Stringfellow's no-hitter boosts Townies
By BOB LEDDY
Journal Sports Writer

EAST PROVIDENCE -- It was a day Ashley Stringfellow will not soon forget.

With relatives calling out encouragement from the sidelines of the Pierce Complex softball field (including grandfather Bill Stringfellow, the former East Providence football coach; and Uncle John, the Townies' current football and track boss), Ashley Stringfellow pitched the game of her young career.

Hurling her first no-hitter, she led the Townies to a 7-0 blanking of Middletown in a Division I-South game. Stringfellow fanned six and walked four in her first start of the season.

``It was great,'' said Stringfellow, who has -- not surprisingly -- inherited the nickname ``String'' from her grandfather. ``I worked hard for this all winter.''

Indeed, Stringfellow, a junior, took last winter off from playing basketball to attend a pitching camp and to build up her strength.

``No one on this team has worked harder in the offseason,'' said Rob Traverse, the Townies' second-year head coach.

Stringfellow was helped yesterday by a flawless defense and some timely hitting. Senior Jen Dygon had a triple in her first at-bat, then roped a two-run homer in the second inning. Joselyn Nestall added an RBI double for the Townies.

``We had the bats today (that) we didn't show against Portsmouth Traverse said of the Townies' season-opening 2-0 loss to the Patriots.''

On the mound for the 0-3 Islanders was sophomore right-hander Megan Clark. She, too, has a notable sports lineage. Her older sister Lisa was a fireballing pitcher for Middletown in the 1980s. And her dad Barry is Middletown's longtime wrestling coach.

Yesterday, Megan Clark struck out two and walked two. She gave up five hits in going the distance.

``We're going to struggle scoring runs,'' said Tom Devine, the Islanders' veteran coach. ``We don't have a lot of kids hitting in high averages. But we'll see what we can do. There's a a lot of games left.

``(East Providence) has some nice sticks in the lineup,'' Devine said. ``They impressed me. (Stringfellow) was getting behind in the count early in the game, but came back to get the batters.''

The Townies jumped on Clark right away. Dygon tripled and came home on a wild pitch. Marcia Huftalen poked an infield single, stole second and third, and scored when Sara Laurino lined out to the first baseman. Nicole LaCasse reached on an error, advancing to second on a wild pitch. She scored on Nestell's double to center.

EP put two more runs up in the second on Dygon's homer with Melissa Hunt (walk) aboard. Then in the third, Nestell reached third on an error, and crossed the plate on Kerri DiQuinzio's single.

The Townies closed out their scoring in the bottom of the sixth when Middletown catcher Rhea Moisiades dropped a swung-on third strike to Hunt. Hunt beat out Moisiades's throw to first baseman Jessica Grimes. Hunt then moved to second on Katie Deschenes's pinch-hit sacrifice bunt and scored when Dygon hit into a 4-3 out.

East Providence 021 000 0 -- 3 3 2
Barrington          001 100 0 -- 2 3 3
Stringfellow and Nestell; Maloy and Gastonguay.

Jenn Dygon went 2 for 2 and played well defensively for the Townies.  Ashley Stringfellow of East Providence and Meghan Malloy of Barrington both allowed 3 hits each.

Chariho at E.P

East Providence 4, Chariho 1

Chariho             100 000 0 -- 1 2 2
East Providence 110 011 x -- 4 5 2
Paulson and Cauldwell;
Stringfellow, Normand (2) and Nestell.
 

EAST PROVIDENCE 4, CHARIHO 1: Steph Norman pitched six
innings of relief, giving up one hit and no runs and striking out five batters
for the Townies. Elissia Wahl had a solo homer in the fifth and Jen Dygon
and Jackie Glover each had an RBI single for the winners.

EP at North Kingstown

N. KINGSTOWN 4, E. PROVIDENCE 2: Kristen Asher had a
two-run single and Chelse Osbrey had two hits to lead the Skippers to a
Division I-South victory. Jenn Dygon had two hits for the Townies.

E. Providence 100 010 0 -- 2 4 1
N. Kingstown 000 103 0 -- 4 4 2

Stringfellow, Normand (7) and Nestell; Warrington and Osbrey.

West Warwick at E.P

Tue, Apr 25, 2000
Townies mystify Wizards

By MIKE SCANDURA
For The Times
EAST PROVIDENCE -- Every team, regardless of the sport, encounters a defining moment in its season.

In the opinion of East Providence High coach Rob Traverse, his team's moment may have occured last Thursday morning -- when the Townies bowed, 2-1, to North Kingstown.

"North Kingstown and East Greenwich are supposed to be the top two teams (in Division 1-South)," said Traverse following Monday's 9-1 fast-pitch victory over West Warwick. "We were beating North Kingstown with two out in the sixth when we gave them an extra out, and they took advantage of it.

"But we know we can play with either team. We left that game realizing we're one of the better teams."

The Townies certainly have one of the Interscholas-tic League's better pitchers in junior righty Ashley Stringfellow, who showed once again that this wretched spring weather doesn't bother her in the least. Stringfel-low worked the first five innings against the Wizards; she allowed one hit plus one walk while striking out seven; and she faced just one batter over the minimum.

Lefty Steph Normand held West Warwick (1-5) hitless over the last two frames as EP moved to 4-2 in league play and 9-2 overall.

EP didn't exactly throttle West Warwick pitching. But the Townies capitalized on virtually every walk, committed larceny on the bases and played errorless defense.

"Our pitching is pretty deep, but defense is our strength," said Traverse. "We've made six errors in six (league) games. With the wind being the way it is and the conditions being the way they are, that's outstanding. Anything up in the air today was an adventure. "We look to score four, five, six runs and take care of the rest with our pitching and defense."

Stringfellow's pitching can take care of a lot, simply because she works at it - almost on a year-round basis. As a result, her control has improved and she makes it impossible for a batter to sit on one pitch.

"Last year I had a lot of trouble just getting the ball over the plate," she said. "This (past) winter, I went to the Rhode Island Baseball Institute in Warwick and worked with a pitching coach from Connecticut. "Actually, I've been going (to the RIBI) for three years now and it took me about a year-and-a-half to get the fastball down. But I do have a changeup and a drop ball. My control's improved, too, so I'm able to come inside."

That's key, especially on frigid days when hitting one off the fists stings. Really stings.

"We're very happy with how hard Ashley's worked and, obviously, it's shown," said Traverse. West Warwick's Aly St. Armand dashed any no-hitter possibilities with a one-out single in the first inning. But she was thrown out stealing but catcher Jocelyn Nestell.

Then, in the Wizards third, Kelly Nelson walked with one out, stole two bases and remained at third as Stringfellow retired the next two batters.

Stringfellow finished her day's work strong by fanning four of the last six Wizards she faced.

The Townies, meanwhile, got a run without a hit in the first, Jenn Dygon walking, stealing second and eventually coming home on Jackie Glover's groundout.

EP added another run in the second, Elissia Wahl scoring when West Warwick botched a fielder's choice. Then, EP broke the game open with a four-run fourth.

Sara Laurino and Melissa Hunt were on first and third, respectively, with two out when Dygon cracked an RBI single to left. Marcia Huftalen beat out an infield hit and, shortly thereafter, Hunt scored on a wild pitch.

Glover added a run-scoring double, and Huftalen later came around on a wild pitch.

EP made it 9-0 in the fifth, with two out. Nicole LaCasse reached on an error, Hunt walked and, after a wild pitch, pinch-hitter Camely Machado stroked a two-run single. Glover's fielder's choice produced EP's final run of the game.

The Wizards nicked Normand for their only run (in the sixth), sans a hit (passed ball on a third strike, stolen base and a couple of groundouts). But there was never any doubt that EP was going to remain in command.

**

West Warwick 000 001 0 - 1-1-1
East Providence 110 430 x - 9-5-0

Heather Miller, Natalie Andrus (2), Alexis Dunton (5), Andrus (6) and Kara D'Ambrosio, Marissa Molnar (6); Ashley Stringfellow, Steph Normand (6) and Jocelyn Nestell, Sara Laurino (6). WP - Stringfellow. LP - Miller. 2B - Jackie Glover (EP), Andrea Medeiros (EP).

Softball Round-up
By Bud Barker
Providence Journal

Townies have the arms
    If pitching depth is a key to success, expect East Providence to be in for the long haul. The 4-2 Townies have three very good ones in Ashley Stringfellow (who has a no-hitter) sophomore Stephanie Normand and Jackie Glover. Glover, who had dental surgery early in the season, is ready to throw again. Slick fielding shortstop Jen Dygon is hitting around .500 with 18 stolen bases in six games.

``We have solid pitching and good defense,'' second-year head coach Rob Traverse said. ``We like to think we can give anybody a good game.''

Westerly at E.P

EAST PROVIDENCE 6, WESTERLY 5: Marsha Huftalen scored on a wild pitch as the Townies edged the Bulldogs. Becky Rodericks had two hits for the winners.
 

Westerly             130 001 0 -- 5 3 2
East Providence 100 001 4 -- 6 4 1
Brucker, McNamara (5) and Monaca; Stringfellow, Normand (3) and Nestell.

South Kingstown at E.P

E. PROVIDENCE 1, S. KINGSTOWN 0: Jenn Dygon's solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning gave the Townies the victory.
 

S. Kingstown 000 000 0 -- 0 2 1
E. Providence 000 100 x -- 1 4 0
Evans, Brock(6) and McEntee; Stringfellow and Nestell

Pilgrim at E.P

EAST PROVIDENCE 3, PILGRIM 2: Stephanie Normand's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth inning scored the eventual winning run as the Townies won the I-South home game. Normand also pitched a complete game for East Providence, allowing two runs and five hits, striking out three and walking none.

Pilgrim  000 020 0 -- 2 5 2
E. Prov. 010 200 x -- 3 5 2
Fuoroli and Haun. Normand and Nestell.

East Greenwich at E.P

 
Townies tighten I-South race
By BUD BARKER

Journal Sports Writer

EAST PROVIDENCE -- The Townies have joined the crowd in making the Interscholastic League realignment committee look good.

When the committee threw the top 22 fast-pitch teams in two new divisions, they were hoping for some keen competition. It can't get much keener.

This week, St. Raphael had its 57-game winning streak snapped and just about got past Woonsocket, 1-0, on Thursday. The Saints face unbeaten Cumberland in a Division I-North showdown tomorrow, with Lincoln and Bay View waiting to gain ground on the loser.

Yesterday, East Providence made a statement in the Division I-South. The Townies (8-2) sent East Greenwich down to its third loss in four games, with a 7-2 victory that moved EP to within one game of first-place North Kingstown.

A week ago, the Avengers, were 7-0 and in first place. Also hanging around the South summit are Pilgrim, Chariho, and Portsmouth.

East Providence won its fifth straight by taking advantage of opportunities, some of their own making, and others the Avengers handed them on a platter.

The Townies managed only three hits off Avs fireballer Kelly O'Leary, used only one them to manufacture a 2-1 lead after five innings.

Jenn Dygon, the Townies' fine shortstop, and pitcher Ashley Stringfellow, who won her fifth, teamed up to score both runs.

Dygon walked with two out in the third, stole second, and scored when Stringfellow slapped a 3-2 pitch into left field. Dygon led off the fifth with a walk and when Stringfellow laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, Dygon legged it all the way to third. A wild throw to third allowed her to score the go-ahead run.

"We have pretty good pitching and pretty good defense, and have won a lot of one-run games," East Providence head coach Rob Traverse said. "If your defense is there, you're in games."

EP, with four one-run victories, played errorless ball yesterday.

The Avengers failed to hit in their two previous losses, and failed again yesterday. But a lack of hitting was not their downfall yesterday. O'Leary struck out nine in five-plus innngs, but had to leave the game in the sixth with a back injury.

"She pulled a muscle in her back and we didn't want to aggravate it," East Greenwich head coach Ed DePastina said.

O'Leary, usually a good control pitcher, walked five -- two of them scored -- and reliever Melissa Brown couldn't find the plate either. She walked five in the sixth inning as the Townies put the game away with five runs on just one hit, a two-run single by Steph Normand.

DePastina said the Avengers still had a chance to win the game, but clutch hitting continues to be missing. "We talk about aggressive hitting, but we don't do it," he said.

Meg Almon was the Avs' only bright spot. She had a perfect day, with two hits, got hit by a pitch, and scored both EG runs.

With one out in the fourth, she was hit on the forearm by a Stringfellow fastball, went from first to third on Kim Beaulieu's bunt, and scored on a wild pitch. Almo led off the seventh with a single to right, went to third on a Traci Rainnone single, and scored on another wild pitch.

Stringfellow, who struck out six, and didn't walk anyone, was in command the rest of the time. "After the first inning I began picking up speed and felt great," she said.

E.P at Middletown

East Prov.    108 010 4 -- 14 9 1
Middletown 002 000 0 -- 2 2 5

Stringfellow, Normand(6) and Nestell; McIntosh and Moisiades.

Barrington at E.P

FAST-PITCH SOFTBALL

EAST PROVIDENCE 2, BARRINGTON 0:
Stephanie Normand and Ashley Stringfellow combined for a one-hit shutout as the Townies beat the Eagles in a Division I-South game in East Providence. The two combined to struck out six and walk three as East Providence improved to 11-2. Elissa Wahl had an RBI single in the first inning to give the Townies a 1-0 lead and Becky Rodericks had an RBI double in the second inning. Alison Armstrong had the lone hit of the game for Barrington.

Barrington  000 000 0 -- 0 1 0
E . Prov .    110 000 x -- 2 4 2

E.P at East Greenwich

East Providence 000 200 1 -- 3 4 1
East Greenwich 200 040 x -- 6 7 1

Stringfellow and Nestell. O'Leary and Almon.

North Kingstown at E.P

E.P. takes the win
ERIC BENEVIDES May 19, 2000
EAST PROVIDENCE -- Errors hurt, but in the big games, they can kill you.

That held true Thursday afternoon at windy Pierce Field, as East Providence took advantage of four North Kingstown errors in the third and fourth innings to score the runs they needed to produce a 3-1 triumph and take sole possession of first place in the air-tight Division 1-South standings.

The victory (coming on EP's "Senior Day") boosts the Townies' record to 12-2 and gives them a full game lead over the Skippers and East Greenwich (both 11-3). It was also the ninth 'W' in a row for the Townies, a streak dating back to April 20 when they fell to the Skippers at NK's Ryan Park.

"That's a good team we beat," admitted EP coach Rob Traverse. "This was one of those games where you couldn't really make mistakes, especially when you have two pretty good teams out there. I know they made their mistakes, but fortunately, the one or two we made really didn't kill us."

The Townies had a tough time with Skipper ace pitcher Kim Warrington, who finished with a two-hit gem, striking out nine batters and walking two. But NK's errors ended up haunting the RIC-bound hurler, with all four setting the tables for EP's three runs.

"She's outstanding," Traverse said of Warrington, a second-team All-State selection (behind St. Raphael's Jackie Fournier) last year. "She's good. You have to be on your game to beat her."

EP junior pitcher Ashley Stringfellow didn't chalk up the same type of numbers as her counterpart, as she allowed eight hits and fanned just two Skippers. But her control was on target, as she walked just one batter in the seventh, and her defense (namely the infield) stepped up their play behind her, making just one error.

"This was a tough game to lose," said NK coach Lynn Downey, who led her veteran team to the Division 1 state finals last season. "We got our hits and we got people on base, but we just didn't produce."

The Townies broke on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the third inning, as leadoff batter Jenn Dygon reached first on an infield error, and two pitches later, poured on the jets to advance two bases on a passed ball when she saw catcher Chelsea Osbrey taking her time to retrieve the ball.

Andrea Hunt then hit a hard one-hopper to third that was booted, not far enough to plate Dygon, but good enough to put runners at the corners for Elissia Wahl. After Hunt moved into scoring position by stealing second without a throw there, Wahl lined out to right fielder Heather Koszela. Dygon tagged up and Koszela immediately fired a pea to the plate, but her throw there was a split second too late to nab the sliding Dygon.

Hunt ran to third on the throw to the plate, but she was stranded there, as Warrington proceeded to strike out the next batter and induce the next one to pop out to shallow right field.

The Townies capitalized on two more Skipper errors to set the tables for their other two runs in the fourth. Jocelyn Nestell led off with a sharp single to left, and Becky Roderick followed with a one-hopper right back to Warrington, who fired the ball to second, but threw it just wide enough to pull shortstop Kim Hornoff off the bag.

Hornoff then fired the ball to first to get Roderick, but her throw was also off-target and past first baseman Jen Clavin, and that allowed Nestell to chug into third.

On the first pitch to the next batter, Stringfellow, Roderick easily swiped second without a throw to move into scoring position. After Stringfellow grounded out sharply to first, Warrington uncorked a wild pitch to the next batter, Andrea Medeiros, allowing Nestell to score on a close play at the plate.

Roderick, who took third on the play, raced home moments later on a suicide squeeze bunt by Medeiros. The play at the plate was also a very close one, as Warrington immediately pounced on the bunt and quickly flipped it to Osbrey, who blocked the plate in her attempt to tag out Roderick. Downey, Osbrey, and the rest of the NK coaching staff argued the home plate umpire's call, but their protests were to no avail.

The Skippers had a golden opportunity to get some of those runs back in the fifth, when with one out, base hits by Elin Zaikowski and Hornoff and EP's error loaded the bases. But after a grounder erased Zaikowski at the plate, Stringfellow got the next batter to tap back to the mound to end that scare.

The Skippers' run eventually came in the sixth when Warrington led off with a deep double to the gap in right-center, took third on a grounder to second by Osbrey, and scored on another groundout by Koszela.

In the Skippers' half of the seventh, with one gone and a runner on first, Wahl, EP's center fielder, made the defensive play of the contest on a shallow fly ball hit by Emily Price, as she raced in after it and snared it with a diving catch.

***

North Kingstown 000 001 0--1-8-4

East Providence 001 200 x--3-2-1

Kim Warrington and Chelsea Osbrey; Ashley Stringfellow and Jocelyn Nestell.

Townies in I-South Title Hunt
5.25.2000
Four still in hunt for I-South title
By BUD BARKER
Journal Sports Writer

The battle for the Division I-South title still rages. Only one game separates East Greenwich, East Providence and North Kingstown.

East Providence split regular-season games with North Kingstown and East Greenwich. East Greenwich beat North Kingstown in their first meeting, 4-1, and host the Skippers today.

And add red-hot Chariho to the I-South mix. The Chargers have won five of their last six, including no-hitters from not one, but two pitchers. Their ace, Jen Paulson , laid out the Skippers, 1-0, last Saturday. Freshman Jillian Kiley blanked Middletown before that.

Chariho's win over the Skippers knocked the defending division champs out of a three-way tie for the top. Chariho head coach Sal Augeri Jr. said his team has matured since the start of the season. "They are getting more comfortable with our style of play. They know how to relax, but still be intent. They don't get rattled."

East Greenwich pitcher Kelly O'Leary rarely gets rattled and her teammates are starting to rattle opposing pitchers as they get ready for the playoffs. Right fielder Jen Magnamini has smacked two homers and is hitting over .330. Meg Almon has settled in behind the plate after switching from baseball this season. Almon is hitting at a .400 clip and leads the team in doubles, triples and RBI.

Hard-throwing Kim Warrington got the Skippers right back on track after losing to Chariho. She tossed a 2-0 two-hit shutout at Barrington on Monday. The loss prevented the Eagles from nailing down a playoff spot. The shutout was Warrington's fifth this season.

Jenn Dygon is the spark that has been firing East Providence. The Townies' leadoff hitter has swiped 22 bases in 17 games and scored 18 runs. She is hitting .380 and plays great defense.

"She is the catalyst; she makes us go," EP coach Rob Traverse said.

The Townies have been getting solid pitching from Ashley Stringfellow (8-2) and Stephanie Normand (7-0).

E. PROVIDENCE 4, WESTERLY 3: Ashley Stringfellow went had two hits and thegame-winning RBI in the sixth inning as the Townies (16-3) clinched the Division I-South title with a victory over second-place Westerly (14-5).
 

Westerly 101 010 0 -- 3 7 2
E. Providence 100 012 x -- 4 9 4
Brucker and Lamonaca; Stringfellow, Normand (5) and Nestell.

EAST PROVIDENCE 4, SOUTH KINGSTOWN 3: Jenn Dygon had two hits and scored twice to lead the Townies to a I-South victory. Meg McEntee hit a two-run triple for the Rebels.
 

.

E. Providence 100 003 0 -- 4 7 0
S. Kingstown 000 000 3 -- 3 3 2

Normand and Nestell; Larned and McEntee.

East Providence 100 100 0 -- 2 2 4
Pilgrim              010 110 x -- 3 2 0

Stringfellow and Nestell. Fuoroli and Haun.

EAST PROVIDENCE 5, LA SALLE 1: Ashley Stringfellow hurleda no-hitter with four strikeouts to lead the Townies over the Maroon in the first round of the Division I playoffs yesterday at East Providence. Jenn Dygon tripled and scored a run, Sara Laurino had an RBI on a suicide squeeze and Melissa Hunt had an RBI single for the winners. East Providence will play St. Raphael at 3:30 p.m. on Monday at Pierce Field.
 
 

La Salle             000 100 0 -- 1 0 3
East Providence 000 140 x -- 5 4 0

Teabeau and Gilmore; Stringfellow and Nestell.

That tourney gets under way today at Governor Notte Park, with the Saints (16-6), looking to four-peat as state champs, renewing acquaintances with Division 1-North champion Cumberland (20-1) in the opener at 5:30 p.m. Both teams split their regular-season games, the Saints losing 3-0 in Cumberland and the Clippers falling 3-2 in 11 innings in Pawtucket.

Lincoln (18-4) duels Division 1-South champion East Greenwich (17-4) in the 7:30 p.m. nightcap.

The Saints, who before yesterday's contest, draped their white "I Believe In 4" T-shirts on the fence behind their bench, believed in themselves at the plate and silenced their team batting slump by collecting those key fourth-inning hits and finishing the game with six.

Six hits may not seem like a lot, but to SRA coach Mo Jackson, it must have felt like 16. Too many times this season had he seen his Saints finish contests with less than four hits, and in their playoff opener against Portsmouth last week, the Saints managed just a bunt single.

"If there was any time to break out of our slump, it was today," admitted Jackson. "I told the girls before the game that they had to believe in themselves before they could believe in anything else, and it looked like everyone went up to the plate today thinking they could get a hit."

The Townies, who finish their exceptional season with a 17-5 mark, also ended the day with six hits, three of the sharply-hit variety coming from leadoff batter and senior sparkplug Jenn Dygon. But only one of EP's hits came with two outs and drove in a run and that proved to be the Townies' downfall.

"They had timely hitting," EP coach Rob Traverse said of SRA. "We had runners on third base three times with less than two outs and we didn't get anyone across and that hurt us."

The solid pitching of SRA senior ace Jackie Fournier also stung the Townies, as she struck out 10 batters, and like Indiana Jones, continually found a way to escape danger, as she left a half dozen runners stranded in scoring position.

Fournier's ninth strikeout of the contest, coming at the expense of No. 9 batter Andrea Medeiros in the sixth, was also the 716th of her career, which moves her past Sharon Silveira, a '97 Moses Brown graduate, as the state's all-time strikeout leader.

Her counterpart, EP junior ace Ashley Stringfellow, struck out seven batters and allowed five hits, but gave up three of them in the fourth, forcing Traverse to give her the hook in favor of sophomore Steph Normand, who went the rest of the way.

Fournier and Stringfellow had a nice pitchers' duel going for three innings, as each hurler gave up two hits and struck out five, but were deadlocked at 1-1.

But then came the fourth. Erica Jackson got things going by getting plunked in the foot with a 1-2 offering. She immediately stole second, and after Stringfellow struck out the next batter, Jackson swiped third and sped home two pitches later on Jen Morin's sharp base hit up the middle, past the dive of second baseman Melissa Hunt.

Stringfellow fanned the next batter for the second out, but Pafume followed with a soft line drive that just nicked off the glove of a leaping Dygon at shortstop and found its way into left field. Correia, who had been mired in a terrible slump, then hammered the hardest hit of the game, a 1-2 pitch from Stringfellow into the gap in left-center field, to drive in Morin and send Pafume to third.

That spelled the end of Stringfellow's day on the mound, as Normand came in to put out the fire. But the sophomore southpaw got off to a rocky start, as she walked No. 9 batter Jessica Theroux, and with Fournier at the plate, she threw a wild pitch that allowed Pafume to race home with her team's fourth run.

Three pitches later, Fournier creamed a long double to center that glanced off the glove of center fielder Elissia Wahl and allowed Correia and Theroux to score with ease.

Falling behind by five runs to one of the best pitchers in the state can usually demoralize a team, but not the Townies. Instead, they kept their chins up and cut into their deficit in the bottom of the inning.

The first three batters that frame -- Jocelyn Nestell, Marcia Huftalen, and Normand -- all reached on errors. Normand's grounder, which was misplayed, allowed Nestell to score from third and Huftalen to advance to third. Sara Laurino then flied out to shallow right field, and Huftalen deftly tagged up and ended up scoring when Pafume, the Saints catcher, was unable to get a handle on the throw from Correia in right field

"I give my girls all the credit in the world for just hanging in there," praised Traverse. "They never gave up. They knew it was going to be tough (to come back), but no one died, and that's a real positive thing."

The Townies continued to threaten the Saints, as Stringfellow blooped a single into right field, sending Normand to third. Stringfellow then immediately stole second to move into scoring position, but Fournier avoided further damage by striking out the next batter and getting the dangerous Dygon to fly out to center.

In the fifth, the Townies again put runners on second and third with one out, as Wahl laced a single up the middle and Nestell (going first-ball hunting) swatted an opposite-field double to left. But again, Fournier rose to the Townies' challenge by fanning the next batter and getting the next one to tap back to the mound.

The Townies did manage a clutch two-out hit in the sixth -- a sharply-hit single to left by Dygon that drove in Stringfellow, who drew a one-out and went to second on a passed ball. But that was it for the Townies, as Fournier ended that frame with her 10th 'K' of the afternoon and proceeded to pitch a quick 1-2-3 seventh.

Both teams had scored their initial runs in the first. Fournier led the game off with a single, and after she took seconmd on a passed ball, she stole third with ease and quickly dashed home when the throw there was misplayed and deflected into left field.

In the home half of the inning, Dygon led off with a hard-hit double that ricocheted off Fournier's leg into left field, between Morin at shortstop and Erika Paiva at third. After a sacrifice bunt by Hunt sent Dygon to third, the speedy shortstop came home two pitches later on a wild pitch.

The Townies then threatened to take the lead in the third when Dygon belted a one-out hit up the middle, and on successive pitches, swiped second and third bases. But Fournier, as she would do all game long, came right back to strike out the next two batters, setting the stage for the Saints' fourth-inning uprising.

***

St. Raphael 100 500 0--6-6-3

East Providence 100 201 0--4-6-1

Jackie Fournier and Jillian Pafume; Ashley Stringfellow, Stephanie Normand (4) and Jocelyn Nestell.