FALMOUTH – It’s been a long time coming.
But thanks to some pretty spectacular pitching from Kathleen Desmond and a 20-run onslaught from her Clipper teammates, the Falmouth High softball team made the most of its last chance to qualify for the postseason Wednesday afternoon at home with a 20-0 shutout of the Sandwich Lady Knights (5-13).
Clipper hurler Kathleen Desmond delivered a postseason tourney berth for Falmouth for the first time since 2001.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
With the win, Falmouth ended its regular season yesterday at an even 10-10 and for the first time in nearly 15 years qualified for the MIAA South Sectionals.
Desmond, a junior righty, allowed just one hit and struck out 10 Lady Knights in five innings of work
Clipper catcher and senior captain Kelly Ferreira paced the hitting attack with a pair of baseknocks and two runs batted in, but it was teammate Kat Bresko who drove in a pair of runs in the first frame that solidified all the run-scoring Desmond would need to shut down the usually tough Lady Knights.
Nantucket Whalers Qualify for Postseason with Hard-Earned Win over Red Raiders
The last time host Nantucket and Barnstable High faced each this season, it was a 15-1 Whalers’ rout.
But the Barnstable High softball girls, even without hope of a postseason berth, made their host Whalers earn every bit of their own postseason, 7-3, tourney-clinching win yesterday on the island.
Nantucket’s Kezia Duarte belted a first-inning three-run homer after a pair of infield errors to lead off the bottom half of the frame in this non-league contest and the blast staked the hosts with a 3-0 lead after one.
Barnstable came storming back in the top of the second inning with a pair of runs after Mia Crawley led off with a triple and came home on a Rachel Creswell basehit, followed by a Shyanne Pires RBI-hit to drive in Creswell that made it 3-2.
Nantucket picked up one more in the top of the third inning to make it 4-2 and the Red Raiders kept at it with another run of their own in the bottom half of the frame. Danielle Curtin led off the third with a single and stole second base and Jaime Corey drove her in to make it 4-3.
That was all the Red Raiders would be afforded by Whaler ace Samantha Stewart as the pitcher blanked the guests the rest of the way. Stewart struck out seven for the complete-game win.
Nantucket tacked on a pair of runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth for the 7-3 finale.
Farrell Duce and Chitester both went 3-4 for the Whalers while Barnstable’s Crawley went 2-3 and Corey went 2-4.
Barnstable wraps up its season on Saturday on the road versus Sandwich at 11:00 am. Nantucket faces Sandwich tomorrow (Friday) at home.
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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