Softball Drops Two on Final Day in Myrtle Beach

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.—The Anna Maria College softball team completed their eight-game stay at the Fastpitch Dreams Tournament in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with a pair of losses.

With today's results, the AMCATS head home with a 2-6 record.

Wilkes 5, Anna Maria 4

In the opener, the AMCATS matched the Wilkes in hits, as both teams finished with six apiece, but Wilkes struck first with three runs in the first inning.

All three of Wilkes' first-inning runs were unearned, as an error in the outfield with two outs set Wilkes up for the 3-0 lead.

Anna Maria would respond with three runs of their own in the top of the third inning as Kathryn Moran (Leicester, Mass.) singled to left-center to score Shannon Latour (Millbury, Mass.) and Elizabeth Haggerty (Charlton, Mass.). Two batters later, Justine Lalonde (Shirley, N.Y.) also singled to score Moran.

Wilkes reclaimed the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, and they held the 5-3 lead until the top of the seventh. Anna Maria staged a comeback in their last at-bat, as they strung together two hits and scored Haggerty on a sacrifice fly by Moran. The tying run was stranded at second base as the game ended on an unassisted put-out by Wilkes' first baseman.

Moran led the AMCATS with two hits, three RBI, and a run. Wilkes received two hits from both Ally Paskas and Alex Hoops.

Angela Vousboukis (Swampscott, Mass.) took the loss in the circle for Anna Maria, sacrificing six hits, five runs and three walks while fanning one in six innings of action. Kim Jones earned the win for Wilkes, giving up three hits, three runs and two walks while striking out four in six innings. Christina Gambino earned the save.

Gwynedd Mercy 8, Anna Maria 0

Gwynedd Mercy pitcher Jennifer Whalen held the AMCATS to four hits and scored two runs offensively from the lead-off slot to lead her team to an 8-0 win against Anna Maria.

The Griffins struck first in the bottom of the first, as Whalen scored on ground-out by teammate Jessica Mower. They added another solo run in the bottom of the third to lead 2-0 after three innings. The fifth inning saw two runs cross the plate, as MaryKate Ballerino doubled to left field to score Whalen. Ballerino would then score on a passed ball.

A five-hit sixth inning would score four runs to end the game in the sixth inning. Ballerino finished the game with a game-high three hits, while Nikki Canfield finished with two.

Anna Maria saw hits from Amanda Lemire (Methuen, Mass.), Jacqueline Lapierre (Worcester, Mass.), Samantha Miller (Dudley, Mass.), and Lalonde.

Nichole Lowe (Saugus, Mass.) took the loss in the circle, giving up nine hits and five walks with four strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work.

The AMCATS will be idle until Saturday, March 21^st, when they travel to the University of St. Joseph (Conn.) for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader beginning at 1:30 p.m.