Triton wins 5th straight 17-1 over Newburyport

(Newburyport MA) It may be time to start taking the 2018 edition of the Triton girls softball team seriously.

The Vikings (8-1) dominated Newburyport 17-1 in five innings on Tuesday afternoon.

“We did everything right today,” said Triton coach Dave Dupere afterwards.  And who could argue?

Want hitting?  The Vikings had sixteen hits including four by senior Olivia Doane. The visitors scored in every inning and jumped off to a 5-0 lead in the first inning.

How about defense?  No errors on this afternoon.

Pitching?  Sophomore Katherine Quigley scattered seven hits with only one walk.

Katherine (7-1) was quick to defer credit after the game.  “I had awesome defense behind me.”

It was a rough afternoon to say the least for the Clippers (4-3).  Pitchers Paige Gouldthorpe and Annie Siemasko struggled with control (eight walks).  Viking runners flooded the bases and were quick to take advantage of numerous wild pitches and passed balls.

The Clippers hadn’t played a game in a week and that could well explain an off afternoon for them.

The Vikings have now won five straight and have evened their series at 6 with NHS since the 2012 season.

The home team was able to push across a run in the 4^th inning as freshman Cali Caponigro drove in senior teammate Courtney Walsh.

Cali also made a nice play in left on a sinking line drive.

The two Division 2 opponents will meet again at Triton on May 16^th.

“After losing to Newburyport twice last season our girls came ready to play today,” added Coach Dupere.

Ahead for the Vikings is Amesbury on Friday at Amesbury.  “That will be a big test for us,” said Coach Dupere, “in my three years coaching at Triton we’ve never beaten them.”

I talked pitching with Katherine Quigley afterwards.  She told me that she was “100% more comfortable over last season.”  She has been training almost year round and has added a couple of pitches (screwball and curve).  “I still need to spot the ball better and improve on my speed.”

The only game that Katherine didn’t pitch (she was sick) was the 25-15 slugfest the Vikings survived with Pentucket.

Today’s game featured two of the Cape Ann League’s best players; juniors Bridget Sheehan (shortstop) and Annie Siemasko (centerfield).  They were CAL All-Stars in 2017.

Triton batted around in the first inning (five runs) and the fourth inning (six runs).  In the five innings this game lasted the Vikings left twelve runners stranded.

I was at the NH Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays AA team) game last night in Manchester. All I do at those games is take pictures.  High school games?  Add scorebook keeping and digital recording to the mix.  I’m lucky to get the score right with all that going on!  However, there was a working scoreboard in use at today’s game, so I know that the final was 17-1.

Nice weather today.  80’s tomorrow?  Why not!

(All of the pictures above and below should enlarge considerably if you click on them.)