Springfield downs GM

Springfield traveled to Green Mountain just a few weeks ago. The Cosmos did not feel they played their best game in that 4-1 win and Saturday they got another shot at GM, this time at home, under the lights.

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2016-05-02 / Sports Springfield downs GM «» View full-size Springfield's Lina Geyer throws across the diamond from her third base position for an out at first base. — CHRIS DOHERTY http://www.eagletimes.com/sites/www.eagletimes.com/files/imagecache/full/Geyer-SpringfieldSB.jpghttp://www.eagletimes.com/sites/www.eagletimes.com/files/imagecache/full/Schultz-GMSB.jpg By CHRIS DOHERTY cdoherty@eagletimes.com SPRINGFIELD — Springfield traveled to Green Mountain just a few weeks ago. The Cosmos did not feel they played their best game in that 4-1 win and Saturday they got another shot at GM, this time at home, under the lights. “I think both teams have improved, which should happen,” Springfield head coach Andy Bladyka said. In the previous meeting GM only managed a pair of hits off of Jade Twombly. The Chieftains came out more aggressive at the plate against the Springfield ace, but in the end it was the Cosmos leaving with the season sweep of GM by way of a 6-1 win. Springfield was forced to regroup after a tough, 14-1 loss to Brattleboro earlier in the week and Springfield did just that. “We put that behind us. We talked about it a little bit, but we didn’t harp on it too much,” said Bladyka. One bad inning for a team can make the difference in any game. Saturday’s game saw three errors in the second inning boost Springfield ahead. Liz Chambers and Hailey Rabtoy reached on errors to begin the second inning. Ari Rowe drove a single to center field to score Chambers, but the ball got by the center fielder to move Rabtoy and Rowe into scoring position. That mattered because the next play was a sacrifice bunt from Calista Polidor that scored Rabtoy to increase the Springfield lead to 3-1 in the early going. Brooke Willey reset the order with an RBI triple before being driven in on a single by Lina Geyer. Springfield led 5-1 after the second inning. “Our theme the last few days has been to be more aggressive,” said Bladyka. “We’ve been harping on the kids to be more aggressive with the bats and they built on that tonight. We had more good swings early in the count.” “Other than that one inning where we made three errors we played a pretty clean game,” said GM head coach Terry Farrell. “You just can’t have those innings.” After the Cosmos scored a run in the bottom of the first, GM responded to tie the game in the top of the second. Rylee Ewald got things started with the first of three triples by the Chieftains on the day. Unlike the next two they would hit later in the game, Ewald scored on a groundout by Noelle Gignoux. Kim Schultz tripled later in the inning but Twombly picked up one of her 13 strikeouts on the day to end the inning. Kassidy Cummings tripled to lead off the fourth inning for GM. Twombly quickly picked up two strikeouts before walking Gignoux. Again, Twombly picked up a big strikeout to get out of the jam. She found herself in another jam in the fifth inning. A single and two walks loaded the bases with just one out. Twombly took the three and four hitters in the GM order and sat them down by way of the K. “I thought [Twombly] was throwing really hard tonight,” said Bladyka. “She had some big strikeouts.” Springfield added its sixth run in the fourth inning. Cassidy Otis singled home Willey, who singled to start in the inning. Bladyka said he’s been mixing in a new defensive scheme and saw some very good things. “We’re learning as we go to play better defense behind Jade,” he said. “As the season goes on, teams are going to put the ball in play more. “Jade had some big strikeouts, but we also played some defense at times, made some plays.” GM (1-3) is off until Thursday when Twin Valley comes to town. Farrell said he hopes his team can regroup and not dwell on a tough game against Twombly. “Hopefully they understand she (Twombly) is a very good pitcher and got her out of the way,” he said. “Move on to the next one.” Springfield (6-1) knows the schedule takes no breaks and Fair Haven on Tuesday is a crucial game at this point in the season. “Our record is 6-1 but we have a very good schedule from here on out. We have Fair Haven next and they were a team that the 'experts' picked to be the best Division 2 team in the south,” said Bladyka. “In terms of being in our own division and being one of the teams that was expected to be at the top of Division 2 this year, Fair Haven is a good game for us to see where we’re at.”