Since their 4-4 season opening road trip to Florida last week, the Lady Beacons have gone 4-0 in two double header sweeps over Mass Maritime and Salem State. In their first game against Salem St., the offense got off to a huge start from one of their seniors.
Maria Nasta, more than just a hockey star, belted a pitch in the first inning over the fence that still has not landed yet. “I got to a 3 and 2 count so it was a battle and just figured the next pitch was going to be close”, quoted Nasta. When I saw it come in, I made contact and as soon as it came off the bat I new it was gone. It was good to get an early lead with those 3 runs
From then on the Beacons coasted, eventually extending their lead to 6-1 before allowing a pair late runs to take the first game 6-3.
After the game, second baseman Kasey O’Connell said “The last few games have been a tough transition from Florida to Boston weather but they have been really exciting especially the game against Salem State”. “We’ve had a couple of come from behind wins, our team never gives up and that is why I believe we will go far this year”.
The real star of the game was Katie Corey, who pitched a complete game to push her record to 4-2 on the season and lower her ERA to 2.33.
“I think we all definitely felt the cold but we were ready to play, quoted a focused Corey. “Maria hitting a homerun in the first really gave us the extra boost we all needed. I felt good pitching the first game of the season for us, especially getting the win, and my team was behind me 100% like they always are. I really feel like our chemistry on the field is great.”
The second game was much closer and the Beacons were trailing Salem State 5-0 entering the 7th inning. With one out and two on, O’Connell hit a double to cut Salem State’s lead to 5-3. After the Beacons tied it up at 5, freshman Erika Vecchiet drove Sue Killilea in to give the Beacons the 6-5 walk off win.
“I felt confident that we could come back” said Vecchiet. “When I got up to bat I knew I just had to make contact to get the run in”.
Saturday the team played another double-header at home, this time against Mass Maritime Academy. These games went very smoothly for the Beacons. The Beacons won the two match ups by a combined total of 37-5. The Lady Beacons scored 7 of their runs in the 5th, winning the first game 11-2. Katie Corey, who went 5 stellar innings and notched yet another W. Corey was also stellar at the plate, going 3-4 and knocking in 3 RBIs, pitched the game. The second matchup was a blowout far beyond anyone’s expectations. The Beacons won the game 26-3 and there were four Lady Beacons with 4 or more RBIs. The most notable of whom was Kasey O’Connell, who tied UMB’s single game RBI record with an astonishing 6.
O’Connell said, “I honestly had no idea I tied the school record but having those good at- bats will give me more confidence up at the plate.”