Hennequin pitches Pinkerton softball past Merrimack

MERRIMACK – The Pinkerton Academy softball team doesn’t have many upperclassmen this season, but on Monday, the Astros’ lone senior came up big.

Samantha Hennequin pitched a complete game, striking out five while allowing three hits and walking two, and also drove in the only run Pinkerton would need in a 3-0 win over Merrimack

Hennequin’s single in the first inning scored Kinsey Manchester and Kaylie DeCosmo added a two-run double in the fourth, as the Astros (2-4 in Division) won for the second time this season.

“I asked them to do two things before the game,” Pinkerton coach Terry Bailey said. “I asked them to make the other team make plays on defense, and I asked for us to make the plays that we had to. The later one, I thought we did, we made the plays. Even though we scored, I would have liked to have seen us battle (at the plate) and make more defense happen.”

Merrimack (1-5) got solid pitching from starter Taylor Irvine, who went four innings and allowed three runs on four hits and two walks, and from Brittany Camara, who struck out seven in the final three innings.

Although both teams pitched well and were solid defensively, it was a lack of offense that hurt the Tomahawks.

“The pitching looked really good, defensively we were pretty sound, but a hundred percent of the time, you’re going to lose if you don’t put a run across the board,” Merrimack coach Jim Peltak said. “We haven’t been able to produce runs this season and it’s costing us games.”

The closest Merrimack came to getting on the board was in the bottom of the first inning.

Pinkerton took a 1-0 lead after Manchester was hit with the first pitch of the game, went to second on a passed ball and scored from there on Hennequin’s single.

Camara led off the bottom of the inning with a single, stole second, and with one out, advanced to third on a groundout. With Holly Lewis in an 0-2 hole, Hennequin’s next pitch was high, and when Pinkerton catcher Lauren Phillips threw the ball back, Camara broke for home.

Hennequin quickly got the ball back to Phillips, who put her left foot in front of the plate. Camara slid into Phillips’ leg and the Pinkerton catcher applied the tag to end the inning.

“If she had made the plate, she would have been safe,” Peltak said. “We had that down, it was just unfortunate that she didn’t make the plate. Maybe that changes things. You can’t win with one run.”

The Astros added two more in the fourth, as Courtney Collins and MacKenzie Anderson hit back-to-back singles with one out. Sam Comeau came in to run for Collins, and both runners advanced on a grounout by Kelly Fitzsimmons.

DeCosmo, the Astros’ No. 9 hitter, followed with a double to left-center that scored both runners to give Pinkerton a 3-0 lead.

“We’ve got to scrap,” Bailey said. “But at the same time, the second run that scored was on a pinch runner (Comeau) because there was no way our other runner was going to score on a hit to the outfield. You have to take advantage of opportunities.”

Merrimack had a final opportunity in the bottom of the seventh, when Jessica Lavoie reached on a one-out single and went to second on a groundout. Laura Peltak walked to put two runners on, but Hennequin induced a fly ball to centerfield for the final out of the game.

Both teams go on the road on Wednesday, as Merrimack heads to Manchester Central and Pinkerton travels to Concord.