Reily is a competitor. She gives everything she’s got. Reily got a good pitch to hit, took a great swing at it and got a great result. She’s been one of our offensive leaders all year. It’s difficult to be a leader on both sides of the field. This season she’s done a great job at being a leader all the way around.”

Huskies head coach Craig Giarrusso

Huskies' ace Reily Amaral fanned nine and clouted a three-run homer as the Mt. Hope softball team outlasted Johnston 8-5 in the second round of the Division II loser’s bracket playoffs at the high school on Thursday. The Huskies beat West Warwick 6-0 in the opening round of the playoffs on Thursday 6/1, then fell to 2 seed Ponaganset 3-2 on Wednesday 6/7, after getting rained out on Tuesday afternoon. 

“We are hitting the ball very well,” said Huskies’ head coach Craig Giarrusso. “I think we’ve turned the corner.”

The Mt. Hope bats broke out for 10 hits and scored 8 runs in three innings. Sydney Crowell belted 3 hits, Julia Allen, Ava Waddell and Amaral each smacked two hits and Elsa White, Sammy Malafronte and Hailey Ferreira each had one hit. Mt. Hope scored one run in the second inning, five in the third and two more in the fourth against Johnston pitchers Haley Boudreau and Janina Mazzulla.

Huskies go on an offensive tear

After a scoreless first inning, the Huskies went on an offensive tear. Amaral led off the second inning with a single. She took second base on a passed ball and came around to score on a one-out double by Ferreira, the Huskies freshman second baseman to give Mt. Hope a 1-0 lead. 

White singled to lead off the third inning. Allen walked and Crowell reached on an error to load the bases. Waddell lined a grounder through the left side and into the outfield. It was ruled an error but White and Allen each came around to score to give Mt. Hope a 3-0 lead. Amaral stepped to the plate with Johnston reeling and crushed an 0-2 pitch over the right centerfield fence for a three run homer to give Mt. Hope a commanding 6-0 lead. The bench emptied to greet their senior pitcher with affection at the plate. 

“Reily is a competitor," Coach Giarrusso said. "She gives everything she’s got. Reily got a good pitch to hit, took a great swing at it and got a great result. She’s been one of our offensive leaders all year. It’s difficult to be a leader on both sides of the field. This season she’s done a great job at being a leader all the way around.”

Allen led off the fourth with a walk. She stole second and scored on a single by Crowell for a Huskies 7-0 lead. Waddell hit a screaming grounder up the middle, but Johnston shortstop made the grab and rolled onto second base to get Crowell for the first out of the inning. 

The freshman catcher went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a base hit by Sammy Malafronte to give Mt. Hope an 8-0 lead. 

Meanwhile Amaral was dealing. The flame-throwing righty fanned 6 in the first four innings and allowed just one hit and 2 walks. But the ace began to develop a problem with the toe on her drag foot and struggled in the last three innings. Johnston managed a single run in the fifth, Boudreau blasted a towering shot over the center field fence to cut the lead to 8-1. 

Amaral allowed a second homer, this time a grand slam to Johnston two hitter, Alexia DiLorenzo, to cut the lead to 8-5. 

Amaral rebounded and struck out three hitter Arianna Velasquez on three pitches to end the game. 

“Reily is having an issue with her toe. It’s affecting her pitching and it’s something that I’m worried about,” said Coach Giarrusso. “Defensively, we need to tighten up a bit in certain areas. But the concern is Reply’s toe.”