The Cape Elizabeth softball team beat York, 13-1, last Friday despite the absence of three starters – centerfielder Marla Houghton, shortstop Whitney Lake and first baseman Anna Boulos – but coach Joe Henrickson was most happy to see his team doing the little things correctly right before the playoffs begin.
The Capers locked up the No. 2 seed in the Western Class B tournament with a 14-2 record. Yarmouth finished first in the final Heal point standings.
“I was pretty pleased,” he said. “I was more pleased with our bunting game because our bunting has been atrocious. We’ve been working on it. I was real pleased with the bunting. We got four nice bunts down today, and we had a squeeze in there.”
The Capers also got a four-inning, no-hit performance out of starting pitcher Jackie Moran. The offense, though – bunts or no bunts – was the story.
The Capers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
Lisa Wolanski led things off with a single to right field. She moved to second on a wild pitch, then advanced to third on a bunt single by Brennan Balfour. Maureen Kertes followed with an RBI single.
Two batters later, Moran laid down a squeeze bunt that scored Balfour. Kertes came around to make it 3-0 on another wild pitch by York starter Haley Woods.
“I think a lot of the games in the beginning of the season were close, but now we have a lot more blowouts and we’re hitting a lot better,” said Moran. “We’re definitely building for the playoffs.
“I know the bottom of the lineup has been a little shaky lately, but now everyone’s hitting, so anyone could be put anywhere and they’ll just be able to hit.”
Moran struck out the side in the top of the second, and then the offense got back to work. The Capers added to their lead in the bottom of the second as Lauren Donovan walked, Balfour reached on another bunt single and Kertes came through with another bit hit. This time, she doubled to left and plated two.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit. It seems like every hit I used to get would go to the person,” said Kertes, a second baseman. “I’d make contact, but it would go right to the person and they’d get me out. I had some gappers in this game, so I think it built my confidence back up.
“We’ve been working a lot with our hands and our eyes so I think it just all clicked at once and it started working.”
Colleen Martin’s RBI single made it 6-0 as the teams headed to the top of the third. The score remained that way until the bottom of the fourth when, with two down, the Capers exploded for six more runs.
There were hits – a triple by Balfour and doubles by both Martin and Rachel Budkiewicz – but, mostly, the Capers just took advantage of York’s mistakes. The Wildcats made three errors in the inning.
They got one run back in the top of the fifth, off of relief pitcher Trisha Thibodeau, but the Capers increased the margin back up to 12 runs to end the game in the bottom of the fifth. Again Kertes singled, and again Martin drove her home.
The Capers finished the regular season with a 4-2 win over Poland on Monday.
“We’re getting stronger every game,” said Kertes. “We’re working better as a team. We’re not getting mad at each other. It’s good.”
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