LEESBURG, Fla. - The Haverford College Softball team (3-5) continued their quest through The Spring Games showcase, as the Fords went 1-1 on the day, falling to Lasell (2-5) 6-4, before shutting out Hamilton (4-4) 4-0, at the Sleepy Hollow complex in Leesburg, Florida.
Lasell 6, Haverford 4
Addie Sapirstien kicked the first game off with a bang, doubling to center field, only to scoot over to third base on a sacrifice from Jocelyn Leal. With Mia Kessinger at the plate, Sapirstein blazed home off a passed ball to give the Scarlet and Black an early 1-0 lead.
In the bottom half of the inning, Abigail Fortin of the Lasers answered back in a big way, tripling off Rachel McQueen to get into scoring position. Brianna Gendreau scored Fortin off an RBI single in the next at bat to level the game at one all. Gendreau got all the way to third base off a sacrifice from Mackenzie Still, and eventually came around to score off a one-run single from Katie Hopkins. The bags were juiced following a walk and single in the next two at bats, as McQueen was able to escape the jam after Leal threw Hopkins out at home, and Alyssa Bland grounded out to Leal to end the inning.
Both teams went scoreless in the second inning, before Haverford tacked on two more runs in the third inning. Leal climbed aboard first after a single, and darted to second base off a wild pitch. She then got to third, and came all the way around to score after a throwing error from the Lasers. Lauren Martin singled in the next at-bat, advancing Van Denburgh to second, before Van Denbrugh reached third base on a wild pitch and came home to score off an error by the Lasers' catcher. Lasell then picked up two consecutive outs to get out of the top of the third with Haverford in the lead at 3-2.
McQueen shutdown the Lasers in the bottom of the third only to have Eryn Sheeley of Lasell silence the Fords in the top of the fourth inning. Another RBI single from Gendreau leveled the game at 3-3 heading into the fifth inning.
The Scarlet and Black bats got cold, as the Laser bats warmed up in the bottom of the fifth. Sheeley proved she can do it all after giving Lasell the 4-3 lead off an RBI double in the second at-bat of the bottom half of the fifth inning. She came around to score off an RBI single from Bland, before an Ally Kirck RBI triple put the Lasers up 6-3, heading into the sixth.
Haverford was able to pull one back in the sixth, as Sapirstein got on base after a lead off single. The sophomore got to second base after Maddie Etheridge was hit by a pitch, and then scurried to third off a wild pitch to Sarah Fan. Fan knocked Sapirstein in with an RBI single, as the Fords trailed just 6-4, hoping their defense could stand tall in the bottom of the sixth.
After a scoreless inning from Kaleigh Bodak, who relieved McQueen in the fifth, Van Denuburgh got on base due to an error in the outfield. She made it to third base off a wild pitch, but was unable to cross home plate, as the Lasers held on for the victory.
Haverford 4, Hamilton 0
Kaleigh Bodak was the star of the show in game two, as the first-year pitcher pitched a complete game shutout, giving up just one hit, one walk, while striking out two Continentals.
Neither team could buy a run in the first two-and-a-half innings of the ballgame, as Haverford finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning. Tessa Pearlstein led off the bottom half of inning number three with a two-bagger, and advanced to third base off of a sacrifice bunt from Abby Litchfield. The next batter up was Maddie Etheridge, as she got hit with a pitch and eventually stole second base to give the Scarlet and Black two runners in scoring position.
Next up was Addie Sapirstein, who got on first due to an infield error, as Pearlstein and Etheridge came around to score to give the Fords a 2-0 lead. After Sapirstien got to third via a Sarah Fan single and a Mia Kessinger fly out, Kyra Van Denburgh walked to load up the bases. However, a Lauren Martin flyout stranded the bases loaded, heading into the fourth inning.
Litchfield helped the Scarlet and Black add on another run in the fourth, knocking in Jocelyn Leal with an RBI single to push the advantage to 3-0.
As Bodak kept silencing the Continentals' bats, the Fords found run number four after Fan got her second of three hits on the day. Fan moved over to second base off a passed ball, and then came around to score on a Van Denburgh RBI single, to give the Scarlet and Black a commanding 4-0 lead.
Bodak continued to mow down the Hamilton lineup, and finished off the complete game shutout, picking up her third win of the season, in a 4-0 victory.
The Fords return to action Friday, March 14, for the final day of action on the spring break trip as they take on Susquehanna at 4:15 p.m. and Juniata at 6:30 p.m. The contests are slated for the Legends Way Ballfields in Clermont, Florida.