Burlington Central has happy Senior Day
In a season that has had its share of challenges, the Burlington Central softball team had a lot of reasons to smile Friday afternoon.
The Rockets broke out their bats against Harvard sophomore fireballer Lindsay Melson and notched a 7-5 Big Northern East win over the Hornets on Senior Day on Rocket Hill.
With a win at Hampshire on Tuesday, BC (10-10, 6-3) can secure second place in the BN-East. And while that may be small consolation to the five-time defending conference champs who finished third in Class 3A last season, it will be something positive to take into the postseason for a team that lost its 11-year head coach to a midseason resignation and is currently without its No. 1 pitcher due to shin splints.
"It feels awesome, especially for us seniors," said BC senior Ashley Scheffler of Friday's win. "We're just working hard so we can win more."
The Rockets wasted little time in getting to Melson, who came in with 284 strikeouts in 27 games. Scheffler's 2-run single in the bottom of the second staked BC to a 2-0 lead. She drove home courtesy runners Briana Collins and Molly Harrison, who were on base for catcher Sarah Kisch, who had doubled, and pitcher Kelsey Johnson, who had beat out an infield single.
BC then added 2 runs in the third. Haley Albamonte tripled and scored when Harvard (19-9, 5-4) threw away the relay throw. Emily Bell then tagged Melson, who did have 8 Ks, with a deep home run over the left-field fence, her third round-tripper of the season. It became a 5-0 game in the fifth when Kisch squeezed home Albamonte, who led off the inning with a single, and then 6-0 in the sixth when Sam Gruner's single scored Scheffler, who had walked and stole second. The advantage moved to 7-0 as Gruner went all the way to third on a throwing error and then scored on Albamonte's groundout.
And through six innings Johnson, a sophomore, shut Harvard down on just 3 hits. The Hornets made things interesting with 5 runs on 5 hits in the top of the seventh but Scheffler made a nice catch of Melson's foul popup along the third base fence to end the game. Johnson struck out four and walked two in earning her first varsity win. She has taken over the circle for the Rockets while senior Jet Kein is sidelined with shin splints.
BC also played errorless softball behind Johnson.
"That's the first time (Johnson) has gone seven innings in a varsity game," said Rockets' acting coach Lowell Oranger. "She was killer with her spots today and kept them off balance."
The win was also redemption for a 4-3 loss to Harvard on April 22.
"You gotta give our girls credit," Oranger said. "They came out and went after (Melson). We made the plays today. Our infield was solid. This is a good feeling for the seniors and it's coming at the right time."