Holy Child Softball

By Melanie Cane

It felt like a Nor’easter hit Holy Child May 8, when St. Luke’s stormed into town and crushed the Gryphons 14-0. Emma Cropper threw lightning bolts, striking out eight and allowing only two singles. The Storm’s bats cracked like thunder with 16 hits.

Neither team scored in the first inning, but St. Luke’s scored four in the top of the second. The first batter was hit by a pitch, and the second hit a hard grounder to shortstop. Gryphon freshman shortstop Lily Hurley made a beautiful backhanded stop, limiting the runner to a single, but the runners advanced on a double steal and then the hits came in rapid succession.

Holy Child’s Sami Drew led off the bottom of the third with a single, hitting a hard grounder to centerfield. She stole second and moved to third on a fielder’s choice. Hurley hit an infield grounder and Drew was thrown out on her way home.

The Storm scored nine runs in the fourth inning. Catcher Caroline Bryceland finally ended the inning by chasing down and catching a pop-up foul. The talented sophomore opened the bottom of the inning with a solid line drive deep to left field, but it was caught. St. Luke’s tacked on one more in the fifth. The game ended after the fifth inning when the “mercy rule” was applied.

The Gryphons were 5-7 before the loss to the Storm. Coach Michael Clancy said the team is a work-in-progress. “Our young players are really doing well, particularly Lily, Catherine, and Michaela Fitzgerald.”

With several players out for the season with injuries, the team has had to make a lot of adjustments, but they are enthusiastic, hard-working girls who never give up

Caroline Bryceland about to throw to third base.

Michaela Fitzgerald catching a pop-up.