Newport
That didn’t seem to scare Newport freshman pitcher Lacey McNeel, however, who threw a gem of her own in a cold and windy game that came down to the final inning.
Frederick and McNeel gave little ground in what turned into an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel. The pair combined for 31 strikeouts against 50 batters faced and allowed only four hits and four walks between them in a 1-0 Sunapee victory. Frederick broke the scoreless tie on two Newport errors with one out in the top of the seventh, the Lakers’ lone offensive spark.
“It was going to be who made the first mistake, or just that one opportunity that — a walk or an error — that one situation,” said Sunapee head coach Bonnie Cruz. “You just don’t know (when that’s going to come).”
Frederick led off the seventh with a high fly ball to right field that eluded Tigers outfielder Hannah Clark, allowing Frederick to advance to third base. McNeel struck out the next batter, Faith Larpenter, to hold Frederick on, but Newport catcher Stacia Dame couldn’t handle a bunt from the Lakers’ Jessica Parsons, throwing low to Tigers first baseman Alyssa Burr. Parsons reached first safely, and Frederick scored the game’s only run.
It was Newport’s only rough spot in a game that was dominated by McNeel, who struck out 12 and gave up one walk, two hits and the one unearned run in a complete-game effort.
“It’s huge for this team because we really don’t have any senior leadership at all,” said Newport head coach Sam McNeel. “I lost eight seniors last year, two pitchers. Now I got two freshmen pitchers. It’s tough.”
Both coaches were disappointed by their teams’ offensive afternoons. Cruz said the weather, as well as spring vacation week for both schools last week, could have contributed to the lack of hitting.
“I think coming off vacation and not seeing any pitching like Lacey is definitely something that hurt us today,” Cruz said. “She just has good speed, consistent. She was mentally engaged; she was throwing a great game. We haven’t come across (a pitcher like that).”
Sam McNeel added: “They weren’t very disciplined at the plate, unfortunately. Against a good pitcher, you have to be more disciplined. If we had been, we could have put the ball in play a little more.”
Sam McNeel said Monday’s loss felt like a missed opportunity for a Newport squad that graduated most of its infield and senior pitchers Samantha McNeel and Stephanie Carl.
“It’s going to come down to how our freshman pitchers come along,” the Newport coach told the Valley News earlier this spring. “It would be nice to finish over .500.”
The Tigers are 4-2 heading into a stretch of three games in four days, starting today at Hanover, and have outscored opponents, 80-30, in their first six games.
Cruz said Lacey McNeel’s speed seemed to catch her team off-guard. Frederick finished the game with 19 strikeouts, but it was her two walks — one in each of the first two innings — that Cruz said she’d like to see her clean up.
“I would still like to see her keep her walks down, a little bit,” Cruz said. “In a game like this, one hit and a walk could be a disaster. As much as it was a good game, there are still a lot of things we’ve learned and things we can do better.”
Still, Sunapee has all the early signs of yet another championship squad, with the postseason experience of a group of athletic girls who have won four straight state championships and six over the last seven sports seasons between girls soccer, girls basketball and softball. Monday’s victory was the Lakers’ third straight shutout and only D-IV’s Colebrook (4-0) and Gorham (6-0) seem to be playing on the same echelon.
“Defensively, they’re a strong team,” Cruz said of her group. “And offensively, we have games where the bats light up. It’s usually contagious.
“Compared to last year’s team, I feel like it’s smaller, but I feel like it’s really strong. The communication they have with each other, and the way they get along with each other, it seems like they really want to work for each other.”
Sunapee hosts Nute (3-3) on Friday.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.