Pinkerton softball comes back to beat Bishop Guertin

DERRY – The Pinkerton Academy softball team faces three challenges going into every game, and Tuesday, against Bishop Guertin High School, one of those challenges was to score in every inning.

The Astros didn’t quite meet that challenge, but they more than made up for it.

Pinkerton scored three runs in the fifth and six in the sixth to overcome a five-run deficit, and held off a Cardinals’ rally in the seventh to win 12-10.

Natalie Fabrizio led the Astros (10-5 in Division I) by going 4 for 4 with four RBIs, two triples, a double and three runs scored, as Pinkerton pounded out 11 hits and combined for five extra base hits. Melanie Dusseault got the win, as pitched the first two and the last two innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits and one walk while striking out four.

“I love our offense,” Pinkerton coach Terry Bailey said. “We got things elevated and we hit the ball hard.

“We didn’t play very well on defense. We made some poor defensive decisions. Yes, it was wet conditions. Yes, the outfielders were slipping. Yes, the ball came up wet, but we’ve got to be able to adjust to those conditions. We didn’t run the bases well. There were some very big blunders.”

But the Astros – who made four errors in the field – weren’t the only ones dealing with tough conditions and making mistakes. Bishop Guertin committed three, including two in Pinkerton’s six-run sixth, and struggled keeping the lead.

“That’s been a big topic of conversation for us, focus,” Cardinals coach Myia Yates said. “We have to make sure we stay focused throughout the entire game. We tried to rally right back and we just fell a little bit short.”

The Cardinals (7-8) had leads of 4-1, 5-3 and 8-3, but time Bishop Guertin got out in front, Pinkerton was able to get a little closer. But even when the Astros took a 12-8 lead in the bottom of the sixth, the lead wasn’t safe, as the Cardinals scored twice in the top of the seventh, and had two runners on when the final out was made.

“It was back and forth, like a lot of our games have been,” Yates said. “They’re always working hard and trying to support each other, which is what we need.”

Jacklyn Dubois went 2 for 4 with a home run and two runs scored to lead the Cardinals, while Katie Soraghan was also 2 for 4 with a RBI and a run scored. MacKenzie Marr took the loss, giving up eight earned runs on 11 hits and two walks with one strikeout.

Pinkerton also got a big offensive day from Heather Pelletier, who was 2 for 4, with two triples and two runs scored, and Kasey Marraffa, who had two hits, drove in a run and scored twice.

Both players are part of a group of seniors who are asked by Bailey to come up with a challenge before the start of each game. The Astros go into every contest with three such challenges – with two seniors providing two of them – and on Tuesday, scoring in every inning was one of them. Pinkerton came up an inning short, going in order in the fourth, but made up for it in other innings.

“When we first started doing this at the beginning, they weren’t very good at issuing challenges,” Bailey said. “The last couple of games, they’ve had some very good challenges.

“I think they’re getting it and issuing some nice challenges and learning as a team. These challenges aren’t always from the top down. It was nice that everybody was buying into it.”