By ALEX SPONSELLER

The Toll Gate softball team picked up a pair of recent wins, topping Mount St. Charles 5-3 then North Providence 9-7 to improve to 3-0 on the spring season.

The Titans held on to beat the Mounties on the road last week in a well-balanced victory.

Tied 2-2 in the fifth inning, Toll Gate’s Julia Krause would break things open when she hit a two-run homer to make it 4-2. Julia Maker would knock in Sydnee Perreault to add some insurance with the 5-2 lead.

Although the Mounties would tack on another run in the sixth, they would not be able to overcome the deficit as the Titans held on for the victory.

Freshman pitcher Emma Harrold was impressive in the circle for Toll Gate, pitching all seven innings and recording a whopping 13 strikeouts.

“Coming off the bus and going right into playing a game is challenging. As a pitcher, that could be very stressful, she didn’t get her full warm-up and this was only her second game as a freshman,” said Toll Gate coach Shana Willis of Harrold’s outing. “The confidence came when the strikeouts came and she became more confident on the mound.”

Honor Meunier would knock in Perreault to give Toll Gate an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, but Mount would respond in the bottom half with a two-run shot to take the 2-1 lead. Marlee Walsh would add and RBI in the second inning for Toll Gate and tie the score at 2-2.

Despite a slow start at the plate, the Titans rolled in the final half of the game which was encouraging, according to Willis.

“It’s early in the year so we just have to shake the butterflies out. Hitting is contagious so once one or two of them got a hit, the rest followed. They just need to keep that confidence level up because every single one of them is capable of getting a hit,” said Willis.

Willis was also proud of her defense, would came up with multiple plays down the stretch to help stymie the Mount momentum.

“Defense has always been key for us, we have a very good defensive team and it’s difficult when it’s this cold out. They had to stay ready, stay alert, and they did that and when the ball came to them, they made the plays,” said Willis.

The Titans will be in action on Thursday when they travel north to take on Ponaganset.