Mama’s Girls walk-off winners

Rasmussen’s two-run blast edges Snaps.

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Emily Rasmussen hit a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the seventh inning as the defending champion Mama’s Girls rallied from six runs down to beat the Snaps, 13-12, in an exciting Martha’s Vineyard Women’s Softball League contest, played Thursday evening at the high school varsity field in Oak Bluffs.

The Snaps batted first, and scored twice. Elissa Decosta and Kelly Marolf led off the game with back-to-back singles, and Jackie Millard added another hit to bring them home.

The Mamas answered with one run in the bottom half. Lauren Williston led off with the first of her four doubles, and Gail Herman followed with an RBI single. Snaps left-fielder Darcie Hanaway earned the web-gem of the evening by robbing Martha Scheffer with a diving catch.

Mamas pitcher Jillian Sedlier struck out the side in the second, and her teammates revved up their bats to score five runs and grab a 6-2 lead. Caroline Davey doubled to score the first run of the rally, and Melissa Ashley, Williston, Gail Herman, and Emily Rasmussen all singled.

The Snaps responded in a big way by putting up a 10 spot in the top of the third. Chrissy DeOliveira got things started with a deep, two-run single off the left-field fence. Kara Thibodeau and Darcie Hanaway crushed back-to-back homers to bring in five more. Thibodeau hit a grand slam into the street, and Hanaway jacked a solo shot that bounced into the parking lot behind the Sancy Pachico gym.

The inning got off to a bizarre start. Elissa Decosta hit a leadoff single, then watched with surprise as Kelly Marolf smoked a line drive off the glove of Mamas first baseman Jaime Forend and into the waiting glove of second baseman Gail Herman.

Down 12-6, the Mamas started to chip away at the deficit. Lauren Williston got one run back in the home half of the third with a triple, scoring Caroline Davey, and Jillian Sedlier went yard in the fourth to shave off another run.

The Mamas went scoreless in the fifth, but Martha Scheffer slugged a two-run dinger to left-center in the sixth, and the Snaps lead was down to 12-10. 

Team Green went quietly in the top half of the seventh, setting up the dramatic finish. Caroline Davey led off with a single, Lauren Williston doubled for her fifth hit of the game, Gail Herman knocked in Davey with a grounder, and Emily Rasmussen hit her towering blast to left to send the Mamas home victorious.

With the win, the Mamas improved to 4-1, while the Snaps dropped to 2-2. League play resumes on Tuesday night at Veterans Park in Vineyard Haven. The Mama’s Girls play the Creamers at 6:15 pm, and the Rug Sox meet the Wild Pitches at 7:30.