Teagan Clemmons was hitting ninth for Centennial’s softball team Tuesday. But the senior left fielder had the biggest swing of the game.
Clemmons hit a grand slam over the left-field fence to highlight an eight-run second inning as the Bulldogs rolled to a 15-5, five-inning victory over visiting Liberty.
“That one felt great,” Clemmons said. “I’ve actually hit a grand slam before, so it was nice hitting another one. But getting more runs and getting the team more excited and up, it was exciting.”
Centennial (13-8) jumped on Liberty (13-7) right out of the gate, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first and eight in the second.
Liberty committed three errors in the first, leading to four unearned runs. Another miscue in the second led to two more unearned runs.
“I really liked how we jumped out,” Clemmons said. “It was really important, because it got the whole team up. We just kept feeding off each other’s energy.”
Centennial got RBI doubles from Jill Halas and Rebeca Venzor-Nuno in the first. The Bulldogs got a two-run double from Ashley Madonia and Clemmons’ grand slam to key the second.
“It was good to see, because we haven’t really jumped out on teams early for the most part,” Centennial coach Mike Livreri said. “So it was nice to get a lead, play with the lead and let our pitchers and defense work.”
Sophomore Lily Fournier went the distance to get the win for Centennial. She scattered seven hits, including five in the third, when the Patriots scored all their runs.
“She was really effective all day long,” Livreri said. “We like our pitching staff. We like Lily a lot. We had one inning where they touched her a little bit, but for the most part she’s going to put balls in play. She’s very efficient. She doesn’t walk many batters.”
Fournier didn’t walk a batter Tuesday, throwing 50 of her 68 pitches for strikes. She struck out four.
The Bulldogs got production from all parts of the lineup, as eight of the nine batters drove in a run. Leadoff hitter Keana Bell was the only one who didn’t have an RBI, but she scored twice.
“We got it from the top, got it from the bottom with Teagan,” Livreri said. “Our middle is starting to come through a little bit better. We feel like we’re trying to hit our stride. It’s all we can ask for. We feel like we’re a good team.”
Halas went 2-for-4 with two runs, and Venzor-Nuno was 1-for-1 with three runs and two stolen bases for Centennial, which finished with nine hits.
Justine Dunaway went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run to lead Liberty, and teammate Morgyn Vesco was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
