MONMOUTH – Jill Armstrong wasn’t sure if she’d ever pitch in a varsity game again.

The Monmouth Academy senior hadn’t pitched a game in years and had put down roots at third base for the Mustangs. Then came her coach’s announcement Monday afternoon.

“I wasn’t going to pitch and then they told me after school,” said Armstrong. “This was my first game since freshman year.”

With starter Brittany Hilton nursing a sore back, Armstrong got the call and came out of retirement. She pitched as though she hadn’t missed a beat in a 4-0 shutout of unbeaten Lisbon.

“When I do good, I love playing that position,” said Armstrong. “I missed it. I didn’t think I was really going to be pitching this year, but we didn’t have Brittany.”

Armstrong missed her sophomore year to injury and didn’t pitch at all last season. She only got better as the game progressed. She allowed just two hits, struck out 11 and walked two.

“She pitched a whale of a game,” said Monmouth coach Rachel Bernier, whose team hosts Georges Valley in another battle of unbeatens Tuesday. “We weren’t expecting her to pitch today. We were expecting Brittany, and Brittany wasn’t available. Jill had to step in. We gave her the game ball just for that reason.”

Monmouth (3-0) scored on a Lisbon error in the second and made it 4-0 on a Jenn Lola three-run triple in the sixth. Lola finished with three hits while Kelsie Hilton had a pair of hits.

Lisbon’s Emily Moore pitched a nice game, scattering nine hits. She got out of a jam in the first after two Monmouth hits and didn’t allow more than one hit per inning until three hits in the sixth.

“I thought she threw well,” said Lisbon coach Mike Fortier. “We had one bad break there early when they got the first run. Then we had that situation with the bases loaded. I thought we’d be able to get out of it. Then Jenn comes up with a big hit. That’s a tough situation. With two outs, she came through.”

Monmouth’s first run came when Bethany Neal scored from first on an error after a dropped third strike.

Lisbon remained within reach but couldn’t get much going against Armstrong. She threw several pitches in the first, but got three straight outs and had a string of four straight strikeouts at one point.

“I got a little more confident,” said Armstrong. “I threw a lot of high balls, but once we made some key plays, I think I got some confidence.”

Lisbon (3-1) got a single from Kala Michaud in the second and a Chelsea Dupal single in the sixth. Ashley Beaulieu and Christy McAuliffe drew walks in the third and fourth respectively.

“We had trouble laying off the high ones, especially when we didn’t have two strikes,” said Fortier. “We kind of put ourselves in a hole there. When we did hit the ball solid, they made the plays. They got the job done in the field.”

Lola made a diving stop of a Michaud grounder in the fourth and tossed the ball to Kara Strout at second to end the inning. In the sixth, Kristi Hilton made a nice charge of a short fly in right by Moore for the second out.

“We had kids that weren’t ready to play their positions as freshmen,” said Bernier. “They had to step up and play those positions. (Kristi) Hilton, I was going to start her in right field and moved her to third. Then her twin sister was in right, and she did a nice job calling off someone on that play. That was a key situation.”