PHOTO CREDIT: Laurel Clace '25
STANDISH, Maine – #1N Saint Joseph's College (21-16) blanked #3N Simmons University (16-23), 5-0, in the first game of the 2024 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Softball Championship series at Richard W. Bailey Field on Friday afternoon.
With the victory, the Monks are in the driver's seat and need one more win in the best-of-three series to claim the program's first GNAC title since 2014. The series resumes tomorrow with the first game starting at 2:00 PM and the 'if necessary' contest to follow.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Facing one of the best pitchers in the conference in sophomore Piper Kinney (Marlborough, Mass.), the Monks put two runs on the board in the top of the first when sophomore catcher Chantelle Bouchard (Biddeford, Maine) launched a two-run homer well beyond the left-center wall. With one out, sophomore second baseman Hannah Gosselin (Biddeford, Maine) singled and scored on the long ball, which was Bouchard's 12th of the year and sets a new program single-season record.
St. Joe's took advantage of a Simmons infield error to score three runs in the top of the second. Junior Paige Connery (Tyngsboro, Mass.) reached on the miscue and sophomore Charlotte Cloutier (Lewiston, Maine) walked to set the stage for junior Mollie Verreault (Scarborough, Maine), who slammed a two-run double to left-center and promptly sprinted home on a Gosselin base hit up the middle to make it a 5-0 game.
The Sharks' best scoring opportunity was thwarted by a baserunning mistake in the bottom of the fifth. Simmons opened the frame with back-to-back singles and had Kinney at the plate in a sac bunt situation, but the runner at first took an overly aggressive secondary lead and was picked off by Bouchard. SJC junior starter Madison Pelletier (New Gloucester, Maine) proceeded to notch a strikeout and induced a harmless flyout to foul territory in right field to cease the threat.
The remainder of the contest cruised by as the teams managed to have just three baserunners combined in the last two innings, including the bottom of the seventh when Pelletier registered a pair of groundouts and a soft line-out to shortstop to close out the victory.
IN THE CIRCLE:
Pelletier, now 11-8 on the season, was a bulldog for the Monks and scattered five hits over seven shutout innings with a season-high six strikeouts. Simmons had just one runner in scoring position during the setback.
Kinney falls to 13-9 after giving up five runs (two earned) on five hits with seven strikeouts in five innings. Sophomore reliever Ally Hyde (Portland, Ore.) allowed a walk and notched a strikeout in two hitless frames of work.
AT THE BAT:
- Gosselin was 2-3 with a run and an RBI and reached base four times in the triumph
- Bouchard went 1-4 with a two-run homer and Verreault was 1-4 with a double, a run scored, and two RBI
- For Simmons, sophomore shortstop Emily Deleault (Manchester, N.H.) was 2-3 with a pair of singles
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the triumph, Saint Joseph's improves to 26-17 all-time versus Simmons University.
