Season-high six RBIs by Parese advances Generals past Vikings
ROCHESTER, MN – With Lindsey Parese (Herkimer, NY) and Brittany Ormond (New Paltz, NY) picking up the slack for the #2 Herkimer Generals softball team in the opening round of the 2015 NJCAA DIII National Championship Tournament, the team won their 32nd consecutive game, defeating #7 Itasca Community College 9-1.
Herkimer (36-7) got a season-high six runs batted in from their nine hitter, Parese, coming into the game with one RBI in her last seven games (6-for-18 at the plate). The freshman, who had 13 RBI all season, collected a double in the second inning which helped the Generals capture their first lead (3-1), then tripled in the fourth to increase the lead to 7-4. Parese finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate.
Joining Parese with a run batted in was Dana Nicoletti (Syracuse, NY). The leadoff hitter collected her 16th RBI of the season, tallying at least one RBI in her last four games.
On the mound for the second consecutive game was sophomore Brittany Ormond. The sophomore built on her three-hit shutout against Monroe in the Region III Championship game, scattering six hits in six innings of work for her ninth win of the season (9-2).
Up next for the #2 Generals in the national tournament is #6 Hudson Valley. The Vikings upset #3 Cumberland 15-9 in extra innings of the opening round on Thursday (5/14) and have lost only one game since getting swept by the Generals 9-7 and 11-5, going 6-1 since then. The game between Herkimer and Hudson Valley is scheduled to be played at 12 p.m. EST tomorrow (5/15), moved from it's original 5 p.m. start on Thursday 5/14) due to a rain delay declared at McQuillan Sports Complex.
Score:
Herkimer Generals 9, Itasca Vikings 1
Vikings 010 000 | 1 6 4
Generals 030 411 | 9 9 1
WP: Brittany Ormond (9-2) LP: Kayla McInerney (10-10) 2B: Herkimer 2; (Myslivecek, Parese) 3B: Generals 1 (Parese); RBI: Herkimer 7 (Parese 6, Nicoletti 1) Itasca 1 (Nistler); Records: Herkimer 12-0, 36-7 Itasca 10-7, 24-21
-Giorgio Varlaro