Carvalho silences Central bats in 7-0 win

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Johnston pitcher and senior captain Alicia Carvalho debuted a new throwing technique on Monday afternoon, and she would be wise to stick with it.

Carvalho faced the minimum of 21 batters during a complete-game, one-hit shutout to lead the Panthers to a 7-0 victory against Central at Mazzulla Field in Johnston. The Panthers are 2-0 against the Knights this year, outscoring them by a combined 30-4.

“I can’t give that up right now,” Johnston head coach Steven Day said when asked what was different about Carvalho’s new pitching motion. “She gains more power [with the motion]. This was a good day to try it out.”

The right-handed Carvalho was effective from the first to final batter. Central second baseman Tylia Batista drew a 3-0 count to lead off the game, but Carvalho battled back to pick up her first of eight strikeouts on the afternoon. She froze Central pitcher Janaisa Ortega for the final out of the game, too, after battling back from down 3-1 in the count.

Ortega had looked to make it a pitcher’s duel earlier in the game as she hurled a one-hitter through the first three innings with three strikeouts and quality defense behind her. Day said that Ortega’s reduced pitching speed of 45 mph, which is about 10 mph less than what the Panthers usually see, stymied the offense at first.

In the fourth inning, the Johnston bats arrived. Third baseman Jordan McHale grounded a one-out single up the middle to get the attack started. First baseman Gianna Vizzacco blooped a single down the left field line that fell just fair and advanced to second base on the throw, giving the Panthers two runners in scoring position after McHale had stolen second.

With the Panthers in position for their first offensive threat of the game, the “Havoc” ensued.

“We started this year, we started doing what we call Havoc,” Day said, referencing the intense style of play former Virginia Commonwealth University men’s basketball head coach Shaka Smart used when he first came to the school. “We have different plays for different teams, and when we play a team where we think we can move the runners and confuse them, we call it the Havoc.”

That confusion eventually saw Central’s defense unravel.

Catcher Haley Hohlmaier led off the scoring with an RBI single to plate McHale. Designated hitter Emely Rodriguez added some insurance later in the inning with an RBI infield base hit to score Vizzacco. Hohlmaier also came home on a wide throw to first from third baseman Glenys Cuevas that soared away of first baseman Nathaly Santos. Rodriguez advanced to second on the error.

The fielding miscues continued for Central. Centerfielder Lauren Messier struck out swinging, but catcher Destiny Degado, who is not the Knights’ everyday backstop, dropped the third strike. Her errant throw to first allowed Rodriguez, who reached third on a passed ball earlier, to score and Messier sprinted to the hot corner. She scored on second baseman Jennifer Cioffi’s groundout.

The Panthers tacked on two more in the seventh with the benefit of strong basepath awareness. Right fielder Lauren Civetti walked to lead off the inning and then stole second and third base. Vizzacco’s sacrifice fly to centerfield would drive her in for the sixth Johnston run.

McHale, who singled earlier in the inning, had also stolen second base but reached third on another Degado passed ball. Ortega turned her back to third base after grabbing Degado’s throw back to the mound and McHale darted home. She beat Ortega in the race to home plate, tallying the seventh and final Panthers’ run of the day.

“[The basepath awareness] is just players that have been playing for a while,” Day said. “Playing all year makes a big difference for some of these players and you can just tell with their aggressiveness that they have.”

The only Knights’ hit came in the fourth inning on a bloop infield single from Batista that just missed the glove of a diving McHale at third base. Carvalho kept Central within the confines of the diamond for nearly the entire game, with the only ball ever leaving the infield being a Cuevas flyout to shallow centerfield in the top of the seventh.

The Knights (2-11) were scheduled to face Pilgrim High School Wednesday at 4:15 p.m. for the second game of their four-game road trip to close out the season at Winslow Park. The Panthers (6-8) continued their six-game homestand to end the year when they hosted undefeated North Providence yesterday. Results were not available at press time.

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