Patient Hurricanes Stay Unbeaten
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Ella Bissaillon went 3-for-4, and the Hoosac Valley softball team worked 12 walks in a 13-3, five-inning win over Taconic on Tuesday.
Gracelyn Wright went the distance in the circle, striking out three, as she ran her record and the team’s record to 6-0 this spring.
Hoosac Valley needed just one single from its 3-4-5 hitters who, just 24 hours earlier, pounded out nine hits, including two home runs and a double, in a 15-11 win over Wahconah.
Hurricanes coach Mike Ameen was happy to see his players display patience at the plate.
“Ted Williams said, ‘To be a good hitter, you’ve got to swing at good pitches,’ “ Ameen said. “And that’s what I told them today: Swing at good pitches. They looked for good spots, made contact when they had to and were willing to take the walk.
“Izzy Tart, my best hitter, to her credit she stands there, and she takes it. She doesn’t just swing because she wants to hit the ball. She’s patient at the plate, and it makes her a better hitter. I’m proud of them for being patient and taking what they give us, basically.”
Tart, who is hitting .500 with 15 RBIs and three home runs through six games, went 0-for-1 with three walks and scored twice on Tuesday.
A Hoosac Valley team that has been known to crush a half-dozen extra-base hits with regularity had just one on Tuesday, a first-inning double by Genevieve Lagess, and that did not factor into the scoring.
That scoring started in the top of the second inning, when the Hurricanes stormed out to a 5-0 lead.
After two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases, Bissailon reached on an infield single, and an error allowed a second run to score and her to reach second base.
Harper Bialas then drove in a run with a single and stole second to put runners at second and third with nobody out for the top of Hoosac Valley’s lineup. Wright and Gianna Witek brought runs in on back-to-back RBI groundouts to give their team a five-run advantage.
The Hurricanes stretched that lead to six before Taconic used four straight hits to score two runs in the bottom of the third. Madi Barber and Kylie Duhamel each drove in a run during the inning.
Hoosac Valley answered with a seven-run fourth inning that brought the run-rule into play.
Six more walks factored into that inning, which also saw Witek (2-for-4, three RBIs) drive in two runs on two singles.
Taconic coach Bree Goddard said fatigue may have factored into her pitchers’ trouble staying in the strike zone.
“I think they were just having a hard time today,” Goddard said. “Four games in a week with one day off on Sunday. … It’s just tough. And we don’t have anybody that their main position is pitching, so we try to build with what we have.”
The Thunder kept plugging away offensively. Barber worked a one-out walk in the bottom of the fifth. She moved up on Duhamel’s double and scored on Toni Ahoussie’s RBI single up the middle with two out. But Wright got the final out on a groundball to Witek at short.
Unfortunately for the Thunder, that ended the game.
“I thought we were just starting to get our bats going,” Goddard said. “Unfortunately, it took us too long to get our bats going. Our pitchers were doing the best they could. Hoosac’s a a great team to play. We knew coming in it was going to be a hard game.
“It’s nice. This is the first time we’ve seen some strong pitching. Going from a little bit slower pitching to faster pitching, it’s hard to adjust. But it’s nice to see it. Good team to play.”
Taconic (3-4) has two more games this week: Thursday and Friday at home against Mount Greylock and McCann Tech, respectively.
Hoosac Valley is back on the road Thursday to face Monument Mountain.
Coming off a 20-4 season that included a trip to the state quarter-finals with most of the roster intact, the Hurricanes are doing a good job staying focused on the task at hand.
“We come in like we can get beat every day, that’s my philosophy,” he said. “I don’t care who we’re playing. And [Taconic] could have easily beaten us. But, in general, my attitude is: I don’t care who we’re playing. That team can beat us. I think it filters into them a little bit.
“I saw a quote from the UCLA women’s basketball coach [Cori Close]. She said, ‘Your talent is the floor, your character is the ceiling.’ I brought that to the team, because that is exactly it. They’re very talented, but the talent is what they expect you to be at. In order to reach your heights, you have to have character, meaning how hard you work, how good a teammate you are, all the little things.
“I kind of like that quote.”