PLAINVILLE, Mass. – The King Philip softball team played the majority of the regular season with a lead.
The Warriors are using the postseason to prove that they can come from behind too.
For the second straight tournament game, fourth-seeded King Philip overcame an early three-run deficit to land a win, this time a 9-3 decision over fifth-seeded Plymouth North in a Division 1 South quarterfinal matchup at the Plainville Athletic League complex.
In the playoff opener, the Warriors found themselves in a 3-0 hole against visiting Milton before even coming to bat but rallied to tie the game and eventually take a 6-3 win.
In the top of the third inning on Wednesday evening, the Eagles of Plymouth South turned their first hit of the game into the first runs of the game. A walk to No. 9 hitter Marissa Durette proceeded back-to-back hits from Emily Jenkins and Megan Banzi, the latter pushing across the first run of the game. An RBI ground out from Kylee Carafoli made it 2-0, and a wild pitch brought one more run for a 3-0 advantage.
King Philip freshman Jordan Bennett got a big strikeout swinging to end the inning, which seemed to give the Warriors an extra boost of momentum heading into the bottom half.
“She got that strikeout and we wanted to pick her up and score some runs,” said King Philip head coach Kate Fallon-Comeau. “We started to get the outs [in a row] and we’d feed off that coming up to hit. They did really well. They chipped away at the deficit and just got the bats going.”
Sophomore Ava Lanza got things started with a one-out single, stole second, and took third on a base hit from sophomore Charlotte Raymond, who took second on the throw. After a walk to sophomore Sarah Cullen, junior Mia Bennett smacked a hard hit ball through the right side to bring a run in.
Despite leaving the bases loaded, the Warriors got on the board with a run and from the offense scored in every in after.
After surrendering the three runs in the third, Jordan Bennett settled in to allow just two baserunners over the course of the final four innings. One was a leadoff single in the top of the fourth but that run was quickly erased by KP’s second double play of the game on a pop-up to Maddie Paschke at third and a quick throw to first to Anna Bradley to double the runner up. Bennett ended the inning with one of her five strikeouts.
Sophomore Taylor Regan (4-for-4, three runs) led off with one of her four singles on the night, senior Paige Berdos followed with a single, and Ava Lanza reached on an infield hit after timely base running from Regan on the left side of the infield as KP loaded the bases with one out for this second straight inning.
A pop-up to center made it two outs but Cullen, who hit the go-ahead home run in KP’s win over Milton, came up with another clutch hit with a hard-hit double down the left field line to bring in two runs to make it 3-3 after four innings.
“If they don’t get hits early on, it doesn’t really faze them,” Fallon-Comeau said. “They take each at-bat as a new, fresh start. Who cares if I grounded out last time? They put it past them and focus on the current at-bat.”
Bennett needed just seven pitches to retire the side in order in the top of the fifth and King Philip’s offense had its best showing in the bottom half, despite going against new pitcher Kylee Hefner, who replaced Caroline Collins.
Ava Kelley led off with a walk and senior Libby Curran dropped down a perfect sac bunt to advance the runner. Regan singled to put runners on the corners and Jordan Bennett was hit by a pitch to load them up.
Berdos came about a foot away from a grand slam but the Warriors got a run out of it as a sacrifice fly and then Lanza doubled down the left-field line for two more runs. Two batters later, Cullen brought in a run with a two-out single, and KP’s lead improved to 7-3 after five innings.
“I knew they’d get the timing down eventually off of [Collins] and then they switched and [Hefner’s] speed was more in their wheelhouse,” Fallon-Comeau said. “And they were hungry up there and ready to hit by the fifth inning.”
Banzi led off the top of the sixth with a double, the only other batter to reach for the Eagles after the third inning, but she didn’t get any further. Bennett got a grounder back to the circle and back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
The Warriors tacked on some insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, the fourth straight inning KP pushed across a run. Kelley led off with a single and alertly took second after a pop-up and throwing error. Regan singled again to put runners on the corners and Bennett loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch.
Berdos smashed another deep ball, this one finding space in left field for a two-run double to extend the Warriors’ lead to 9-3.
Bennett needed just eight pitches to sit the Eagles down in order in the top of the seventh to get the win.
“She’s not fazed by too many things, not much gets to her,” Fallon-Comeau said of Bennett settling down after giving up three runs in the third. In the playoff opener, Bennett allowed just one baserunner over the final four innings after giving up three runs in the first. “I think her older sister [Mia] kind of prepared her for this level. She wasn’t thrown off by any of their screaming. She just wants the ball and she’s ready to go, she’s a scrappy kid.”
With the win, King Philip earns a third date with division rival and top-seed Taunton, who handed the Warriors their only two losses of the season. First pitch between King Philip and Taunton is scheduled for 7:00 PM on Thursday at Jack Tripp Field on the campus of Taunton High.
