Softball: Hopkins Academy rally falls just short in 11-9 loss to Franklin Tech (PHOTOS)

By HANNAH BEVIS

Staff Writer

Published: 04-24-2023 8:48 PM

HADLEY — With the pressure mounting in Monday afternoon’s softball game between Franklin Tech and Hopkins Academy, you could cut the tension with a knife. 

A game that initially seemed over in the first few innings – the visiting Eagles raced out to a 5-0 lead after two innings and held a 10-3 advantage after 3½ frames – quickly turned into a barnburner as the Golden Hawks clawed their way back into the contest. 

Down two runs and needing three quick outs to get back to the plate, the Golden Hawks entered the top of the seventh inning with laser focus and rattled off three consecutive outs. Center fielder Daisy Vendetti caught two long fly balls and shortstop Taylor Barry and first baseman Jessie Markowski teamed up for a cleanly-executed 6-3 putout to end the inning. 

The momentum seemed to be with Hopkins Academy. What the hosts didn’t account for was Eagles pitcher Hannah Gilbert.

“I just knew I had to throw strikes,” the Franklin Tech pitcher said. “I struggled a little bit. And then I just knew I had to get serious.”

With ice in her veins, Gilbert got three strikeouts to leave one Hopkins runner stranded on first and the tying batter swinging at air as the Eagles escaped with an 11-9 win.

The visitors’ priority on Monday was hitting the ball better than their last game [a 1-0 win over Lee on Friday], and they certainly achieved that, finishing with 15 hits to improve to 6-1 on the season.

“We needed to hit the ball a little bit better than we did on Friday and we certainly hit the ball well,” Franklin Tech head coach Joe Gamache said. “Defensively, we made a couple of mistakes and [Hopkins] hit the ball well. This game was probably just about everything we expected. We figured it would be a tight game. They've got a lot of experience on their side.” 

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The Golden Hawks (5-2) took advantage of some of those defensive errors to get back into the game, and stole a dozen bases to put runners in prime scoring positions. Down 11-5 going into the sixth inning, the bats came alive for Hopkins – Markowski singled, Izzy Palmisano walked and both Vendetti and Barry drilled singles to keep the scoring coming. They plated three runs to make it a two-run game before Gilbert got a strikeout to end the inning. 

“(The energy) was really high. We were hitting, so that's contagious,” Barry said on the sixth inning. “Everyone just started hitting that inning and we were able to come back pretty good.” 

Some of Gilbert’s pitches hugged the very edge of the strike zone or just outside it, forcing Hopkins’ batters to choose between a potential strike call or swinging at a less than ideal pitch. 

“I really feel like a lot of the girls just really started to to be able to connect better with the pitcher and be able to see her pitches a little better (as the game went on),” Hopkins coach Paula Cristoforo said. “It can really shatter a batter's confidence when they're up there and they're having to go for strikes that are really down low or really outside. But I think they handled it all really well.” 

Hopkins starting pitcher Kaelyn Zakaitis, fresh off her milestone 200th career strikeout against Pioneer on Friday, struggled early to find the strike zone. She walked four batters in one and a third innings before Cristoforo made the decision to put in eighth-grader Cassie Dion, who finished out the game for the Golden Hawks. Dion tallied two strikeouts and relied on her experienced defense to clean up whatever hits Franklin Tech got. 

“Cass gives 150 percent every game, but the one thing I love about Cassie is she's going to go in and put the ball over the plate. She's going to allow us to just sit there and defend and make the plays,” Christoforo said. “So lot of things go into those decisions…. I just explained to (the team) it's not a decision that I actually take lightly.” 

Hopkins Academy will next host Mohawk Trail on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Hannah Bevis can be reached at hbevis@gazettenet.com. Follow her on Twitter @Hannah_Bevis1.]]>