Cape hurts Knights’ drive to playoffs
POLAND – When the Heal Points came out earlier this week, the Poland softball team saw its mission.
Sitting 11th in the Western Class B standings, clinging to the final playoff spot, the Knights faced three teams ahead of them in the standings with the chance to bolster their cause.
“We’re in charge of our own destiny,” said Poland coach Susan Robbins. “We had Lake Region, Cape and Gray (next) Tuesday. I told the girls that ‘If you knock one of those teams off, you’re assured to get into the tournament. If you don’t, it’s anyone’s guess after that.'”
After a 12-6 loss to Cape Elizabeth on Friday, two days after dropping the game to Lake Region, the Knights are running out of time and opportunities. Their season may come down to next week’s match-up with the seventh-ranked Patriots.
“We need to pull out some more wins here,” said Robbins. “We’re 4-11 now, certainly not where we thought we’d be at the beginning of the season.”
Poland’s hopes of knocking off the Capers didn’t last long. Cape (14-1) scored six runs in the first two innings and 12 in the first four. The Capers pounded out 16 hits.
“We’ve been hitting everybody,” said Cape coach Joe Henrikson, who figures his team can lock up the top seed in Western B with a win over York next week.
Allie Hendrix had four hits and drove in a run for Cape. Erica Legge had a pair of hits and three RBI. Diana Getchell, Ashley Barker and Margie Reid all notched a pair of hits for the Capers.
Poland tried two different pitchers to limit Cape’s potent offense. Freshman Brianna Pratte got the start and was relieved by Nicole Lovejoy in the third.
“I threw my freshman to start off, because I knew that they were going to be tough hitters,” said Robbins. “She has a good change but is a little slower than Nicole. I thought she’d be able to thrown them off balance. They came out and got some hits early, and that hurt us to get down a little bit.”
Poland managed five hits against Hendrix, Cape’s unbeaten freshman pitcher. Meghan McNally led the Knights with two RBI doubles.
A Christina Foley fielder’s choice and Getchell’s triple produced a quick 2-0 lead in the first for Cape. Poland got one back on a Kasey Darnell double in the bottom of the inning, but Cape broke the game open with four runs in the second, all with two outs.
“That’s something we really try to emphasize: not to give up on the inning,” said Henrikson. “I always try to profess that two outs doesn’t matter. Just keep hitting the ball and things happen.”
Legge had a two-run double, and Foley and Getchell each singled in runs. In the fourth, Cape added six more runs on four hits and three Poland errors. Reid drove in a run with a double, and Barker, Hendrix and Legge each cracked RBI singles for a 12-1 lead.
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