Austin Prep stops Cinderella Winthrop in its tracks

READING – The youthfulness in Winthrop’s lineup hadn’t shown itself during the Vikings’ first two wins in the Division 3 North tournament. On Tuesday, though, that inexperience finally proved to be costly.Austin Prep’s Lauren Kilp was dominant in the circle, striking out 11 and surrendering only four hits as she made a pair of early runs stand up for a 2-0 win that sends the Cougars to the North semifinals for a second straight season.The Cougars, who came in as the No. 12 seed, will face No. 8 North Shore Tech in the semis today (5) at Martin Field in Lowell.”Lauren pitched great,” first-year coach Kristen Thomas said. “She is our ace and we played really well behind her.”Winthrop (11-12) had a couple of chances to get on the board, but Kilp never blinked when the Vikings were rallying.”(Kilp) can pitch, there’s no doubt about that,” Winthrop coach Dave Guffy said. “And at this level, it comes down a lot to pitching. We probably played our best game of the year, it just wasn’t enough.”Winthrop nearly got the scoring started early as shortstop Courtney Finn missed a home run by two feet, ringing a 2-out double off the top of the centerfield fence. Kilp, though, whiffed cleanup batter Ashley Fiandaca to end the inning.The Cougars (14-7) also struggled to start the first as Elaina Lanza (six innings, 2 ER, 3K, 8H) got the first two batters. Then, however, eighth-grader Kaleigh Fitzpatrick ripped a shot to a nearly identical spot as Finn’s for a double. Abby Jamieson cashed in on the chance for Austin when she singled to right for a 1-0 lead.Kilp pitched around her own error in the second by striking out the side before her teammates played a little small ball to extend the lead in the bottom half.Grace Bonaiuto led off with a single and then went all the way to third on Jess Thulin’s sacrifice bunt, sliding in under Haley Benson’s tag. After Felicia Giuliano struck out, Liz Gillespie laid down a perfect bunt single that scored Bonaiuto for a 2-0 lead.”We got those big two-out hits early and that really helped us,” Thomas said.Kilp breezed through the third and fourth innings before running into a momentary roadblock in the fifth when Kristen Lanza singled with one out. Benson sacrificed her to second, but Lanza was caught trying to sneak her way to third by the Cougar defense, retiring her in a long rundown.”That was just a mental mistake,” Guffy said.Elaina Lanza was also doing her best to keep Winthrop in the game, stuffing the Cougars for the final five innings. The Vikings would have one final chance to chip away in the sixth as Abby Belcher led off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Lanza.That brought the dangerous Finn to the plate with a chance to make it a new game with one swing. But Kilp got her to pop out to Jamieson for the second out. Fiandaca went down swinging moments later and the Cougars escaped danger and were on their way to Lowell.”We battled the best we could. But the fact of the matter is that they had a little stronger pitcher,” Guffy said.