AMHERST – Between Sofia Holden throwing lights out from the circle and the rest of her Amherst teammates stealing bases left and right, Thursday’s game against Commerce was over from the first inning.
The Hurricanes stole a total of 15 bases, eight of those in the first inning alone, in a dominant 12-0 victory that needed just four innings. The win improved the Hurricanes’ record to 3-0.
“Our pitching is outstanding, (Holden) has been outstanding all three games,” Amherst head coach Bill Rahall said. “Pretty solid defense, we hit the ball and smart base running.”
Holden has been Amherst’s go-to pitching ace, and Thursday was no different. The junior threw the entire game for the home team, striking out 12 batters and walking none. Commerce was able to get on base with a couple of hits and errors, but the Raiders couldn’t bring anybody home. The visitors left three runners on base, one in the top of the third and two in scoring position in the fourth.
At the plate, Holden started the game off at the top of the order, drilling a triple to reach and jump-start the Hurricanes’ offense. The next two batters walked and catcher Maria Konieczny followed with an RBI and reached. From there, it was all Amherst – the home team scored seven runs in the first and worked through their entire lineup before a Commerce double play managed to slow the momentum.
Nina Holden, Konieczny, Grace Johnson, Luna Weiss, Stephanie Barton and Holden all drove in runs for Amherst.
“We got a lot of new girls out today, some of the younger ones and they all did a great job both hitting and in the field,” Holden said. “Everyone was communicating.”
The Hurricanes have some more experience this season, with their entire varsity team made up of returners. They also had enough players at tryouts this year to make a JV team, which has been a big boost for their depth and the future of the program.
After the offensive explosion in the first inning, Rahall moved around some players to new positions, in part to gain experience in new roles and in part because he’s still learning, too. Rahall is in his first year coaching the Hurricanes, taking over for Emma Mendoker.
“This is my first year here. I don’t know all the kids, (and) I got a bunch of younger kids,” Rahall said. “So I had the opportunity – (Commerce) is a decent team, [the score] was 7-0 for a long time. So I figured I’d give them a chance to feel the pressure of the game.”
No matter who was in what position, the Hurricanes defense held strong against Commerce. The visitors held Amherst off the board in the second and third, but walked a handful of players in the fourth inning that allowed the Hurricanes to score five more runs and secure the run-ruled victory.