EASTHAMPTON – The moment that the Easthampton softball team’s season ended on Tuesday afternoon, the skies opened up as the rain that had been threatening to spoil their game emptied onto the field.
The No. 6 Eagles couldn’t hang with No. 11 Nipmuc, falling 13-0 in five innings at Nonotuck Park in the MIAA Division 4 Round of 16.
The loss ended the Eagles’ season far sooner than they were hoping after making it to the quarterfinals of last year’s state tournament.
Nipmuc pitcher Janelle Scirocco threw all five innings and limited the Eagles to just two hits while striking out four batters. Kayley Downie and Abigail McClaflin recorded Easthampton’s lone hits of the day, both in the third inning.
“We just didn’t compete offensively. They’re a good hitting team, and we gave them a little too much… we never competed at the plate. Two hits isn’t gonna get it done at this level,” Easthampton head coach Corey Robinson said. “The last inning got away from us a little bit, because we got down on ourselves a little bit and (their) hitting was contagious. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to get the bat on the ball.”
It wasn’t clear whether or not the game would even be completed; a short thunderstorm in the middle of the fourth inning cleared the field and stands while the umpires waited for a window to play. The game resumed after about a 45-minute delay, with Nipmuc up 5-0 and the Eagles up to bat.
On top of that, the Eagles were playing without one of their key seniors, Jessica Cloutier, who broke a finger in the team’s recent game against Pittsfield.
“That was a big loss for us, senior captain and catcher,” Robinson said. “So that kind of took our depth away.”
Nipmuc got its bats going early and often. The visitors notched a run in the first inning before going off in the second, scoring four runs on six hits to take a five-run lead.
Easthampton called a mound meeting after Nipmuc’s fifth hit in an effort to slow momentum, and the hosts managed to get out of the inning without allowing another run.
The Eagles got two runners on base in the third but couldn’t bring score them. They held Nipmuc to one hit in the third and fourth innings combined, and were ready to go back to the plate when the rain delay halted play. When it resumed, Scirocco was as strong as ever, striking out two batters before the visitors went on an offensive blitz in the fifth inning.
“We didn’t deliver it today. We’ve been struggling with the bats down the stretch here a little bit… we were working hard at it. We’ve been doing a lot of hitting, my arm is killing me from throwing,” Robinson said. “Hitting is just one of those things… early on in the year we were great, and we kind of just fell off and never really got our groove back.”
Nipmuc was patient at the plate and Easthampton pitcher Rosie Follet struggled with some control in the circle, walking six batters and allowing 11 hits in five innings. Easthampton got two outs after three batters in the fifth before the visitors scored eight runs in the fifth to take command of the game.
Despite the outcome and early postseason effort, Robinson made a point to highlight the senior class’ contributions to the program. Seniors Cloutier, McClaflin, Lauren Morse and Haley Routhier helped build a foundation that will last for years to come.
“These seniors, they took our program to new heights,” Robinson said. “You can’t take away the accomplishments that they had… They brought this program to be respected in the area, and their careers aren’t defined by one loss.”
Nipmuc advanced to the quarterfinals where it will meet the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 3 Clinton and No. 14 Blackstone Valley.
Hannah Bevis can be reached at hbevis@gazettenet.com. Follow her on Twitter @Hannah_Bevis1.