Big third inning carries Oxford past Unionville
OXFORD >> The Hornets banged out four of their eight hits in a six-run third inning as Oxford notched a 6-1 victory over visiting Unionville (8-6 overall, 8-4 Ches-Mont) in a key Ches-Mont American contest.
Oxford (12-3, 11-3) earns a split in the season series with the Longhorns, and sits in the driver’s seat in the race for the American division crown. Looming just over the horizon is a showdown with second-place Rustin in the Hornets’ regular season finale.
“It’s nice to know that we control our own destiny,” said Oxford coach Josh Socash. “But we still have to approach things one game at a time and keep taking care of business.”
Sydney Kargulewicz led off the Hornet third, reaching on an error. She swiped second, and moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt from Natalia Donofrio. Then the wheels came off for Unionville.
Longhorn’s pitcher Madison Parisi got strike three past Emily Basilio, but the pitch was mishandled by the catcher, and Basilio beat the throw to first. Oxford then strung together three straight singles from Ashley Flynn, McKenna Frank and Molly Friel; an RBI fielder’s choice from Cece Figueroa, and an RBI ground out from Angela Beadle. Grace Allen capped the inning with a double.
“We just came out and we hit,” said Oxford third baseman Molly Friel (2-4, R, RBI). “We weren’t trying to do anything big. We just wanted to get base hits, and that’s what we did. Our defense really came together today, too. We are a very good defensive team.”
The Hornets were near flawless on defense, with catcher Ashley Flynn gunning down two would-be base stealers in two attempts, and the Hornet outfield running down everything in sight. Centerfielder Donofrio was particularly busy, credited with eight putouts on the afternoon.
“It’s so comforting to know that I can count on that kind of defense behind me,” said Oxford pitcher Cece Figueroa. “Is always nice to get the cushion, but we all just want to keep hitting and keep scoring. I just try to focus on the game I’m playing, but this has been an exciting senior season. Can’t wait to see how far we can go.”
Figueroa picked up the win in the circle with seven efficient innings. She allowed one run on six hits, striking out four and walking none.
The Longhorns lone run came in the fifth. Jill Heinberger led off with a single, and came around to score on a double to the gap in right center from Grace Leverdis.
Despite the loss, the Longhorns are still ranked in the top ten in District 1, 5A, and are in position to earn a first round bye.
“We’ve still got some games to win ahead of the post season,” said Unionville coach Leah Tymeson. “We just have to hit the way we know we can. We made some pretty good contact today, but nothing was getting through for us. We made some mistakes in that third inning, and we just couldn’t recover. Now we just need to clean things up, and get ourselves ready to play the way we can in the post season.”
