Endicott closes out TCCC schedule with two wins over WNEC

Beverly, Mass. – In a matchup of the top two teams in the TCCC standings, the Endicott softball team defeated Western New England in a conference doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon, both teams’ final regular season conference games of the season.  

Prior to today’s games, both Endicott (31-5, 23-1 TCCC) and Western New England (24-14, 18-6 TCCC) were locked in to the \#1 and \#2 seeds, respectively, in the upcoming TCCC Tournament. 

Boxscore

Endicott piled up seven runs in the first four innings and senior pitcher Jenna Bortolotti (Milford, Mass.) improved to 14-3 on the season following a complete game, shutout of the Golden Bears in game one. 

Bortolotti, who with the victory tied Endicott’s all-time career wins total with seventh shutout of the season, allowed only five hits and one walk while striking seven in the circle. 

Senior right fielder Hayley Hovhanessian (Farmington, Conn.) drove in a season-high four runs with a 2-for-4 day at the plate that included a two-run double to left field in the bottom of the first. She added a two RBI single up the middle in the fourth inning that put the Gulls up for good at 7-0. 

Sophomore Jocelyn Russo (Middletown, Conn.), sophomore Alexandra Moise (North Reading, Mass.) and freshman Jesse Bilafer (Concord, Mass.) each added RBI hits in the game. Russo’s was an RBI double to left center in the second while Moise and Bilafer knocked in runs via singles. Bilafer added her ninth stolen base of the season in this game.  

Western New England juniors Sarah Lempicki (Southington, Conn.) and Meagan Riemann (Dayville, Conn.) combined to strike out four batters but eight hits and six walks kept the Endicott hitters on base all game long. 

Golden Bears leading hitter, junior Rachel Wyrwa (Methuen, Mass.), went 2-for-3 in the plate with two singles.

Boxscore

The Gulls once again scored early in the second game of the doubleheader, crossing the plate twice in the first and once again in the second to build a 3-0 lead. Western New England pulled to within one run at 3-2 after scoring twice in the top of the third, but Endicott freshman Jennie Lacolla (Stoneham, Mass.) went the distance for her fourth win of the season. 

Lacolla (4-1), who also scored two runs after walking twice in the game, pitched seven strong innings despite allowing eight hits and a walk. She struck out three batters in the game. 

Hayley Hovhanessian continued her strong play at the plate with an RBI single through to right field in the top of the first that scored Jesse Bilafer. The Gulls added another run as the next batter, senior Ashley Wright (Merrimack, N.H.), hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Lacolla. 

Bilafer put Endicott up 3-0 in the bottom of the second with an RBI single to right field that plated Colleen Martin (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) who led off the inning with an infield single. 

Western New England put two runs on the board in the top of the third to pull within one of Endicott at 3-2.  Trish Breault (Millville, Mass.) singled with one out, then Maria Francese (Dalton, Mass.) drove a ball to left field that took a wild hop past the left fielder, allowing Breault to score from first base. With Francese on second, Rachel Wyrwa’s groundball was muffed by the first baseman causing the ball to roll into foul territory. Francese advanced to third then scored as the ball was loose.

Endicott got a run back in the bottom half of the inning on an odd play that included shortstop interference on a runner attempting to steal third base and a error on the ensuing throw, allowing a run to score. The tally put the Gulls up 4-2. 

The two teams exchanged runs in the fifth inning as Western New England’s Jeana Longo (Schenectady, N.Y.) roped an RBI single in the top half of the frame and Endicott’s Nicole Devlin (Dudley, Mass.) hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom half.  The score remained 5-3 over the final inning and a half to complete the scoring. 

Golden Bears pitcher Alyssa Obin (Plymouth, Mass.) pitched a complete game, allowing five runs, three of which were earned, on seven hits and four walks. She struck out three batters as the junior fell to 7-3 on the season. 

Endicott closes out their regular season with a road non-conference doubleheader against Wheaton on Saturday, April 30^th starting at 11:00 am. Western New England hosts Williams for two games tomorrow starting at 3:30 pm.