FITCHBURG —It wasn’t the way St. Bernard’s softball head coach Tea Preston and her Bernardians drew it up, but they will certainly take the result.
The Bernardians and Murdock met on the diamond of the St. Bernard’s Activity Center Complex on Tuesday afternoon, with the Blue Devils hitting the field with nine players having already run into a handful of injuries.
With two outs in the bottom of the second inning and St. Bernard’s holding a three-run lead, Destiny Cuevas hit a ball deep in the hole that Murdock shortstop Addison Brooks attempting to make a play and injured herself in the process. Paris Cuevas scored on the play to make it 4-0 before the game was halted.
Brooks was unable to continue and after a brief discussion between the coaches and umpire, the game was called with St. Bernard’s taking a forfeit win.
The Bernardians snapped a three-game losing streak and get back to .500 on the season, improving to 3-3 following the non-league win. The Blue Devils, they drop to 0-5 on the year.
“I don’t know what it goes in the book as. I’ll have to talk to my athletic director about that, but I know it’s a forfeit win,” said Preston. “I thought the girls had great energy. it was better than I’ve seen in a while. We are working on changing the mindset. This team can be competitive and can qualify for the tournament if they believe in themselves and play the way they are capable.”
After plating a run in the bottom of the first inning, the Bernardians scratched across three more runs in the second stanza before the game was stopped.
Bernardians sophomore starting pitcher Brennah McDonald did her job on Tuesday as the young St. B’s hurler faced six batters in her two innings of work and struck out five of them. The only Blue Devil to put the ball in play in this one was leadoff hitter and starting pitcher Kaleah Reilly, who grounded out to shortstop to kick off the ballgame.
“Brennah worked so hard in the offseason. She’s added velocity and movement,” said Preston. “She did a nice job today. It was only two innings but she pitched well.”
St. Bernard’s scored the game’s first run in the home half of the first. With one out, the Bernardians loaded the bases on three straight walks before first baseman Erin McNamara reached on an infield single that plated McDonald.
The Bernardians tacked on three more runs in the second inning. With two outs, Lynn Warren singled to left field before McDonald hit an RBI double to left andParis Cuevas followed with an RBI single to left field. Paris Cuevas stole second before Destiny Cuevas’ game ending infield hit.
The Bernardians will look to make it back-to-back wins when they return to action on Wednesday afternoon when Ayer-Shirley Regionals travel to Fitchburg.