http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120523/SPORTS02/705239871
Published May 23, 2012 in the Rutland Herald
New-look Cosmos top Rutland
By BOB FREDETTE
STAFF WRITER
In late May it’s all about position. Position in the playoffs and in Springfield’s case, positions in the Cosmos batting order.
Tuesday’s new lineup is looking like a keeper after Springfield’s 5-0 victory over Rutland High School at Northeast Field in the penultimate softball game of the regular season for both clubs.
Freshman Chelsea McAllister looked like the ultimate leadoff hitter with four hits and three runs scored in her maiden voyage at the top of the order. Springfield, 12-3, stayed in step in the heated race for the No. 2 spot in the Division II tournament, where the Cosmos are defending champions. They were in a dead heat with Lyndon at No. 2 entering the day.
“We stayed with the same lineup for 12 games and we weren’t scoring many runs,” said coach Andy Bladyka, who said he would have changed the order earlier had Springfield not been on a five-game winning streak.
Bladyka took McAllister and Jen Stein from the bottom half of the order and put them at No. 1 and 2.
“They’re our best combination of speed and smarts so why not put them together?” he said. “It’s a compliment to their intelligence and speed and they made a nice one-two punch for us today.”
Stein walked twice, scored a run, and had a sacrifice bunt.
McAllister singled and Stein walked in the first and they scored on a sacrifice fly by KK Haskell and a single by Meghan Courchesne, giving Sara Locke all the run support she would need while throwing an eight-strikeout four-hitter.
Now Springfield can realistically hope to be home through the semis but first the Cosmos will host Otter Valley on Friday (6:30 p.m.).
“We’ve been talking about getting two playoffs games at home so today was a big game for us,” McAllister said.
“I was kind of nervous (batting leadoff) today but I knew I had to get it done.”
The Cosmos are 6-2 in one-run games but Locke was happy to get some extra support. Springfield had only six hits off Chelsea Poljacik and Leigh-Anna LaPlante, who pitched the seventh, but made them count, and also used their speed to manufacture runs.
McAllister singled in the third and scored on a wild pitch. She tripled in the fifth and scored when a throw was being made to first to get Stein, who struck out on a ball in the dirt. Haskell walked and pinch runner Bri Condon scored on a groundout for the Cosmos’ last run, in the sixth.
Jessie Smyrski had two hits for Rutland, including a hard single to right that broke up Locke’s no-hit bid in the fourth. Rutland went on to load the bases with one out after a walk and a single by Emme O’Rourke. But with her 3-0 lead in jeopardy, Locke induced a grounder back to the mound for an out at home and then struck out the last batter. The last Rutland out in an inning came on a strikeout five times, three of those with at least one runner aboard.
Poljacik struck out seven and walked three in her six innings.
The defensive play of the game was turned in at third base by Rutland’s Lauren Keefe. With a runner on first in the fourth she speared a line drive and threw to first for an inning-ending double play.
Rutland dipped to 8-7 and appears to have lost any chance of hosting a home game in D-I. The Raiders entered the day at No. 8 and risk falling farther down the playoff food chain unless they pull the big upset and knock off a Brattleboro team that has not lost to a Vermont squad in three years. They visit the Colonels on Friday.
“It’s looking grim right now,” said Rutland coach Dick Wright after his team’s second 5-0 loss to the Cosmos this season. “We’re going to go down there and try to beat them and we’ll go from there.”
Springfield’s Chelsea McAllister is safe at home scoring on a wild pitch by Rutland’s Chelsea Poljacik, left, during Tuesday’s game at Northeast Field in Rutland. The plate umpire is Karl Ross.
Photo: Albert J. Marro / Staff Photo
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