This year it hasn’t been the pitching that has given the Blue Knights softball team two loses on the diamond, as is apparent by the scores, 2-1 to Manchester, 1-0 to Simsbury. Similar to the baseball team, it’s been the bats.

 

“We haven’t hit in key situations and we’ve been working hard on that the last couple days – really working on hitting with runners on base. Setting up situations, working on the tees low and outside, moving the ball in and out, doing fast pitch whiffle balls really close,” head coach John Bores said.

 

Well, it looks like what Bores and his coaching staff are doing is starting to pay off. It started with a 5-2 win against Maloney and don’t let the score deceive you.

 

“We played well. We hit the ball pretty well today,” Bores said after the Maloney win. “This was one of our better hitting performances, we got a well-pitched game from Brittany (Volpe) and the defense was solid and that has been our form for most of the year.”

 

If there was any doubt that the rust was coming off the aluminum, the Knights went out and pounded out 13 hits and 11 runs against Wethersfield this past Monday. Before the week started, Bores said that he would not jump to the conclusion that the bats had woken up after one good performance, but said that if this week went well, he would begin to feel better about the direction the team was going.

 

“I’m optimistic that the bats will come around and we will hit to our capability. This is a good team, we are capable of being good hitters,” Bores said.

 

It would appear Bores is getting closer to that stamp of approval after a great effort against Wethersfield. He was also sure to mention that sometimes, it’s just a twist of bad luck.

 

“We hit a few balls really hard right at people, even the outs were hard, so I’m happy with that,” he said.

 

Bores said that most importantly, by not striking out, making contact gives the team a better chance to be successful.

 

“You put the ball in play, good things will happen, if you strikeout, you don’t test them defensively.”

The offense has been lead by Amanda Palmieri, who continues to get multiple hits in each game, but the rest of the lineup is starting to come around, one through nine.

 

Forty-five feet away from where the Blue Knights have struggled is where they have been excelling. On the mound, their pitching has been dominant.

 

Volpe has been fantastic and when she has needed help, Jess Davenport has stepped in and done more than an admirable job.

 

“Jess is just as good, she is very capable, but Brittany is a senior and she has a little more experience so what we’ll do is if Brittany struggles a little, I will not hesitate to use Jess or if we get backed up where we have three or four games in a row, I’ll put Jess in because she is just as capable of doing the job,” Bores said.

 

That one-two punch could help Southington going forward and may get its first test today in a revenge game against Manchester, this time at home. It won’t get any easier on Monday when the Knights face the only other opponent to beat them this year in Simsbury. Going into those contests, Bores finds it hard to predict what will happen in conference.

 

“If you take a look at the North, there are upsets every day,” he said, “so I just try to keep these kids grounded where we’re only taking a game at a time.”