Springfield holds off Brattleboro to remain unbeaten

With the game suddenly up for grabs, Brooke Willey helped ensure Springfield wouldn’t drop its first game of the season.
http://eagletimes.villagesoup.com/p/springfield-holds-off-brattleboro-to-remain-unbeaten/1342935

Springfield holds off Brattleboro to remain unbeaten By Jason Orfao | May 06, 2015 Share on print Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email More Sharing Services 0 Photo by: Jason Orfao Springfield's Brooke Willey crosses the plate on Tuesday during the Cosmos' 5-4 win over Brattleboro at Bill Robinson Field. SPRINGFIELD — With the game suddenly up for grabs, Brooke Willey helped ensure Springfield wouldn’t drop its first game of the season. A three-run, inside-the-park home run from Brattleboro’s Samantha Hamson cut a four-run deficit to one and the Colonels put the potential tying run on base moments before Casey Manning lifted a fly down the line in shallow left field. Springfield junior Brooke Willey chased it down and stabbed it on a diving play in short left field, Jade Twombly induced the next batter to ground out to first base and the Cosmos held off the Colonels for a 5-4 victory in VPA softball action under the lights at Bill Robinson Field. “I couldn’t see the ball that well, so I just put my glove out, saw the glimpse of it, grabbed it and held on. I couldn’t really see it,” said Willey. “It let us calm down a little bit having two outs.” “What a catch. That was full extension,” said Springfield coach Andy Bladyka. “Brooke is one of those kids that is always going to dive. Some girls won’t, but she loves every minute of it.” The win marked the sixth straight for Springfield to start the season and the past four triumphs have come by one run. It’s the first time Springfield has been undefeated this deep into the season since Bladyka’s first season at the helm 17 years ago. “It’s crazy,” said Willey. “Especially losing six seniors last year and taking out that hitting and fielding. It’s been tough, but we’ve been able to keep the winning streak going.” The Cosmos defeated the Division I foe on the strength of a five-run fourth inning. Springfield scored all of its runs with two outs. Alyssa Lucius provided the spark with a two-out, RBI single to right-center field scoring Cassidy Otis. “That bottom of the order came through for us and that’s something that hasn’t happened yet this year. I’ve been waiting for her. I know she can hit.” said Bladyka of Lucius. “We’ve been pumping her up and working on her swing. She had the big one that triggered it.” Calista Polidor reached on a bunt, before Willey stepped to the plate in a tie game with the bases juiced. “I was definitely nervous after getting the first strike right down the middle,” said Willey. “My batting coach Mike told me to get the barrel out front and that’s what I was thinking. I saw it go and I was praying it wasn’t foul.” Prayers answered. She sprayed a line drive into right field to bring home Hailey Rabtoy and Lucius to give the Cosmos a 3-1 edge. Lina Geyer followed with a well-placed bleeder up the middle, allowing Polidor and Willey to scoot home. Brattleboro (3-4) didn’t go down easily, though. The Colonels loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the sixth after a single and Twombly’s only two walks of the game. However, the junior buckled down and struck out the next two batters before a grounder to third baseman Chelsea McAllister allowed the Cosmos to emerge from the inning unscathed. “It’s hard to hold them down. They’re a dangerous team. They have kids who can run and bunt and hit. They’re well coached and they’re always tough. Brattleboro is always a challenge,” said Bladyka. “That was huge. That was just a great job of pitching. Jade was at her best in a couple of those innings. She kept her composure. She put a little extra and got that fastball down in the zone. She actually threw a lot of curveballs tonight, too.” Brattleboro received solid production from its 2-3-4 hitters as Devin Millerick, Hamson and Maddy Derosia — who gave Brattleboro a 1-0 edge with an RBI triple in the first — combined to go 6-for-10 with three runs scored and four RBIs. However, they were the only Colonels who could manage a hit off Twombly. Twombly tossed a complete game, struck out eight and allowed three earned runs. Brattleboro pitcher Hannah Wilson didn’t surrender an earned run. She struck out four and scattered six hits. “We gave them the opportunity to beat us and they took advantage of it,” said Brattleboro coach Kelly Markol. “We came back and we hit the ball. The kids didn’t quit, which is nice to see, but we put ourselves in a position where we were scrambling at the end and we can’t do that. “I think we’re pretty even as far as ability. We gave them an error and two mental errors in that big inning,” she added. “We’re young, we’re very inexperienced and hopefully the kids are learning from this.” Springfield will look for a seventh consecutive win on Saturday at Windsor. The first pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. “They’ll be tough,” said Bladyka. “They’re Division III, but they’re a tough little team. They have some players.” Box Score SPRINGFIELD 5, BRATTLEBORO 4 BRATTLBORO (3-4) — AB-R-H-RBI: Jaime Mahoney c 4-1-0-0, Devin Millerick cf 4-2-2-0, Samantha Hamson rf 4-1-2-3, Maddy Derosia ss 2-0-2-1, Casey Manning lf 1-0-0-0, Emmalee Waite 1b 3-0-0-0, Emily Whitworth 3b 3-0-0-0, Bridget Duff dp 3-0-0-0, Hannah Wilson flex-p 0-0-0-0, Jocelyn Aither 2b 3-0-0-0. Totals 27-4-6-4. SPRINGFIELD (6-0) — AB-R-H-RBI: Brooke Willey ss 3-1-2-2, Lina Geyer lf 3-0-1-2, Chelsea McAllister 3b 3-0-0-0, Cassidy Otis 1b 3-1-0-0, Corrina Nichols 2b 2-0-1-0, Jade Twombly p 2-0-0-0, Hailey Rabtoy cr 0-1-0-0, Maygan Daly c 2-0-0-0, Alyssa Lucius rf 3-1-1-1, Calista Polidor cf 3-1-1-0. Totals 24-5-6-5. Brattleboro 100 000 3—4 6 1 Springfield 000 500 X—5 6 2 3B: B — Derosia. HR: B — Hamson. IP-H-R-ER-BB-SO: B — Wilson LP 6-6-5-0-1-4. S — Twombly WP 7-6-4-3-2-8.