LOWELL — After maturing nicely during the season, Central Catholic took an unfortunate step back last night in the Division 2 North semifinals at Martin Field.
Playing more like the young team that started the season, the Raiders fell convincingly to unbeaten No. 1-seed Concord-Carlisle, 9-2.
Central (16-5) had won eight straight games and was coming off a 6-3 win over Wakefield in which it played errorless ball and got clutch hit after clutch hit. But it made five errors against the Patriots (22-0), resulting in four unearned runs.
"I feel like our young kids played like young kids, but it wasn't just the young kids," said Central coach Stacy Ciccolo. "You can't give four or five outs to any team, especially to a good team like Concord-Carlisle."
The Patriots took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Emily Beinecke ripped a two-out double to left field against Kayla Maloney and Georgia Guttadauro hit a long fly that was misplayed. Beinecke and Guttadauro were co-MVPs in the Dual County League this year.
Central tied the score in the top of the second when Tina Eringis walked and sophomore Corrine Gosselin clouted a deep double to left-center field. But the Patriots took the lead for good with three unearned runs in the third, courtesy largely of a walk and two errors.
Ahead 4-1, Concord-Carlisle added three more runs in the fifth on a hit batter and three hits. The Patriots capped their evening with a pair in the sixth via an RBI-triple by Guttadauro.
Held to one hit through five innings by Shannon Dalton, Central showed some grit in the seventh by scoring a final run against reliever Gayle Miner on hits by Devin DeFusco, pinch-hitter Cassie Hebert and Maloney.
Despite the disappointing ending, Ciccolo was more than satisfied with Central's season.
"I'm very proud of the girls, playing like they did even after losing one of our most popular players (Rebecca Solomon, who died in a late-season car accident)," said Ciccolo. "A lot of the young girls got good experience and it makes me very optimistic about the future."
Concord-Carlisle 9, Central Catholic 2
Division 2 North Semifinals
Central Catholic (2): Martin cf 3-0-0, Kfoury ph 1-0-0, A.Borrelli ss 2-0-0, Hebert ph 1-0-1, Maloney p 4-0-1, Eringis 2b 3-1-0, Swarbrick c 1-0-0, C.Borrelli 1b 3-0-0, Gosselin dp 2-0-1, Forzese 3b 2-0-0, DeFusco lf/cf 3-1-1, Lesiczka rf 0-0-0, Habib rf 0-0-0. Totals 24-2-4
Concord-Carlisle (9): Allen 2b 4-0-0, Burling lf 4-0-1, Beinecke ss 3-3-1, Guttadauro 1b 3-2-1, Tarca 1b 3-1-0, Bilafer ph 1-0-1, Stout c 3-1-2, Pernice ph 1-0-0, Miner dp/p 3-1-1, Kokos rf 3-1-2, Pearl cf 3-0-2, Dalton p 3-0-0. Totals 31-9-11
RBI: Central — Gosselin, Maloney; C-C — Stout, Kokos, Pearl, Guttadauro, Bilafer
WP: Dalton; LP: Maloney
Central Catholic (16-5):0âÇ1âÇ0âÇ0âÇ0âÇ0âÇ1 — 2
Concord-Carlisle (22-0):1âÇ0âÇ3âÇ0âÇ3âÇ2âÇ0 — 9
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