Rams knock English softball out of postseason

LYNN – If ever there was a day to sing the theme song to the musical Oklahoma, Thursday would have been it at Keaney Park.Winds gusting over 30 MPH turned the diamond behind Lynn English into a scene right out of the Grapes of Wrath as dust made just seeing the ball impossible at times. Yet through it all, the Classical softball team played flawlessly as Hannah Byrne’s four hits and Jenny Garrity’s three-hit shutout on the mound resulted in a 7-0 victory that ended English’s postseason aspirations on senior day.Click here for a photo gallery.”We played really well in all aspects of the game,” said Classical coach Chris Warren, whose team has gone 5-1 down the stretch. “We knew the wind was going to be a factor and we did well with it.”The Bulldogs (7-11) never could get anything going in a game they had to have. After failing to convert on a couple of early chances, English committed five errors that helped the Rams break the game wide open.”You’re not going to win many games when you don’t hit and make errors like we did,” English coach Alisa Fila said.Classical struck right off the bat against English starter Tiffany Drown. Jennie Erekson drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a passed ball. She scored on the first of Byrne’s four hits, a double down the left field line.Garrity nearly gave the run right back in the bottom of the first, walking Val Fiaccaprili and Jen Mageary to begin the inning. That brought the ever dangerous Cara Crowley to the plate, but Garrity got her to ground into a 6-4-3 double play that helped the Rams escape trouble.English threatened again in the bottom of the second as Garrity issued a lead-off walk to Amanda Witunsky. Following a sacrifice and a groundout, Larissa Paula drew English’s fourth walk of the game, but Garrity struck out Taylor Newhall to end the inning.Classical’s ace then settled down and did not issue another free pass the rest of the day, allowing only three baserunners over the final five innings.”Jenny was phenomenal,” Warren said. “She kept her composure early and battled through it.”The Rams upped the gap to 2-0 in the third when Byrne reached on an infield single and went to second on an error. After moving to third on a groundout, she scored when Garrity’s grounder back to the mound was thrown away.Neither team scored in the fourth before Classical exploded in the fifth, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring four times to put the game on ice.Erekson and Byrne singled to open the inning. An errant throw on a steal attempt by Byrne made it 3-0 before Chelsey Bartlett singled home Byrne for a 4-0 lead. Bartlett went to third via an error on the play.After Garrity popped out to short, Fallon Gaudet brought Bartlett in on a fielder’s choice. After a strikeout, Rachel Carroll singled and Kayla Walleston walked to load the bases. Leadoff batter Katie Fitzgerald then delivered another RBI fielder’s choice, scoring Gaudet for a 6-0 lead.That margin was more than enough for Garrity, who was on cruise control by this point, allowing only one runner to reach second in the final innings. Classical added a final run in the seventh before Garrity got the Bulldogs in order to seal the win.