Make that four wins in a row for the Lynn Senior Little League Softball All-Stars in the East Regional Tournament.
Lynn closed the pool play stage of the tournament with an 8-1 win over Connecticut Tuesday at Worcester State’s Rockwood Park.
“The girls played awesome,” Lynn manager Chad Wilkins said. “The girls didn’t let their guard down. They played a solid game. It was another perfect game on defense. We didn’t make any errors. Everybody made at least one good play on the field. Our defense has stepped up. Pitching and defense have been the keys.”
Through four pool play games, the Lynners outscored their opponents by a 34-3 margin. They’ve yet to allow more than one run in a game.
“Coming into this, I felt very good about our team,” Wilkins said. “You’re always skeptical because you never know what the other teams are going to be like. Having been here before, I knew we’d face good competition but you also know the other teams are pretty much the same. Last year we hung tough in most of the games we played in. I feel we can play with everybody now. Everything’s clicking. Pitching, defense, timely hitting, everything a coach can ask for is clicking right now. I feel good. “
Lynn now shifts its attention toward preparing for the single-elimination stage of the tournament. The Lynners have emerged as the top seed from “Pool A” and will play Delaware (the No. 4 seed in “Pool B”) Wednesday afternoon (1) at Rockwood Park.
“Every game’s going to be hard now,” Wilkins said. “There’s no doubt about that. It’s do or die. This is when you see what the teams are made out of. But I’m very confident. We have a great team. We have a great group of girls that are getting better with every game. I feel great about our chances.”
Pitcher Ava Foglietta stepped into the circle and tossed seven stellar innings. Foglietta struck out eight and allowed five hits with two walks.
“Ava throws a lot of off-speed stuff with her fastball,” Wilkins said. “She kept a lot of batters off balance. It was great because she hasn’t pitched a lot, with Lily Newhall in the circle. To see Ava come out and pitch like that was awesome. It gives us the confidence that we can use her any time.”
Leadoff batter Julia Nickolau continued her solid streak at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one run scored.
Reese Brinkler provided the offensive spark with a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning. Brinkler finished 2-for-3.
“Reese started off hitting very well,” Wilkins said. “She went into a little bit of a slump the past two games. It was nice to see her break out. Seeing her hit the ball solid again is a great thing going into the next group of games. She’s our shortstop and she’s played phenomenal defense. Our whole infield has.”
Lily Newhall and Anna Fringuelli went 1-for-2 each, while Kaelyn Jennings went 1-for-1. Fringuelli and Jennings each scored one run.
