9-1 mercy-rule triumph.
SAINT JOSEPH'S 3, ANNA MARIA 0:
The AMCATS squandered a prime scoring opportunity in the top of the first when they had the bases loaded with nobody out. Senior pitcher Meredith Pence (Remington, Va.) clamped down and struck out consecutive hitters before inducing an inning-ending groundout to escape the jam.
With the offense off to a slow start, the Monks employed some small ball en route to plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. After freshman Hannah Gosselin (Biddeford, Maine) and junior Lydia Goodnough (Kennebunkport, Maine) led off with back to back singles and both moved into scoring position on a Sadie Tirrell (Naples, Maine) sac bunt. Two batters later, sophomore third baseman Sylvia Foley (Scarborough, Maine) put her team on the board with a base hit, scoring Gosselin, and Goodnough swiped home on a first and third steal play to lift the hosts to a 2-0 lead.
Pence settled in after the rocky first inning as the AMCATS only had two runners in scoring position for the remainder of the contest. The Monks tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when senior first baseman Olivia Howe (Arundel, Maine) singled and was lifted in favor of freshman pinch runner Ahna Dostie (Lewiston, Maine), who stole second and later scored on a Rylee Page (Sophomore, N.H.) infield groundout.
IN THE CIRCLE:
Pence posted a fine start and improves to 5-1 on the season after allowing five hits and two walks with six strikeouts in seven innings.
Anna Maria junior starter Eden Forget (Worcester, Mass.) worked five frames with two earned runs off five hits while fanning six batters over five frames. Reliever Sabrina Liston (Rehoboth, Mass.) yielded a run off two hits with one strikeout in an inning of work.
AT THE BAT:
- For the Monks, Goodnough was 2-3 with a run and a pair of stolen bases
- For the AMCATS, junior Saylor Costa (East Providence, R.I.) went 2-4
SAINT JOSEPH'S 9, ANNA MARIA 1:
Anna Maria claimed a lead for the first time on the afternoon when Costa and Liston notched back to back doubles in the top of the first. Saint Joseph's answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth when Foley doubled and later scored on an Abby Carpenter (Bath, Maine) run.
The tie game lasted less than an inning, as the Monks took advantage of four AMCAT errors and belted four hits en route to scoring six runs in the bottom of the third. Foley and junior right fielder Taylor Owen (Wakefield, Mass.) produced RBI singles during the unconventional inning.
The AMCATS missed out on a potential scoring opportunity in the top of the fifth when they had the bases loaded and one out, but SJC starter Sydney Hatch (Newburgh, Maine) worked out of the spot with a groundout and a pop up to right field.
St. Joe's went on to secure the mercy-rule victory with two runs on two hits in the bottom of the sixth, when Howe plated Goodnough with a sharp single to center field and freshman Abbie Green-Sermak (Rehoboth, Mass.) scored on a wild pitch.
IN THE CIRCLE:
Hatch picked up the victory after giving up a run on six hits and three walks with six K's in five innings and senior Emily Eagleston (Reading, Mass.) tossed a clean sixth with one strikeout in relief.
For the AMCATS, Liston took the loss after allowing nine runs (five earned) off eight hits and five walks with a pair of punchouts in 5.1 innings of work.
AT THE BAT:
- For the Monks, Foley was 2-4 with two runs, a double, and an RBI, Goodnough went 2-4 with two runs and a double, and Howe added two hits, a run, and an RBI in four at-bats
- For the AMCATS, Liston went 3-3 with a pair of doubles and an RBI and Costa was 2-3 with a run and a double
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the wins, Saint Joseph's improves to 20-1 in the history of the series with Anna Maria College and has now defeated the AMCATS in 20-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2012 campaign.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will play at Regis College on Sunday in a GNAC doubleheader set to start at 1:00 PM.
