LINWOOD – The Mainland Regional High School softball team took down visiting Hammonton 6-3 on Friday, April 22, behind timely hitting and the pitching of Bella D’Agostino.
D’Agostino shook off an early home run to settle in and pitched better as the game wore on, while the Mustangs’ offense and defense gave her the support she needed, showing the team is starting to gel.
D’Agostino, who returned from injury earlier in the week, set down the first two hitters of the game before Alexa Panagopoylos hit a no-doubt home run to left for a 1-0 lead.
“That three-hole hitter for them, Panagopoylos, she’s a player,” Mainland head coach Brian Smith said. “She can hit the ball and you can see she’s aggressive, has a lot power and pop, and when we were getting ready for the game I told Bella, ‘That’s the one you gotta watch. You can’t let her hurt you.’ Then with two outs in the first inning she threw her a cookie and she did what you should do, she hit a home run.”
“I’ve been in a lot of situations like that by now,” D’Agostino said, “and I’ve just learned I’ve got to stay out of my own head. I can’t let other things rattle me. So I just take a deep breath, sort of de-stress myself, and restart. I know I have people behind me who can back me up, which is great too. So I’m able to trust my defense, trust my team, and I know I can do the job. So having all that is promising and helps us to look good.”
Camryn Juckett made a diving grab in right field to end the inning.
Juckett was hurt on the play as she landed on her wrist and was visibly in pain afterward.
After taking her first at-bat, Juckett was forced to leave the game.
“Cam Juckett made an outstanding catch in the first inning, and we’ve been working on playing better team defense,” Smith said. “Today we really did that. It’s the first game we’ve really played solid defense, and her making that catch really set the tone. You saw that throughout the infield, with Bella Berretta in center field on that last catch of the game where she went into the gap up against the fence. This was our best defensive game and at this point in the season that’s what we’re looking for. We’ve been talking about it, stressing it, and to be able to execute it against a quality opponent like Hammonton is a big step for us.”
The Mustangs offense then went to work and immediately answered.
Denver Obermeyer doubled to the wall with one out, and Ava Kinkler brought her home with a two-run shot to pull ahead.
“I felt really good when Ava hit that home run,” D’Agostino said. “I thought, ‘We have a chance.’ I didn’t really know much about Hammonton so I thought it could go either way. Then I saw us hit and I thought, ‘We’ve got this locked up. We’ve got defense, we got pitching, offense. We’re good to go.’”
“The way we responded in the first, with Denver Obermeyer hitting a double, and then Ava Kinkler hitting that line drive home run, that really picked us up,” Smith said. “We were right back in the game. Bella missed some time with a concussion, the first two weeks of the season. Coming back this week she had a victory against OLMA (Our Lady of Mercy Academy), and here against Hammonton, which is an outstanding program. For her to compete that way, it really boosts our confidence. We haven’t had our full team, so having her back just puts everything in the right place for us.”
In the second inning, a lead-off walk came back to bite D’Agostino when Sophia Vento came through with a two-out RBI single to tie it up at 2-2.
In the third inning, Mainland’s offense took over.
Obermeyer and Kinkler reached on singles then Joslyn Adams smashed a double to the fence for an RBI.
Kylie Higbee knocked in another with an infield single, a pair of shaky plays in the infield extended the inning, and D’Agostino helped her own cause with a single to the opposite field for a four-run lead.
From there, D’Agostino pitched free and easy the rest of the way, trusting her defense with the big lead.
“It’s definitely a big advantage because sometimes you’re pitching and you’re thinking, ‘I hope they don’t hit it,’ because you’re not sure,” D’Agostino said. “But lately I’ve been feeling really good. It definitely makes me relax more and I throw better because I know if I don’t throw it perfectly that I have people who will pick me up.”
The team received a scare in the top of the sixth when the lead-off hitter smoked a line drive off D’Agostino’s shin, less than a month removed from her taking a liner to the head.
“Bella took that one off the shin and she battled through it,” Smith said. “She’ll have to ice it up and make sure the swelling goes down.”
After being checked out and testing the leg on a few practice pitches, she stayed in the game.
“I’ll be all right,” D’Agostino said. “I’ve taken worse.”
Hammonton threatened late with a walk followed by an extra-base hit for a run.
But Mainland’s defense stepped up again with a strike ‘em out-throw ‘em out double play to crush the rally.
D’Agostino showed no signs of rust coming off the injury, which bodes well for the Mustangs.
“I guess I’m doing a little better than I thought I would,” D’Agostino said. “I’m just glad it didn’t bring me down a ton. I’m glad I’m able to rebound. I’m a little sore this week, but I’m getting there.”
The team has an exciting mix of upperclassmen and younger talent.
“Some of our seniors are our strong points, which is great,” D’Agostino said, “and we have our younger athletes like myself, Bella Berretta, Denver Obermeyer, and Rayna (Molina), who we’ll have back next year and will continue to improve. I think that’s really promising for us, it’ll give us good chances in the future.”
At a crucial point in the season they’re playing their best ball.
“We’re 10 games in, and 15 games count your season,” Smith said. “We’re five games away from playoff seeding. So you can’t take anything for granted and now we’re getting our pieces in place. Hopefully Cam Juckett just has a bruise and not anything serious. But we’re feeling good about where we are right now.”
The Mustangs, 6-4 after Friday’s game, will travel to Vineland for a 4 p.m. road game Thursday, April 28.
By KYLE McCRANE/Sentinel Sports