Madi DeCota twirled the ball in her right hand before wiping the top of her forehead as she stood in the circle with one more out to go.
The junior pitcher adjusted her red and orange-tinted sunglasses through her face protector and then with a slight nod of agreement with the call from catcher Courtney Thomas, DeCota tossed the ball toward the plate.
Almost immediately, the ball took a high climb right back to DeCota as she secured the final out of the game while extending the Bears’ win streak after the 5-1 win over Merrimack Valley on Friday.
It’s been tight yet loose play all season long from Coe-Brown. It doesn’t make too many errors, the pitching is consistent and the offense is aware of what’s coming its way. That all proved true against the Pride where in just the first inning DeCota and the Bears’ defense retired the first three hitters and then followed it up with two hits that included Haile Comeau’s solo home run over the center-field fence.
In a game between two of the strong playoff contenders within Division II, the Pride responded with a home run of their own. Junior third baseman Kalee Keyser sent the ball over the left-field fence on the third pitch at the top of the second to even the game to one apiece.
Keyser’s home run was only the fourth earned run that DeCota has allowed all season according to coach Dave Allis. Allis, who’s in his fifth season at Coe-Brown has made note of his ace in the circle and her relentless work ethic that’s made her successful this season.
“She just keeps getting better every minute,” he said. “She practices harder than she plays.”
The Bears in search of separation achieved it in the bottom of the third when Thomas hit a ball deep into left field and sent Emma Broadstone home from second base. Annie Jerome followed Thomas with a shot into the outfield that sent in two unearned runs and a 4-1 lead.
Another MV error in the fourth gave the Bears their fifth and final run after Broadstone sent the ball into shallow right field. Those errors are seldom seen by the Pride, according to coach Kevin O’Brien, but they were the difference-maker.
“We had three unearned runs and that’s on us,” he said. “We’ve got a couple of things we need to clean up.”
MV (6-1) also has a pitcher coming into her own right with Olivia Lacasse. A junior, Lacasse had a strong performance with six strikeouts and one walk.
Coe-Brown (9-0) now remains the only undefeated team in Division II and is eyeing the No. 1 seed for the tournament that begins on June 1. Six games remain on its schedule and while conversations about the tournament have happened, it’s still a day-to-day focus.
Both teams are back in action Monday with Coe-Brown making a trip to ConVal (6-4) and MV hosting Pelham (2-8).