Strong finish carries Cosmos over BBA

Springfield broke up a 4-4 ballgame with three runs in the fourth and Ashley Richardson pitched shutout ball the rest of the way as the Cosmos advanced to the Vermont Division II quarterfinals with a 7-4 win over Burr and Burton Wednesday at Bill Robinson Field.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100603/SPORTS/6030363                   # # # # Strong finish carries Cosmos over BBA  •  Rutland Herald  •  By POODY WALSH Herald Correspondent - Published: June 3, 2010  •  SPRINGFIELD — Springfield broke up a 4-4 ballgame with three runs in the fourth and Ashley Richardson pitched shutout ball the rest of the way as the Cosmos advanced to the Vermont Division II quarterfinals with a 7-4 win over Burr and Burton Wednesday at Bill Robinson Field.  •  Next for the seventh-seeded 8-9 Cosmos is No. 2 Otter Valley on Saturday at 3 p.m. Springfield lost to the second-seed, 11-5 Otters twice during the regular season.  •  Springfield trailed 4-1 after three innings, but scored three times in each of the third and fourth innings. In the fourth, Springfield loaded the bases with nobody out, but Burr and Burton hurler Jes Nutter got a force at the plate and a short outfield pop for two quick outs.  •  However, she walked Richardson to force in the go-ahead run and then Sarah Vredenburgh got the biggest hit of the game, a single to left that drove in two.  •  "Sarah has come through like that a lot for us this year," Springfield coach Andy Bladyka said. "She was mad that she popped up to the catcher on a check swing in her previous at-bat.  •  "While there was no more scoring after the fourth inning, there was still plenty of drama. In the Burr and Burton sixth, the Bulldogs had two runners on with one out and the bases loaded with two outs and didn't score. Then in the seventh, Burr and Burton had runners on first and second and one out, but Richardson got Lilly Merrill to fly to center and Leah Wulfman to pop up to end the game.  •  Bladyka was particularly happy to retire Merrill, the Bulldogs cleanup hitter.  •  "She's only a freshman, but she already had three hits," Bladyka said.  •  While this was the third time the Cosmos have beaten the Bulldogs this season, coach Dan DeForest was not hanging his head after the game.  •  "Hey, we gave ourselves a chance to win," he said. "You can't ask for more than that."  •  DeForest also knew that the key point of the game came when his team nearly got out of that bases-loaded jam in the fourth. He brought his infielders in and quickly got results as Amanda Farnsworth, who was on third, was cut down at the plate on a bouncer to second. Nutter then got Alexis Locke on a very short fly to right.  •  Richardson pitched a three-hitter after the third inning, getting a lot of mileage out of her changeup.  •  DeForest noticed the effectiveness of the changeup as well and thought her changing speeds "put our girls off balance," he said.  •  Burr and Burton got eight hits off Richardson, but the bottom five in the Bulldogs batting order was just 1-for-16. Richardson struck out four and helped herself by not walking anyone.  •  Nutter, a southpaw, gave up seven hits with three strikeouts and two bases on balls.  •  Paige Malone and Merrill had RBI singles for Burr and Burton in the first inning, and Merrill came through with a two-run single in the third.  •  Springfield came back with an unearned run in the second and scored three times in the third as Locke and Graham drove in runs. The third run was unearned.  •  Graham and Meredith Ward each had two hits for Springfield.  •