NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida recognized three softball players that were in their final year of action for on Saturday afternoon, and then saw one of them cap a prolific career with another record-breaking performance in a double-header split against Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) rivals Lasell College.
Seniors Kirsten Guerrero (Fairfield, Conn.), and Meg Hall (Danielson, Conn.) and junior Gina Onorevole (Lafayette, N.J.) were honored in a pre-game ceremony before the game, as they were all playing their last home game as a member of the Green and White.
Guerrero went on to collect four hits in the twinbill, giving her 166 base hits in her Mount Ida career, passing Devan Meeker (164 hits 2010-13) as the all-time Mustang leader.
Hall scored twice on the day, and Onorevole collected a hit, a run scored and an RBI.
Unfortunately, these games would be the last ones played for the Mustangs this season, as, after winning game one 6-2, a 4-2 loss in the nightcap meant that Mount Ida was eliminated from GNAC playoff contention with a 9-21 record (8-14 GNAC).
Game One: Mount Ida 6, Lasell 2
Guerrero hit a massive three-run home-run to left field in a four-run bottom of the first inning for Mount Ida, and freshman Nicole Handzel (Palmer, Mass.) pitched a complete game, allowing just one earned run while striking out 11 batters.
Freshman Michele MacDonald (North Dighton, Mass.) was 3-for-3 in the game with a run scored, and finished the year with a sparkling .409 batting average.
Guerrero added an RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third, which scored Shannon McArthur (Coventry, R.I.), who had doubled home MacDonald in the first and put two runners on base to set the stage for Guerrero's blast.
Onorevole joined the Mount Ida attack in the fourth when she singled down the right field line to plate Hall, who had walked and then advanced to second on a bunt single by MacDonald.
Handzel improved to 8-11 on the season, which she concludes with a Mount Ida record 144 strikeouts and a 2.69 earned run average. She took a no-hitter into the fourth inning, when Santina Antoshak (Closter, N.J.) knocked a base hit up the middle.
Antoshak ended up with two of the four Lasell hits off of Handzel, but the Lasers only got one hit in the sixth inning where they scored their two runs. That was off the bat of Courtney Moen (Brookfield, Mass.), who would eventually score, as would pitcher Eileen Bergin (Arlington, Mass.), who was hit by a pitch.
The visitors took advantage of three walks and a Mount Ida error to pull back to a 6-2 deficit, but Handzel shut the door in the seventh by getting two batters to strike out swinging and stranding runners at first and third after a lead-off double by Emily DeAngelis (Shelton, Mass.).
Bergin suffered the loss, dropping her to 7-16 on the season after working the first four inning and allowing nine hits and six runs. Bergin walked one batter and struck out two.
Game Two: Lasell 4, Mount Ida 2
The Lasers broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the fifth inning when catcher Nicole LeBlanc (Easton, Mass.) singled up the middle to score Antoshak, who crossed the plate twice, having also come across on an RBI single by Denise Archetto (Cranston, R.I.) during the top of the first, when Lasell went ahead 2-0.
Moen also scored in the fifth on a wild pitch, to give the visitors the two-run cushion.
Mount Ida tied the game at two in the bottom of the second on a two-run single to right center by MacDonald, which drove home Hall and catcher Sam Laferriere (Tewksbury, Mass.).
Guerrero smacked a single to right field in the first to break the career hits record, then completed her four-hit day with base knock to left center in the bottom of the third.
Krystel Enko (Haydenville, Mass.) went the distance for Lasell, allowing just one earned run on seven hits while striking out three batters to improve to 7-6.
Freshman Kaitlyn Muhlenforth (Bohemia, N.Y.) took the loss after giving up just three earned runs on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts over seven innings.
Lasell ends their 2014 campaign with a mark of 14-22, and a 7-15 mark in the GNAC.