No. 2 Dighton-Rehoboth softball meets its match in No. 7 Triton in D3 Elite Eight

NORTH DIGHTON— The ride has come to an end for the 2023 Dighton-Rehoboth softball team.

In a Division III Elite Eight game that started Friday afternoon and ended early Sunday evening after heavy rains flooded the field and forced the game to be put on hold in the bottom of the fourth inning, the No. 2 Falcons (18-5) came back from a 2-0 deficit before ultimately falling 3-2 to No. 7 Triton (19-4) to put a close to D-R's impressive campaign.

"It was nice to come back and tie it up," Falcons coach Katie Holmes said. "The girls were hungry but I think it was just a little too little too late. The first half of the game (Friday), that wasn’t us. That wasn’t our normal bats and I think we dug ourselves a little deep."

The often explosive D-R bats were mostly quelled by a strong performance in the circle by Emma Penniman, who went all seven innings allowing just two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out nine to earn the win for the Vikings.

"She has a really good drop curve and as much as we knew about it going into (this game), it’s a hard thing to prepare for until you’re seeing it," Holmes said. "Today we did a little better of a job seeing it but it wasn’t enough. We weren’t prepared enough on Friday and it’s unfortunate."

For Triton coach Alan Noyes, it's the kind of performance he's come to expect from the sophomore.

"Emma’s been clutch all year," Noyes said. "There’s a reason she was the Player of the Year in (the Cape Ann Kinney). She’s clutch, cool under pressure and just an absolute blast to have on our team."

At the plate, Kyla Story led the way for the Vikings going two-for-four with an RBI and the eventual game winning run in the seventh while Grace Romine went two-for-four with a run, Jillian Guisto went one-for-three with an RBI, Mallory Johnson went one-for-four with an RBI and Maddie January had a run while pinch running for Penniman.

"I couldn’t be happier for the girls," Noyes said. "It was a three hour trip to get here the other day, an hour and a half back home and an hour and 45 minutes to get here today and they left it all on the field. They could’ve packed it up after letting up the home run to tie the game but they came in and strung some at-bats together and pulled it out."

Triton did well to get on base, however found themselves often stranded there as 18 runners reached base but didn't score as Falcons pitcher Kylie Hillier, who was credited with the loss after going all seven innings giving up three runs on 13 hits and six walks while striking out five, was able to work her way out of four separate bases loaded scenarios.

"Kylie Hillier left the bases loaded four times which is an incredible feat and I couldn’t have asked anything more from her," Holmes said. "She kept us in that game. She’s worked hard all season, so it’s an unfortunate loss for her, but she’s the only reason we were in this game."

The Falcons were held to just four hits as Lucy Latour led the way going two-for-three with two runs and an RBI off a home run while Maddie Kelley went one-for-three with an RBI and Corinne Braga went one-for-three with a double.

The Vikings struck first in the third inning as with two outs Penniman hit a single to right then two at-bats later January, pinch running for Penniman, came home off a Guisto double to left to put the visitors up 1-0.

Triton doubled their lead an inning later as Romine led off with a single then came home on a Story single to center. The Vikings once again loaded the bases but Hillier was able to strike out and then catch a pop up to end the inning and leave the visitors with all three runners stranded for the third time in four innings.

As the rain intensified, Latour ended Penniman's no-hit bid in the bottom of the fourth with a one out single to left before a walk to Haleigh Kelley and a wild put runners on second and third with a 1-0 count to Maddie Kelley when the game was put into a rain delay then eventually suspended until Sunday at 5 p.m. as the field had become unplayable due to the amount of rain.

After a graduation for the D-R seniors Saturday and another long bus ride from Byfield to Dighton for Triton Sunday, Maddie Kelley's at bat resumed nearly 48 hours after it started and though she grounded out to second, she was able to drive in Latour and put the Falcons on the board, but Penniman was able to get the final out to strand Haleigh Kelley and keep the Vikings ahead at 2-1.

In the bottom of the sixth, Latour led off and sent the second pitch she saw over the right field fence to tie the ballgame at 2-2 but again Penniman prevailed as she was able to retire three of the next four batters she faced and keep the hosts from taking the lead.

In the top of the seventh, Triton were down two outs while Story faced a 2-2 count before hitting a single down the third base line, beating the throw to the bag, which was then followed up by singles from Skylar Colburn and Johnson, with Story scoring on the latter to put the Vikings back on top before Penniman retired all three Falcon batters in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal Triton's spot in the Final Four.

"Mallory’s a clutch hitter, she’s been great for us all season and she just laid the ball out in right field for us to be able to close it up, so it was good," Noyes said. "It was good to see many players contribute."

The Vikings now move on to face No. 6 Middleboro (19-4) in the Final Four Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Worcester State University in what will be the the North Shore school's third straight game against an opponent from the southeast part of the state.

"We’re going to have to make some phone calls and figure out a little bit about Middleboro," Noyes said. "I don’t know much about them because they’re an hour and a half away, but they’ve (played against) these guys so we know it’s going to be a good game. Greater New Bedford gave us a great game last week, so these teams from the south here can play."

As for the Falcons, who ended the season outscoring opponents 253-101 and with Haleigh Kelley tied for the most home runs in the state at 13, Holmes was impressed with how they performed and exceeded others expectations.

"They came together really well," Holmes said. "They hit really well all season long. I think that people weren’t expecting us to be as powerful this season but I think we really proved them wrong."

The end of the season also marks the end of the D-R careers of the members of the Class of 2023, Maddie Kelley, Corey, Fia Brown and Sabrina Marsella, all of whom were freshman when Holmes first took the helm for the Falcons.

"This was a really important senior class for me," Holmes said. "This was the first class I coached all four years, so we grew together and I learned to take the helms with them and I couldn’t have asked for a better senior class for this year and to be my first true senior class. They’re all incredible girls, incredible leaders and we’re really going to miss them next year, not just skill wise but also their leadership and personalities and it’s going to be a big hole to fill next year."

Despite those holes, the Falcons will return a lot of key figures including both pitcher Hillier and Hannah Carey as well as Latour and Haliegh Kelley among others.

"I’m definitely feeling optimistic for next year," Holmes said. "We definitely have some holes to fill but we’ve got some great juniors and great underclassmen that haven’t been had a chance to see the field because we had seniors in their spots, so we’ve got some kids coming up that are going to do some great things."

Taunton Daily Gazette sports reporter Cameron Merritt can be reached at cmerritt@tauntongazette.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @CamMerritt_News. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to the Taunton Daily Gazette today.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: No. 7 Triton's Penniman quells No. 2 D-R softball in D3 Elite Eight