BETHEL — After an exciting win at Madison on Tuesday, the Telstar softball team had to shrug off the thrills of victory and do it all again Wednesday.
That proved easier said than done for the Rebels.
“We played really well and I was really pleased with (Tuesday’s) performance,” said Telstar coach Jim Lunney of the 2-0 win over the top-ranked Bulldogs. “Everything, all aspects, we swung the bats and Jess (Dirago) pitched well. Then we came out a little flat. At times, we were reluctant to swing.”
It took awhile for the Telstar bats to ignite Wednesday, and Oak Hill, coming off a big win of their own, took an early lead. The Rebels finally came to life in the fifth and scored five runs on four hits to rally for a 5-1 win.
“I knew we had to come back,” senior Autumn Morin said. “We really needed this game after Madison and winning such a big game.”
It was the sixth win in the last seven for the Rebels (8-2), currently fourth in Western C. Oak Hill drops to 6-6 and sit seventh in Western B.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Oak Hill coach Allyson Collins said. “We hoped it was going to be a low-scoring game, and it was for a while. Telstar just broke through and capitalized on a couple of our errors.”
It was a pitchers duel early on as Dirago, a senior, had to battle Oak Hill sophomore Makayla Nadeau. Nadeau had just joined the Raiders varsity Tuesday and was rushed into starting in the win over Winthrop after starter Lauren Beganny was hurt. She hurled a two-hitter. She started again Wednesday and went four-plus innings. She allowed just one hit and struck out six through the first four innings.
“We have really good hitters and when we’re starting to strike out, it was tough because we knew we could hit the ball,” Morin said.
Dirago allowed just three hits. She struck out nine and walked just two.
“It was really stressful because I didn’t really get a break between the two games,” said Dirago, who pitched a two-hitter against Madison. “I know when there’s people in scoring position, I have to buckle down and get done what needs to get done. That happened today. They had people on second and third, and I knew I had to get out somehow.”
Oak Hill got the first run in the fourth. Kayla Veilleux singled with one out. After advancing on the second out, Grace Sabine delivered a single to right that plated Veilleux.
Morin had doubled for Telstar in the first, but the Rebels struggled to get a hit after that.
“I think once someone see someone else hit, the confidence goes up,” sophomore Tori Ryerson said. “They want to hit the ball. They don’t out-think it.”
Telstar got the spark it needed in the fifth. With one out, Sadie Ellsworth reached on an error. Tehya Johnson followed with a single. That put runners at the corners with Ryerson up.
Lunney called a conference with Ryerson and the base runners. Ryerson showed bunt on the first pitch and Johnson stole second. Then Ryerson followed with a single up the middle that tied the game.
“He wanted to bunt at first and then he just had me hit,” Ryerson said. “I saw it coming down the middle. I knew it was mine. I had my confidence up. I had a little smirk on like ‘Yeah, that’s my pitch.'”
Hayley Peterson followed with a bunt that Oak Hill tossed around twice. Ryerson scored to make it 3-1. After Aislinn Forbes singled in Peterson, Morin tripled in the final run.
“We all kind of feed off each other,” Dirago said. “Even though we were down for awhile, we knew we could pull it out. We did so good (Tuesday) and that really helped us today. We knew we could do this.”
Oak Hill had three errors in the fifth. Collins brought in Sadie Goulet to pitch and finish the game.
“It’s one of those things if you miss a fly ball or miss a ground ball and things snowball and get a little out of control,” Collins said. “The girl that hit the triple came up. She never should have come up in the first place. That’s just the way the ball goes. It’s hard to stop that ball rolling when it starts.”
Morin and Johnson each had two hits for the Rebels. Forbes and Ryerson had the only other hits. In addition to Veilleux and Sabine, Goulet also had a hit for the Raiders.
kmills@sunjournal.com
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