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MONMOUTH — Senior Sabrina Beck picked a good time to hit the first home run of her softball career.
After failing to get a sacrifice bunt down in the bottom of the second inning, the Monmouth Academy catcher belted a two-run homer to deep left field to help lead the seventh-seeded Mustangs past No. 10 Lisbon 7-4 in a Western C prelim game Tuesday afternoon.
“I saw it bounce over the fence and it was the first home run I’ve ever gotten,” Beck said. “I was just really ecstatic,”
Monmouth will next play No. 2 Hall-Dale in a quarterfinal round game Thursday. The two teams met once during the regular season, with the Bulldogs winning 8-3 on May 7.
“They’re well coached, they’re a young team but they’re going into this with nothing to lose,” Hall-Dale coach Christen Lachapelle said. “We can’t afford to overlook them.”
The Mustangs may have a number of young players in the lineup, but Monmouth coach Dave Kaplan said he has seen his team consistently improve since that May 7 defeat.
“We had one bad inning. We had one five-run inning and that was the difference in the game,” Kaplan said. “We had several of those earlier in the year and we haven’t had many since. We’ve come together defensively a lot better.
“I like our chances. I certainly think we can play with them. Whether we win or not, if they leave it on the field like they did today I’m a happy coach win or lose.”
If the Mustangs can get off to a similar start Thursday that they did Tuesday, there are plenty of reasons for Kaplan to like his team’s chances.
Paxton Lessard opened the game by setting the Greyhounds down in order and, in the bottom half of the inning, Monmouth plated a pair of runs.
After loading the bases with one out, Becky Bryant hit a ground ball to Taylor Plourde at third but Plourde’s throw home was off the mark. The errant attempt got by catcher Jasmin Le, allowing both Kylie Kemp and Caroline Bonenfant to score.
Corrie Meehan then opened the bottom of the second by drawing a lead-off walk, bringing up the Mustang’s lead-off hitter, Beck.
After taking ball one, Beck attempted to get the bunt down but could not keep it in play. It would prove to be for the better, as she walloped the next offering from Kaitlyn Hill well over the fence in left.
“It was pretty much a pitch just at my letters, right down the middle,” Beck said. “It was probably the best pitch to get a home run off of.”
Lisbon finally got on the board in the top of the third, but in the bottom of the fourth, Shannon Buzzell pushed the Mustangs’ lead to 6-1 after she doubled home Bonenfant and later scored on a Lessard groundout.
The Greyhounds stayed within striking distance after scoring a pair of runs on a Bryant error in center field, but the Mustang quickly made amends for her miscue.
Bryant took over for Lessard in the circle and needed just two pitches to get out of the inning, getting Ashley Patten to pop out to Madi Neal at first.
“She can put it right behind her,” Kaplan said of Bryant. “She knew she had a huge brain cramp out there (in center) and she can shake it off. She’s a very, very savvy junior. Very intelligent and a good pitcher.”
Lisbon managed to get a run off Bryant in the top of the seventh, but the Greyhounds never got an opportunity to tie things up.
“We’ve got some really good veterans on this team,” Kaplan said. “They know when to bear down. They get tougher when it gets tough, and they did today. I got four good innings out of Paxton and Becky came in and closed the door.”
Offensively, Kemp was the only Mustang to have multiple hits with a pair of singles, while Bryant reached base four times and scored a run on a Haley Fletcher single in the sixth inning.
Evan Crawley — 621-5640
Twitter: @Evan_Crawley
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