By Tucker Paquette
@tpaquette17
Springfield College won both legs of its low-scoring, seven-inning doubleheader against MCLA on Sunday afternoon at Archie Allen Field.
Dominant starting pitching was a constant from the Pride, as Connor Caverly delivered six scoreless innings in Springfield’s 3-0 game-one victory, and Nate Kelleher-Mochak followed that up with a complete game one-run effort in the Pride’s 4-1 game-two win.
This level of production is becoming the expectation from Caverly and Kelleher-Mochak, as they boast respective ERAs of 2.57 and 3.15 on the season. Springfield head coach Mark Simeone was certainly pleased with the boost the two starters gave the rest of the team.
“[They were] both excellent, real tough out there,” Simeone said. “Throwing a lot of strikes, mixing their pitches well and really not giving them too much life all day long.”
Simeone made note of how his starters navigated their way out of jams, and how they rise to the occasion when there is increased traffic on the bases.
“I was really impressed with the way they competed,” Simeone said. “They did get into jams, [but] they [pitch their best] in those situations.”
Offensively, there wasn’t much to write home about for Springfield, but the team’s bats managed to do what was needed to help notch two hard-fought victories.
MCLA made two errors in the first game, leading to a three-run 5th inning that gave the Pride all the run support Caverly would need. Simeone pointed to this inning, and the manner in which Springfield scored their runs, as something he liked seeing from his team.
“We took advantage of some of the mistakes in that first game,” Simeone said. “One was a passed ball, one was a [dropped fly ball in] right. We took advantage of extra outs their team gave us. But at the same time, we were working hard on the bases. ”
Simeone is a believer in putting the ball in play and seeing what happens, and the first game was an example of how that approach can work in a team’s favor.
“If you put the ball in fair territory, the other team’s got to throw and catch it,” Simeone said. “And they didn’t do that as well as we did today.”
Sunday’s wins move the Pride to 10-6 on the season, and moves their win streak to five games. The team is already showing noticeable improvements from last year, but Simeone wants to see the team continue to emphasize not letting up, even in situations where they have leads. They added a crucial insurance run in the 5th inning of the second game, and Simeone hopes the Pride continue doing that.
“We’ve got to continue to work on playing better and stay focused with the leads,” Simeone said. “I’d like to pull away in some games, [and] we haven’t quite done that yet. I thought we were a little more focused and locked in from start to finish today, which is important.”
Looking ahead, Simeone is anticipating the start of NEWMAC conference play, especially as the Pride are showing signs of a team that can make a run once the postseason begins. However, he recognizes that continued improvements are a must as their schedule opens up.
“We’ll play two of the top dogs in our conference in the first week of conference play,” Simeone said. “We’ll have to play better to beat those guys than we did today, but I think we’re moving forward. I think we realize we’ve got a lot of guys who can play, a lot of guys who have the capability of being successful on the field.”
The Pride’s next chance to show their mettle will come on Tuesday at 3 p.m., where they’ll host Salve Regina in their first NEWMAC game of the season.
Photo courtesy: Springfield College Athletics