Westfield edges out Trailblazers in first round

From Westfield State Sports Information

Westfield State 1 – MCLA 0

WESTFIELD, Mass. - Senior Chelsea Sylvia (South Dartmouth) pitched a five-hit shutout and sophomore Alicia Gardner (Athol) was 2-for-2 with a triple to lead Westfield State to a 1-0 victory over MCLA in an opening round game of the Massachusetts State College Athletics Conference (MASCAC) softball tournament.

Westfield, the No. 1 seed in the four-team double elimination tournament, hosts Bridgewater State in a key semifinal game on Saturday, May 2, at 1:30 p.m. Bridgewater - the No. 2 seed - pulled out a 3-2 home victory over Framingham State in eight innings in Thursday’s other first-round match.

No. 3 seed Framingham State will play No. 4 seed MCLA in the loser’s bracket game on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at Westfield State.

Westfield scored the game’s only run in the bottom of the second inning. Gardner lofted a one-out triple over the centerfielder’s head and scored on a sharply hit single to centerfield by sophomore Kristyn Carroll (Brockton).

Sylvia struck out six and walked and gave up three of her five hits in the first two innings. She pitched out of jams in MCLA’s first two at bats, especially in the first frame.

MCLA’s Amey Blackburn (Seekonk) led off the game with a double over the leftfielder’s head. Katie Ouellette (Norwood) reached on an infield single and both runners advanced a base on a throwing error.

Dangerous senior cleanup hitter Rachel Desautels (Readsboro, Vt./McCann Tech) then grounded out to Sylvia for the second out. A fly out to right field ended the scoring threat.

Gardner was the only player with two hits in the game; she also dropped down a nice sacrifice bunt.

MCLA stranded seven base runners, Westfield six.

MCLA freshman Hadley Ameen (North Adams) had another solid pitching outing. She allowed six hits and two walks with one strikeout.