The Oak Hill pitcher strikes out 11 batters without a walk.
WALES – The way Julie Lizotte was pitching Wednesday, the Oak Hill softball team knew it only needed a couple of runs.

Though the first few innings were a scoreless stalemate between the Raiders and Lincoln Academy, Oak Hill was confident that those runs would come eventually.

“We had to be a little patient at the plate,” said Oak Hill coach Julie Boucher. “That’s a good lesson for them because we see different styles of pitchers and different speeds from pitchers. So it takes awhile to time it just right.”

In the fourth inning, the offense finally arrived. The Raiders (2-0) broke open the game with six runs and finished with a 7-1 victory over the Eagles (0-2).

“It was a little hard because we knew we had runners on but it wasn’t clicking,” said second baseman and pitcher Danielle Sargent. “I think we were just trying too hard at that point. We just weren’t hitting the holes. We’re hitting the ball. We’re making contact. We just need to find the holes more.”

Sargent, Lena Dietrich and Chrissy Rines each finished with a pair of hits for the Raiders.

“It took awhile for us to generate hits off the different style of pitching,” said Boucher. “Once they got used to it, I thought we did OK.”

Lizotte mowed down the Lincoln Academy hitters for five innings. Sargent came on in the sixth to close the game out. Lizotte gave up just two hits. She struck out 11, including 10 of the last 16 batters she faced. She also didn’t walk any batters.

Though Oak Hill got three hits and put four runners on during the first three innings against pitcher Nicole Russell, the Raiders couldn’t capitalize. That all changed in the fourth.

With one out, Ashly Medeiros started things with a single. Rines followed with a nice bunt hit. When Magan Blais’ hit back to Russell was thrown to third, failing to get the force, the Raiders had the bases full.

Ashley Cyr drove in the first run with a grounder to shortstop Meghan Taylor. Catcher Savannah Pitcher blocked the plate, but Medeiros raced home and beat the throw. Jill Lizotte followed with a similar grounder to Taylor. Pitcher blocked the plate again, but a low throw couldn’t be handled by the catcher, allowing Rines to score. Dietrich plated Blais with a ground out to first.

After a Julie Lizotte walk, that set the table for Sargent, the cleanup hitter.

“I like her there,” said Boucher. “I heard them in the dugout telling the outfielders to step back. They knew she was a decent hitter.”

Sargent lived up to her reputation. She drilled a liner into the gap in left-center for a triple that cleared the bases and gave the Raiders a commanding 6-0 lead.

“(Coach) puts me at cleanup so I just try to prove that I can be there and do the job,” said Sargent. “I know when there’s runners on, I have to get them in and try to help my team anyway that I can.”

The 6-0 lead was all the Raiders would need. Oak Hill added another run in the sixth when a Dietrich single scored Cyr.

Lincoln Academy’s lone run came in the seventh off Sargent. Cassie Berry led off with a triple. The Eagles loaded the bases with no outs after a pair of walks but managed just one run. Nicole Poland’s ground out allowed Berry to score.