LISBON FALLS — Terri Tlumac had a good feeling about her Lisbon High School softball team’s Mountain Valley Conference game against Mt. Abram on Friday.
Of the 12 Roadrunners on the varsity roster, seven had to miss the trip, forcing first-year Mt. Abram coach Errol Berry to bring four junior varsity players along just to field a team.
The expected happened, as the Greyhounds scored in all five of their at-bats on the way to a 15-2 win. But Tlumac was impressed with the effort turned in by the young visitors.
“They did a great job, a few girls that hit the ball well and got something going for them,” Tlumac said of the 0-3 Roadrunners.
“I am very proud, especially having the four JV girls. I have no complaints,” said Berry, whose Roadrunners visit Telstar on Monday. “Lisbon has the knowledge of the game and knows the situations. They take advantage of the other team’s sloppiness.
“For us, we want to learn something every game and improve. That is all that I care about.”
Lisbon (3-1) received a wake-up call right out of the gates. Summer Ross drove an Alyssa Hall offering to the gap in left-center field for a triple and scored on a double by Alara Ross for a 1-0 Mt. Abram lead.
“I didn’t tell them that they were missing players. We got down in the first and knew that we had to get going,” said Tlumac, who watched her Greyhounds answer with four runs in the home half of the first.
Brittany Norman walked and stole second, and Kipri Steele reached on an error, the first of six miscues for Mt. Abram. Norman scored on a wild pitch, and after Carly Drischler walked, Ali Sult drilled a two-run triple to right-center field for a 3-1 Lisbon lead. Sult scored on a single by Jasmin Le.
“It was important to come out quick, not knowing much about them,” said Drischler. “We haven’t played a lot of tough teams yet, so we have to take each team seriously. If we play to our best ability, we feel that we can stay with the top teams.”
Singles by Kate Philbrick and Drischler (2-for-3, three runs, two RBIs) made for a 7-1 contest through two, and Drischler added her second RBI in the third to cap another four-run frame for an 11-1 advantage.
“Carly is a great addition to the team as a freshman and I am excited to see what the future holds for her,” Tlumac said.
Summer Ross (2-for-3, two runs) stroked her second triple in the fifth, followed by a run-scoring single by Alara Ross for Mt. Abram’s second run.
Lisbon ended things soon after, with Hannah Martel (2-for-2, RBI) and Norman (1-for-2, RBI, three walks) picking up run-scoring hits to bring on the mercy rule after five innings.
Tlumac feels her Greyhounds are a team that can give the top MVC challengers some fits as the season progresses.
“I see us in the middle of the pack, and it just depends on which team shows up to play,” said Tlumac, whose Greyhounds entertain Monmouth Academy on Monday at 4 p.m. “Against Mountain Valley (an 11-1 loss on Wednesday), we didn’t show and made error after error. We need to be aggressive and not make those mistakes, both in the field on the bases.”
Hall struck out seven and walked four in her complete-game effort win, while Summer Ross walked 10 and permitted 11 Lisbon hits on the hill for the Roadrunners.
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