Sports
Thursday, April 12, 2012
theonlinebeacon.com
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Baseball team drops below .500 By Brendan Foley Sports Editor
The baseball team has dipped below a .500 record for the regular season. This has been a largely successful season for the Trailblazers, coming after the disastorous 8-22 2011 season. Despite their hard work, the team has dropped to 10-12 for the regular season. MCLA split a doubleheader against Fitchburg State on March 6. The first game was at 2 p.m. and ended with the Trailblazers losing 1-2. Ross Miner took the mound for MCLA, facing 32 batters and giving up nine hits. The team committed no errors and Miner gave up no BB’s.
With nine hits, the Trailblazers were able to trounce Fitchburg State, 6-0. The Trailblazer’s bats remained largely silent for the game, with the team only achieving five hits for the day. DH Chris Kock led the team in hits with two for the game. The second game was a much stronger outing for MCLA. With nine hits, the team was able to
Photo by Will Casey/ Beacon Staff
The baseball team has struggled to maintain a strong record in both regular and conference play. trounce Fitchburg 6-0, capitalizing on a four-run stretch in the second inning. Chris Preite, John
Duncan and Sean Coyle each nabbed two hits for the team. This time it was Daniel Gaines’
turn on the mound. He lasted all seven innings and gave up five hits. Once again, the Trailblazers
came out of the game with no errors or walks. BASEBALL, continued on page 11
Softball team’s record continues to sink Team sinks to 4-18 for season after Springfield sweeps in Tuesday doubleheader
By Ariana Tourangeau Staff Writer
The softball team has had a tough run lately. The Trailblazers have dropped another two games, leaving them with an overall record of 4-18. While this has been a discouraging experience, a conference record of 2-2 is pushing them to win. The losses are not stopping these girls from playing their hardest. Junior pitcher Ainsley MacDonald said that the team doesn’t let the losses effect their playing. They use it as motivation to play better the next time. “I think the season has been tough so far, but I think we have been getting better each practice and each game,” MacDonald said. “We are working on the things that we have been struggling with, and doing our best to get better as a team.” On Friday April 6th, the Trailblazers traveled to Fitchburg. There the team gave a good fight but, in the end, the team lost two conference games. The first game ended with a score of 6-3 and the second with a score of 6-5. Senior Co-Captains Kayla Koumjian and Kaitland Hager worked together in the first inning scoring a run for their team and leading the game 1-0. Koumjian hit a triple sending Hager home for the run.
Fitchburg came back, scoring runs in the first, fourth, fifth innings and winning the game with three runs in the sixth. The team fought back in the second game scoring three runs in the sixth inning. Hager, Koumjian and junior Kendra Hobbs all hit singles to start off the inning. Freshman Sam Barbarotta hit a triple, bringing home two Trailblazers. In the seventh inning Hobbs scored two runs for the team bringing the score to 6-5, but Fitchburg shut them out until the end of the game.
“I think the losses have definitely been a little discouraging, but I think that would be true for any team,” said Ainsley MacDonald Although this was their 16th loss so far in the season their record for MASCAC now stands at 2-2 and the team continues to work hard for those wins. “I think the losses have definitely been a little bit discouraging, but I think that would be true for any team. I also think that it has pushed us to work harder and im-
Photo by Marissa Zelazo/Beacon Staff
The team has struggled in the regular season but has maintained a strong conference record. prove as a team,” MacDonald said. MacDonald knows what her team has to do to win games and also suceed as individuals. “Personally I have not been happy with how I have been doing so far,” she explained. “I just need to
continue to work on my pitching to get to the level I need to be at.” Not only have losses been an obstacle for the team to overcome but injuries and the fact that the team is young have been getting in the way. The Trailblazers use
these obstacles as positive reinforcement and they continue to work hard. Co-Captain Kaitland Hager agreed with MacDonald. SOFTBALL, continued on page 11