Berghela paces offense on day one of Florida trip, but MCLA drops pair of games to UMB and WNE

Leesburg, FL- The MCLA softball team began their 2017 season this afternoon with a pair of games in the PFX games in Leesburg, FL.  The Trailblazers dropped the opener to UMass Boston 5-4 before falling to Western New England 8-5 in the nightcap. 

In the opener, UMass Boston (7-1) jumped ahead 3-0 against MCLA starter Morgan Watson.  The Beacons plated an unearned run in the first inning and added two more in the fourth to take the 3-0 advantage.  MCLA would battle back with two runs in the bottom of the frame as the Trailblazers took advantage of a Beacon miscue and Alex Romano had an RBI single to make it 3-2.

The Trailblazers would tie the game at 3-3 in the sixth when Katelyn Berghela had an infield single, promptly advanced to third on a wild pitch and an error, and later scored on Watson's single.

The Beacons would tally twice in top of the seventh however, as Roxanne Vento drilled a double to right field and another run scored on An Bilotta's single making it 5-3 heading to the bottom half.  MCLA wouldn't go quietly as freshman Erika Quackenbush would belt a towering home run to left center making it a one run game, however UMB would get the final out to provide the final score. 

Watson took the loss going 6 innings and allowing four runs, but just one earned in her debut.  She helped her cause by going 2-3 at the plate in the opener.

In the nightcap against the Golden Bears (7-1), WNE scored three times in the first inning to take control.  Corianna DeLisi led off with a homer to center field and WNE scored two more runs off Trailblazer starter Kara Adams to take an early 3-0 advantage.

MCLA got a run back in the fourth inning when Quackenbush would steal home making it 3-1 in favor of WNE.  The Golden Bears broke the game open by scoring two runs in the fifth to make it 5-1, and three more times in the sixth for an 8-1 advantage before the MCLA bats woke up.

In the sixth inning, the Trailblazers would score four times on three hits.  The key blow was a two run double from Berghela that closed the gap to 8-5, but MCLA couldn't muster any more runs.

Adams was tabbed with the loss going 3.2 innings allowing 5 runs (3 earned) and 5 walks.  Berghela paced the offense with three hits and a pair of RBI's.

The Trailblazers are back in action tomorrow when they challenge Ripon and Scranton starting at 1:00pm.