NEWPORT — Fall Mountain rapped out 12 hits against a Newport team that made 10 errors, all of which led to an 18-4 Wildcat victory on Tuesday in an NHIAA Division III softball encounter.
The outcome, and particularly the run differential, were somewhat of a surprise. Newport was coming off a 17-1 season and brought back junior ace hurler Lacey McNeel, who pitched every inning of every game last spring. Meanwhile, Fall Mountain came into the game with a new coach and a team that lost its opener to Belmont, 15-1.
But what bothered Newport coach Sam McNeel proved to be worrisome indeed.
“I’ve been concerned about the defense from the start,” said the veteran coach, whose team allowed 11 unearned runs. McNeel also felt that a base-running collision involving his pitcher-daughter may have affected her arm speed, but he did not use that as an excuse.
“Hey, Fall Mountain put the ball in play, and we didn’t make the plays,” he said. “That’s what happened.”
McNeel did feel fortunate that his team will not have a long time to dwell on the game as his Tigers host Mascenic on Wednesday. “I’m glad we have another game right away,” he said.
He might not be so happy, as Mascenic is the team that knocked off his Tigers last spring in the quarterfinals.
Pitching honors on this day went to the Wildcats’ Chloe Vogel, who struck out 11 while allowing seven hits against two walks.
Lacey McNeel had to throw 144 pitches to finish the game. She fanned five and walked two.
It was a cool, windy day, and the breeze wreaked havoc with the high flies that the Newport outfielders had trouble tracking down. Still, there were Fall Mountain balls that simply eluded the Newport defense because they were hit hard and far.
Even though Fall Mountain lost its opener by a large margin, first-year coach Kevin Hicks still thought he has a good team.
“We had to get over what we did against Belmont and just play like we did today,” Hicks said. “Our pitching was outstanding, and we really hit the ball. This is the kind of team I thought we had.”
Fall Mountain scored its runs in bunches, getting four in the third, sixth and seventh innings and three in the fifth. The Wildcats never trailed in the game after taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Every Fall Mountain starter had at least one hit while Vogel and Tess Marsden each had two.
“We did this against a very good pitcher,” Hicks said.
Sophomore Shelby Adams had two of the Newport hits.
Newport was never able to put a big inning together against Vogel, who allowed single runs in the first and fourth innings before the Tigers got two runs in the fifth on RBI singles from Anna Laize and Lacey McNeel.
Vogel in one stretch struck out five straight for the Wildcats, who also have a game on Wednesday as Trinity comes to Langdon.