Spartan softball squad outlasts Arlington Catholic

LYNN – It would be tempting to say that Wednesday’s St. Mary’s-Arlington Catholic softball game was a little too close for comfort.Spartan coach Colleen Newbury would probably agree. But than again, she’s used to such things. Especially with the Cougars.”We always seem to have games like that against them,” said Newbury, following St. Mary’s 6-5 win. “We always seem to get a bunch of runs early and then we have a little lull. And it always seems like we have to manufacture something against them in the end.”The game followed the script. St. Mary’s jumped out to a 5-0 lead after only three innings with Brooke L’Abbe both the pitching and hitting star. Through three, L’Abbe kept the Cougars at bay, and she also struck a mammoth 2-run homer as part of a four-run third.”That one was hit well,” said AC coach Katie Jennings. “They have a very good-hitting team.”Then, however, the tables turned. The Cougars got two runs in the fourth and three more in the sixth – and also loaded the bases in the seventh, after St. Mary’s had retaken the lead, before L’Abbe got Courtney Leddy to end it with a foul pop to first base.”I think she was getting tired,” said Newbury, “but to her credit, she came out and pitched well in the seventh.”St. Mary’s started off with a run in the first on a walk to Alison Butler, a sacrifice bunt by Alex Fisher, and a base hit by Genevieve Benoit that scored the run.In the third, Butler reached on an infield single, and Fisher, again, sacrificed her to second. L’Abbe followed with a monstrous home run over the left-field fence to make it 3-0. But St. Mary’s wasn’t quite finished. Kaleigh Finigan doubled to left and Benoit walked ? and a double steal put runners at second and third.One out later, Cassandra LaFauci, who played a significant role in the game, punched a single to right that scored the fourth and fifth Spartan runs.But the Cougars, 4-3, kept chipping away. With one out in the fourth, Ellie Powers singled and scored on Caroline Smith’s double, with Smith taking third on the throw home. She scored on Melissa Donahue’s grounder to third.Arlington Catholic tied the game in the sixth. Pitcher Jamie Riccardi led off with a double and took third on Powers’ infield hit. Donahue grounded out to score one run, and after a walk to Leddy, who then stole second to put runners at second and third, Molly McLean hit a grounder up the middle that bounced crazily off second base and into no-man’s land between left and center, allowing both runners to score and tie the game.St. Mary’s got the tiebreaker right away, though. With one out, LaFauci doubled to left-center, and scored on Victoria Viger’s base hit to left.A pair of errors sandwiched around a walk loaded the bases with two out for Arlington Catholic, but L’Abbe got the final out.”We tried,” Jennings said. “We just came up short. It was a real tough loss.”Steve Krause can be reached at [email protected].