LOWELL – It’s amazing how smoothly things go when everything goes smoothly.The St. Mary’s softball team knows that today. The Spartans got good pitching, timely hitting, and great defense Saturday and defeated Austin Prep, 6-2, to win their second straight Division 3 North championship.Click here for a photo gallery.The Spartans, seeded 15th in their sectional, will play in the state semifinal Wednesday (5) at Taunton High against Cohasset, the top seed in the South.”It’s amazing,” said Spartan coach Colleen Newbury, “how well things go when everyone does what they’re supposed to do. Our defense was terrific, and we got great pitching.”A true star is emerging for St. Mary’s in this tournament, and it’s junior catcher Erin McAndrews, who, once again, got the Spartans started with a big RBI in the third inning. McAndrews also provided the anchor behind the plate, calling pitches for both sophomore Vanessa LaFauci and junior Sam Kiley as St. Mary’s stuck with the tandem that has seen it through the tournament thus far.”She continues to get big hits for us,” Newbury said of McAndrews. “I don’t know why people even pitch to her.”McAndrews, of course, is used to this atmosphere. She’s been on the team since she was in the seventh grade, and in that time, she’s been to three North finals and won two, back-to-back. In addition, she’s been an integral part of two state championship girls hockey teams.”(The hockey) helps,” she said. “I’m used to the pressure of playing in big games.”After Austin Prep pitcher Lauren Kilp retired the first nine Spartans in order (“it seems it takes one time through the order for us to scope the pitcher out, or something,” said Newbury), St. Mary’s got down to business in the fourth. With one out, Maria Nazzaro grounded a single into center that got under Kerry Duran’s glove and rolled almost to the fence. The speedy Nazzaro wound up on third on the two-base error.McAndrews then smoked one over Duran’s head for a double, as Nazzaro scored easily. Kristen Mondello followed with a triple, with pinch-runner Michelle Macchione coming home; and Ariel LaRosa’s single scored Mondello.”I was really happy for Ariel,” Newbury said. “She’s really been struggling.”Kristina Burri led off the next inning with a walk, and when Nazzaro tried to bunt her along, Austin Prep committed an error, allowing Burri to take third and Nazzaro to stop at second. This time, the Cougars did walk McAndrews to load the bases, but LaRosa’s grounder scored Burri with the fourth Spartan run.Austin Prep finally scored off LaFauci in the fifth when pinch-hitter Rebecca Tweady reached on an error and eventually came around to score while St. Mary’s was intentionally walking leadoff hitter Alex Gustafson.But that didn’t deter the Spartans. Pinch-hitter Angela Dandreo led off the sixth with a triple and made it 5-1 after Burri reached on an error. And in the seventh, St. Mary’s made it 6-1 when McAndrews tripled and LaRosa grounded out, bringing the run home.Kiley pitched the final two innings to nail down the win, surviving a rocky seventh as an error and sacrifice fly produced a run for the Cougars.”We gave them a little excitement,” said Newbury.