The St. Vincent girls softball team put its bats to work early to breeze past St. Helena, 9-3, on the Saints’ artificial turf complex on Tuesday afternoon.
The Mustangs whacked seven hits in the first two frames and never trailed in the non-league contest.
“We actually played in the first game played here three years ago,” said St. Vincent coach Don Jensen. “A lot of funding has gone into this place, including the permanent home run fence that you see in the outfield.” The tan colored infield was also artificial and every ball hit on the day skipped quickly in the direction of defenders.
St. Vincent pitcher Sully Henry found the fast turf in the outfield to her liking as she ripped a triple and double to the base of the fence that produced a couple of runs in her first two at bats. The Lady Saints never recovered. Henry, now hitting .630 for the season, also singled in the fourth inning.
Third baseman Sarah Sarlatte also carried a hot bat in the first two frames, singling twice and scoring two runs.
Henry pitched well enough to win after giving up all three St. Helena runs in the first two innings. She struck out three early but helped the Saint cause by throwing wildly to third to allow a run to score in the second frame. Henry wound up blowing away six batters, and she went the last five frames without giving up a hit.
The senior starting pitcher got progressively stronger as the game wore on by retiring 12 batters in succession before being lifted in favor of Sarlatte, who recorded the final out on a ground ball to short.
Prior to her one-batter visit to the rubber, Sarlatte had a flawless game with the glove at third base. She fielded a sharp ground ball down the line to open the bottom of the fourth inning and gunned down the Saint runner who was hustling toward first base. Sarlatte made every play at the hot corner without making an error.
Henry made the play of the game on the bases in the top of the sixth inning. She appeared anchored at second base when Abby Chamberlain made the second out of the inning on a fly ball to right for the second out.
Henry tagged and didn’t hesitate in streaking around third base without stopping. She slid safely at home while the startled Saints held onto the ball.
Alex Ditizio was the third Mustang to record double figures in the hit department, and she had a second RBI taken away on an interference base-running decision by the base umpire.
St. Vincent continued to play well in the early stage of its non-league schedule, improving to 6-2.
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