Softball's first week of May should be called Plymouth Rock because that's where Pilgrim shows up
WARWICK — Their best player is a junior, their pitcher is a sophomore and there are four freshman in the starting lineup. On paper, that makes the Pilgrim softball team one perfectly built to compete for a title next spring.
But this year might work, too.
The Patriots were an afterthought in any title conversation, but things have changed dramatically in the last 10 days. Gretchen Dombeck threw a gem and Pilgrim’s young stars were clutch in a 4-1 win over Prout on Tuesday, the Patriots fifth straight win.
“We’re a young team and we’re just trying to make a big impact,” Hawes said. “We kind of bonded together and just got things going.”
“We started rough but we started to pick it up,” Dombeck said after her complete-game performance. “It’s really a team effort out here.”
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After graduating two-time Providence Journal Player of the Year and three-time All-Stater Alyssa Twomey, it was going to be tough to ask Pilgrim to replicate the type of success it had the last three seasons.
That wasn’t going to stop them from trying. The Patriots went through the ups and downs young teams usually experience, starting with an extra-innings loss to Prout in the season opener that was followed by four straight wins.
The next four games didn’t go as well. Pilgrim gave up three touchdowns and a field goal in a loss to La Salle, lost a 2-1 game to a North Kingstown struggling to get wins and, after beating Bay View, took an 8-4 loss to Cumberland that distanced the Patriots from any conversation about potential Division I contenders.
Pilgrim hasn’t lost since — and it has beaten teams that were dominating the same conversation.
Prout was the latest victim and the Patriots did it the same way they’ve been doing in the last 10 days — by executing better than their opponents.
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It started in the circle with Dombeck, who has been one of the best pitchers in the state of late — using spin and location to keep offenses off balance. Dombeck also pitches with confidence and with her team making plays behind her, it grew inning by inning against Prout.
“It gets my heart beating really fast,” Dombeck said of pitching in a game that finished in an hour and 12 minutes. “But I love the energy.”
Dombeck was trading zeros with Prout starter Giselle Jeffrey for four innings and continued with two more shutout innings until the seventh started. After giving up three hits — the same as she had given up in the previous six innings — Dombeck was suddenly in a spot where she was pitching with the tying run at the plate.
She didn’t get nervous. Dombeck just pitched. A groundout to first and groundout to second later, she was out of it and Pilgrim had the 4-1 win.
“I really just focused on hitting my spots. I wasn’t too worried about the runs,” Dombeck said. “I knew we were up so I just focused on the batters.
“I know that I have people behind that will back me up.”
“I knew Gretchen was going to perform,” Hawes said.
With Jeffrey dealing, the Patriots had to work for their four runs.
The first came on some baserunning brilliance by freshman Julia Louth, a courtesy runner who stood on third with two outs in the fifth. Jeffrey threw low to Pilgrim’s No. 9 hitter Cali Harker, also a freshman, for ball four and it leaked away from catcher Molly Green.
It didn’t look like a scoring opportunity, but Prout’s defense relaxed for a half-second on what seemed like a common walk. Louth took off running the second she saw the ball hit dirt and scored the game’s first run.
The next one was scored in a more traditional way. Freshman Madison Tuirok led off the sixth with a single, then flew around the bases on a double by Hawes that stayed in the park thanks to a heavy wind..
“We were on her at the beginning but the balls weren’t dropping,” Hawes said. “We were hitting them right to her people but then they started dropping.”
Pilgrim got an RBI single from All-Stater Genna D’Amato that scored Hawes, and D’Amato scored the final run of the inning when junior Marin Prest intentionally got herself caught in a pickle, giving D’Amato time to scamper home before Prest was tagged out at third.
It was the type of play that showed how much this Pilgrim team has grown since the first week of the season.
“Everyone in the dugout was hyped,” Hawes said. “And it just helped everyone.”
For Prout, Tuesday's game was another tough loss in a 10-day span that saw them go from undefeated darlings to an 8-4 team looking to catch a break.
The Crusaders played well against Pilgrim. Jeffrey threw well, the defense showed how much it has improved and they put bat on ball but had nothing to show for it.
“I just feel like it’s one play at a time. We make the play or we don’t but it’s just about picking each other up,” Jeffrey said. “Emma [Manzo] just said in the huddle every game’s an improvement.”
Prout’s biggest battle now is fighting frustration. The Crusaders are scheduled to play undefeated La Salle Thursday but should be able to find victories soon to give them some momentum as the postseason draws near.
“The frustration is we know we can beat them. We know we’re right there with them and we just miss the mark by this much,” Jeffrey said. “We’re having fun, but like Emma said, every game we’re improving.”
Pilgrim has plenty of confidence going toward the last two weeks of the season. The Patriots have a tough one Thursday at Chariho, but then plays three teams with losing records before closing with La Salle.
Momentum is on Pilgrim’s side and the Patriots don’t want to lose it.
“I think we can get to playoffs. I really think we can,” said Dombeck, blissfully unaware that not only will the Patriots make the playoffs but they’ll also have a chance to be a No. 2 seed from their subdivision.
“I think we’re taking it one day at a time.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Pilgrim softball takes down Prout on Monday for fifth straight victory
