MONMOUTH — Mallory Fairbanks surely did not make things easy for herself in Lisbon’s high school softball Mountain Valley Conference clash with Monmouth Academy on Monday.
Fairbanks walked 15 Mustangs, but made the right pitch at the right time in the Greyhounds’ 15-9 victory.
Lisbon improved to 7-2 and moved to the No. 2 spot in the Class C South Heal Point Standings, while Monmouth fell to 5-4 and sits at No. 5.
At the plate, Lisbon roughed up Monmouth ace Emily Chasse. The Greyhounds pounded out 13 hits and scored on all five walks the righty allowed, including intentional passes to Giana Russo in the sixth and Fairbanks in the seventh.
Of the 15 walks Fairbanks issued, only four touched the plate. Monmouth left 14 runners on base, including twice with the bases loaded.
“Our defense was really good and executed in those big moments,” said Fairbanks after striking out three and allowing seven hits.
“I told the girls, ‘You may have won, and a win is a win, but we can’t have that many errors and allow these little things to go,’” Lisbon coach Terri Tlumac said. “In games like this, those little things are often the difference between a win and a loss.”
This result came down to timely hitting. Lisbon had the hits, the Mustangs, on most occasions, did not.
“You have to have the key hits. We had that early, but it kind of slipped away,” Monmouth co-coach Dave Kaplan said.
Lisbon actually trailed 5-2 after five innings, as Chasse kept the Greyhounds off-balance after falling behind 2-0 early.
Monmouth grabbed a 4-2 lead during a three-run fourth inning. Abby Flanagan, who was 3-for-5, singled, and after a walk to Emily Kaplan, Chasse doubled inside the third-base bag to tie the game. Haylee Langlois followed with a two-run single to center field to break the tie, and Monmouth added a run in the fifth on an RBI double by Flanagan.
Lisbon rallied in the sixth to tie the game. Fairbanks singled for her third hit and moved to second on an error. After an intentional walk to Russo, Kiley Merritt singled in a pair. Merritt moved to second on a throw to the plate and trotted home with the tying run on a single by Morgan Fenderson.
“We threw the ball around a little bit. We have a lot of young players in this lineup, and at times it shows. Other times, they play really well,” Dave Kaplan said.
Things fell apart for Monmouth in the Lisbon seventh. The Greyhounds rallied for 10 runs, knocking Chasse out of the game after she threw 6 1/3 innings. She struck out four.
Carly Drischler walked to open the inning, and Brittany Norman sliced a double to left-center field. After an intentional pass to Fairbanks loaded the bases, Russo’s grounder was thrown wide of the plate, giving Lisbon a 6-5 lead. Later in the frame, Merritt tripled to score two Greyhounds, and Fenderson’s third hit sent Merritt home for an 11-5 advantage.
Fairbanks completed her 4-for-4 afternoon with a two-run triple and came home when Russo followed with a triple of her own, giving Lisbon a 10-run lead.
“Timely hitting is what makes or breaks a team. I was fortunate that my girls came through with solid contact,” Tlumac said. “The girls were really hungry to win today. The bats were going today, but it took a little while to put it all together.”
Monmouth rallied for four runs in the home half of the seventh, with Langlois picking two more RBIs with a bases-loaded single.
“We knew that we had to execute our plays. This was a big game for us. It is a huge win. Lisbon-Monmouth is a big rivalry,” Fairbanks said.
Chasse and Langlois were 2-for-4 at the plate for Monmouth, while Norman, Fenderson, Russo and Merritt added two hits apiece.
Lisbon is slated to host Mt. Abram on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
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