Rug Sox, Honeys win playoff openers

Sox rally from 8-0 down to beat Shadies, and Honeys out-slug Snaps.

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The Martha’s Vineyard Women’s Softball League double-elimination playoff tournament got underway Thursday night, with the Rug Sox taking on the Shady Ladies at Veterans Park and the Honeys playing the Snaps at the West Tisbury School.

In Vineyard Haven, the Shadies put seven runs on the board in the first inning and added another in the fourth to lead 8-0 before the Sox found their offense and roared back to win, 17-10.

Collette Jordan, Katie Chapman, Brandie Jordal, and Sydney Davies all singled in the first inning as the Shadies batted through the order.

The Rug Sox erupted for six runs in the bottom half of the fourth. Katherine Clark, Mariah Duarte, and Emily Turney all singled, and Miranda Tokarz added a double.

The Shadies recovered nicely in the top of the fifth, getting singles from Collette Jordan and Sue Sanford, plus two more runs to lead 10-6, but the Sox responded with four runs in the bottom half. Emily Turney had the big stroke, a towering solo shot to deep left-center, tying the game at 10-10.

The runs kept coming for the hungry Rug Sox, who batted around and scored seven runs in the sixth. Lizzie Andrews, Miranda Tokarz, Carol Bailey, Michelle Cacciotti, Katherine Clark, Emily Turney, and Elizabeth Clark all singled in the barrage as the third-seeded Sox moved into the winner’s bracket to take on the second-seeded Creamers at Veterans Park on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, in West Tisbury, the Honeys won a slugfest against the Snaps, 22-16.

The Snaps led off the game with four singles. Ashley Tarter, Kelly Sullivan, Crystal Roy, and Jackie Millard all got aboard. Kurstin Moore and Kris Conklin followed suit, and Team Green put five runs across the plate.

In the Honeys’ half of the first, Sara Wennes hit a leadoff home run, while Lizzie Reid, Micheli Lynn, Maggie Riseborough, Amy Maciel, Elissa DeCosta, Kendall Robinson, and Nicole Gazaille followed up with seven straight singles.

The teams scored 11 runs in the first inning, but they combined for 16 in a wild sixth.

With the Honeys leading 15-7, the Snaps sent 13 batters to the plate and scored nine runs. Each player in the batting order singled; the aforementioned Tarter, Sullivan, Roy, Millard, Moore, and Conklin, plus Lauren Goethals, Chrissy McCarthy, and Kara Thibodeau, as the Snaps stormed back to take a 16-15 lead.

The Honeys responded with seven runs of their own, with Emily DeBettencourt slugging a grand slam, and closed out the Snaps one, two, three, in the seventh to earn the win.

All totaled, the Honeys rang up 28 hits in the game. Kendall Robinson hit two doubles and went 4 for 4, Micheli Lynn tripled in the third and doubled in the sixth, Amy Maciel ripped a pair of doubles, Nicole Gazaille finished with four singles, Elissa Acosta had three, Sarah Sylvia hit two, and Maggie Riseborough doubled in the third. Throw in singles from Megan Buchanan and Kelly Silvia, and every Honey in the lineup got a hit.

Next up for the fourth-seeded Honeys is a winner’s bracket tilt with the top-seeded Mamas Girls, Tuesday night at Veterans Park.