Hit or miss: Silver Lake softball offense has been inconsistent in 3-2 start to season

KINGSTON -- The Silver Lake High softball team's offense has been feast or famine so far this spring.

This time it was the latter.

Twice already this season the Lakers have been no-hit -- first by Dighton-Rehoboth in their opener and then again on Wednesday by visiting Lincoln-Sudbury in a 2-1 loss that stretched to 8 innings and included a lengthy delay due to a malfunctioning sprinkler on the infield.

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In between those games, Silver Lake beat three Patriot League foes -- Plymouth North, Scituate and Duxbury -- by a combined score of 47-0.

That's a strange way to get a 3-2 record, but here we are.

To their credit, the Lakers see more value in the two narrow losses (the D-R score was 1-0) than in the three blowout wins.

"A loss like this, 2-1, is better than beating a team 18-0, 12-0," said junior pitcher Delany Moquin, a hard-luck loser Wednesday who went all 8 innings with 14 strikeouts and 5 hits allowed. "Those (blowout) games get you through the motions but don't build skill."

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"Even with the loss, I think it taught us a lot, especially about our hitting," agreed senior shortstop Samantha Waters. "It shows what we need to work on. It's good to get into these intense games before the tournament to see how we perform under pressure."

So far this season, pressure has led to problems swinging the bat. But Lakers coach Tony Pina isn't worried yet, even after watching L-S junior Kelsey Blanchette pitch a gem that featured 13 strikeouts, one unearned run and 6 walks. Waters generated the lone Lakers run by herself, drawing a one-out walk in the third, stealing second and racing home on an errant throw.

"We were no-hit today, but I don't think that's who we are," Pina said. "And I don't think that's who we're going to be. Right now we're a team that gets no-hit against good pitching, and that's not a great place to be. But to get no-hit in today's game and still have a chance to win means we're doing a lot of other things right and when that hitting piece comes around, that's when we'll be the team we believe we can be." 

Recent history suggests Silver Lake will be just fine, despite a young roster that features just two seniors -- Samantha Waters and catcher Nina O'Neil. After all, since the start of the 2021 season the Lakers are 54-12 overall, including 6-3 in the playoffs.

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The hitting has been hit or miss, obviously, but there are proven, veterans bats in the lineup. Moquin, the cleanup hitter, batted .518 last spring with 4 homers and 41 RBIs. And No. 5 hitter Madyson Bryan, a junior first baseman, hit .520 last year and entered the season with 74 career RBIs.

"We had kids in the lineup today who last year were batting .400, .500," Pina said, "but you have to give credit to Lincoln-Sudbury's pitcher; she didn't let anyone get comfortable. We were swinging at her pitches."

Moquin did her part, as usual, almost matching Blanchette. Moquin was 15-2 with a 1.37 ERA last spring, fanning 188 over 157 innings en route to being named the Patriot League Keenan Division MVP. She got big strikeouts to end both the fifth and sixth innings, stranding a combined five runners. She closed out the sixth by winning an intense 11-pitch battle with L-S senior Grace Messina.

"She's always dialed in, always up for great competition," said O'Neil, who has switched back to catcher this season after playing third base in 2023. "She always shows great confidence on the mound; she's very confident in herself."

The Lakers are confident in themselves, believing that these early misfires at the plate will work themselves out, hopefully long before they see L-S again in the regular-season finale on May 25.

"We play them again right before the tournament," O'Neil said, "and I think that's going to be great for us because in the tournament it's going to be tough teams and tough pitching. You improve from playing hard teams."