LISBON — Senior Jasmin Le was a bit tired after Friday’s Mountain Valley Conference high school softball game.
She had good reason.
Along with catching for seven innings in the heat, Le got a workout running the bases, launching two triples and doubling in the Greyhounds’ 12-3 victory over Mountain Valley.
“I was seeing her pitch coming better than usual,” said Le, who was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBIs against Falcons pitcher Emily Laubauskas. “Those hits were pretty key. We were down and they were getting runs in. We really needed that.”
“Those were big hits for us, and as a senior captain, she does everything for the best interest of the team, giving her heart and soul,” Lisbon coach Terri Tlumac said.
In the early going, it was Mountain Valley (4-6) that came out swinging. The Falcons ripped eight hits in the first four frames. However, the visitors left eight runners on base in those four innings and were unable to extend a 3-1 second-inning lead.
“Base-running killed us in the early innings, and we should have scored a couple more runs there,” Mountain Valley co-coach Gary Dolloff said. “I give Lisbon credit … they can hit the ball really hard. But, we know that we should have been up four or five runs early.”
Lisbon chipped away at the Falcons lead, scoring single runs in the first, second, fourth and fifth innings. It was Le’s first triple that tied the game in the fourth frame. During her team’s eight-run sixth, Le tripled to score a run and drove in two more with a bases-loaded double.
Close call
Laubauskas started the game off with a long drive to left field. She trucked around second and dove head-long into third. But, the relay throw from Lisbon shortstop Brittany Norman to third baseman Mallory Fairbanks was in time for the game’s first out.
The Falcons loaded the bases later in the first, but Greyhound pitcher Alyssa Hall grabbed a soft line drive to end the frame.
Carly Drischler walked with two outs in the Lisbon first and scored on a double by Fairbanks for a 1-0 lead.
However, Mountain Valley quickly answered in the second. Laubauskas singled to score Avery Sevigny to tie the game, and a dropped fly ball allowed two more Falcon runs to cross the plate, making for a 3-1 contest.
An RBI double by Hall in the second scored Le, and Lisbon tied the contest in the fourth when Le tripled to left-center field, scoring Ali Sult. The Greyhounds grabbed a 4-3 lead in the fifth when Norman doubled and trotted home on a two-hit single by Fairbanks.
Lisbon put it away in the sixth, as 12 Greyhounds came to the plate. Le’s second triple made it a 5-3 game, and Morgan Fenderson, Drischler and Giana Russo each picked up RBIs before Le launched a two-run double to cap the uprising.
“Coming into this game, we knew (Mountain Valley) could hit the ball and they came out pretty aggressive and we had to match their intensity level,” said Tlumac. “Around the fourth inning we decided to start hitting the ball. We hit when we needed it, and we drove in runs we needed to.”
After a shaky start, Hall settled in, retiring 11 of the final 13 hitters she faced. She finished with two strikeouts and walked two. Norman, Drischer, Fairbanks and Sult each had two hits as Lisbon pounded out 14 hits.
Laubauskas struck out four and walked one in going the distance for Mountain Valley. She also had three hits (3-for-4, run, two RBIs), while Sevigny went 2-for-3 and Mazza reached base three teams (two walks, single).
“They play hard, come out and play every game, and we just hope that we can get a big win that leads us into the playoffs,” Dolloff said.
For Lisbon, routine has been a good thing.
“Now that we’ve gotten into the routine, playing four games in a week, the girls are starting to feel that,” Tlumac said. “We needed to get into a groove.”
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