Hartford softball coach Danielle Tenney couldn’t do anything but smile.
“I don’t even know where to start,” she said. “So impressive.”
Tenney’s Hurricanes (8-2) battled the entire way and nearly took revenge on visiting Mount Anthony in an extra-innings pitchers duel for the ages on Friday night at Maxfield Sports Complex, before falling 4-1 in nine innings.
Both starters — Hartford senior Serenitee Martel and Mount Anthony junior Emilee George — pitched matching shutouts for the first seven innings and combined for 33 strikeouts, 17 for Martel and 16 for George. The two combined for nine strikeouts in a row between the 4th and 5th innings and kept the basepaths largely traffic-free.
“She’s obviously a leader on our field and her remaining composed keeps everyone else composed,” Tenney said of her senior starter. “It was a great job for her.”
Mount Anthony took the lead in the top of the eighth without a hit, pushing around Lilah Dell’Anno via a walk, wild pitch, and two groundouts, leaving Hartford needing a breakthrough that hadn’t materialized all night with the top of the order coming up.
Martel struck out looking for the first out, Maria Chaput grounded out for the second, and the game suddenly rested on senior infielder Faith Brown. Brown battled to a 2-2 count, then, on the potential final pitch of the game, made contact and launched the ball in the air to deep right field.
“I thought it might go over,” Tenney said. “I noticed it was a little high, but I thought maybe it’ll be close. And then I saw that girl parked right by the fence and I was like ‘oh no’.”
Fate had other plans. Brown’s high fly caromed out of the Mount Anthony rightfielders glove, then, in an added twist, the throw in went wildly awry, allowing Brown to round the bases and score in the most dramatic of fashions.
“I didn’t even watch,” Brown said of her clutch moment. “I was just running. I saw coach’s arm go up to go to four (home) and I just ran as fast as I could.”
Hartford players spilled from the dugout to mob Brown as she crossed the plate.
“It was just awesome,” Brown said of the celebration. “I mean, I’ve never really had anything like that.”
There was still a game to be played after the moment of magic, however. Mount Anthony prevented a walk-off when Emerson Whitney grounded out, then, in the top of the ninth, George took matters into her own hands.
George turned around a 1-1 pitch from Martel with a fast line drive that just snuck inside the right field line and kicked up against the fence in a way that troubled the right fielder enough to produce a go-ahead, inside-the-park home run. Mount Anthony added a pair more via an RBI single and a wild pitch, and faced with an even steeper deficit, there would be no second comeback for the Hurricanes, who went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth.
For Tenney, the performance was also a major improvement from the team’s first matchup with the Patriots. The Hurricanes fell 10-3 in Bennington on April 28, and even that scoreline likely flattered the visitors.
“Our very first game against them, we maybe put three balls in play,” Tenney said. “And this game we put 16 balls in play.”
Hartford even had a chance for a walk-off winner, placing a runner on third base in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, but a strikeout denied that chance.
Tenney was quick to put away the idea that a loss like this would give the team a direct lift.
“It doesn’t give us a lift,” Tenney said. “But what was exciting about this game is we’re going to face teams just as good as them at the D-II level, and we’re prepared for that.”
The distinction of divisions is crucial. Hartford will not see Mount Anthony or many of the teams on its Southern Vermont League – A Division schedule come postseason time, because most sit in VPA Division I. Mount Anthony sits at the top, with just a lone loss to an in-state opponent.
“I think it says a lot,” said Brown. “They’re top of their division, and we’re a young team, and we came back and did that for us.”
Hartford plays four more games before the playoffs begin, starting with Springfield on Tuesday night.
