The Mt. Hope softball team crushed Ponaganset 8-0 in the Division II semifinal game at Rhode Island College on Friday afternoon. The Huskies have risen to the challenge and come together as a team through a difficult regular season and a plethora of playoff games to play in the championship against winner’s bracket finalist East Greenwich on Monday at 3:30 p.m.

It was the first time Mt. Hope beat the Chieftains this season. 

“We got clutch hits, great defense and great pitching from Reily,” said head coach Craig Giarrusso. “She pitched solid and kept them off balance. She did a great job as usual.”

Mt. Hope ace keeps Ponaganset off balance

Huskies ace Reily Amaral kept the Chieftains off balance all game, throwing a variety of pitches. The senior struck out 6, allowed 5 hits, no walks and no runs in 7 innings of work.

“I’m so excited. Third time’s a charm,” she said about the Huskies third trip in four years to play in the championship game at RIC. “We have such a good chance of winning both games. They are a very beatable team. The first time we didn’t know what to expect, but now we do.” 

Coach Giarrusso agreed, “We didn’t hit very well against them, but we have hit the ball well in the playoffs. It’s going to be a good game. We will work hard and we’re going to be ready for them.”

Huskies bash 11 hits, score 8 runs 

“The bottom of the order came through today for us,” said Coach Giarrusso. “Most of our run production came from the bottom of the order. I couldn’t be more proud of Kylie, Sofia and Sammy for coming through.” 

The Huskies offense flexed their muscled and bashed 11 hits off Ponaganset pitching with clutch hits by Kylie Rolando, Sofia Haberman and Sammy Malafronte.  Julia Allen, Reily Amaral, Haberman and Rolando each belted two hits, Hailey Ferreira, Malafronte and Chloe Simmons each laced one hit. 

Rolando (2 for 4, 2 RBI) put the Huskies on the scoreboard in the second inning. With two outs and Malafronte on second base, the senior laced a double into the left centerfield gap. Malafronte scored as the ball rolled to the fence to give Mt. Hope a 1-0 lead. 

Amaral (2 for 4, 2 runs scored) doubled to lead off the fourth inning and came around to score on a one out single by Haberman (2 for 4, 3 RBI) for a Huskies 2-0 lead. 

Ferreira (1 for 2 with 2 walks) drew a walk to lead off the fifth inning. Allen beat out a grounder to second base and Crowell walked to load the bases for Waddell the Huskies clean up hitter. She grounded to Chieftains short stop Maia Salvo, who threw home, but the speedy Ferreira beat the throw to give Mt. Hope a 3-0 lead. Malafronte (1 for 2 with 2 walks) stepped to the plate and ripped a one-out double to right field, plating both Allen and Crowell to increase the lead to 5-0. 

Amaral singled and Malafronte drew a walk with two outs in the seventh inning for Haberman batting seventh. The freshman left fielder smashed a triple to the right centerfield gap scoring both runners for a 7-0 lead. Rolando kept the rally going with a single to right plating the freshman for a Mt. Hope 8-0 lead. 

Defense makes key plays

The defense made key defensive plays when they needed it. The Huskies gobbled up 5 grounders and caught 6 fly balls for outs. Allen the Huskies shortstop snared a grounder in the second inning and cut down Alayna Medina at the plate, throwing a perfect strike to freshman catcher Ava Waddell who stood in and tagged Medina out. 

Crowell made a few key snags in centerfield. Haberman the left fielder, backed her up on a grounder to keep runners from scoring and Rolando caught a fly ball in right field. 

Waddell also caught back to back fly balls, the second ranging into foul territory in front of the Mt. Hope dug out, to thwart a Chieftains rally in the the seventh inning. 

“Sydney went out there and played a great game. She is normally our third baseman,” said Coach Giarrusso. “But we had to make a couple of changes to the lineup.” 

Coach Giarrusso and the team had to play without junior centerfielder Elsa White, who is away for the weekend. Crowell played centerfield and Coach Giarrusso down to just two subs, inserted senior Chloe Simmons at third base. Offensively, freshman second baseman Hailey Ferreira was moved to the leadoff spot in the batting order. She faired well, reaching base three times and scoring once.