Softball Extend Win Streak to Six with Sweep of Pilgrims

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The MCLA Softball team welcomed New England College to Shewcraft Field for a non-conference clash with the Pilgrims this afternoon, with a chance to get to .500. It was sixes everywhere for the Trailblazers as they extended their win streak to six games while scoring six runs in game one, followed by six more in game two.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2026
• Game #1: NEC 3, MCLA 6
• Game #2: NEC 4, MCLA 6
• Records: New England College Pilgrims 6-12 (GNAC 3-3) | MCLA Trailblazers 7-7 (MASCAC 0-0)
• Series History: MCLA leads the all-time series 3-0 after taking the only previous meeting of the teams by the score of 12-11 on April 21, 2024, in Henniker.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Game #1
  • MCLA set the tone in the first game, posting a pair of crooked numbers in both the first and second innings. Nevaeh Lopez (Pittsfield, MA) started the rally in the first inning with an infield single before moving to second on Maggie Closinski's (Rome, NY) single to left field. Both runners would get into scoring position on a wild pitch and then score when Hannah Gilbert (Colrain, MA) was safe on a two-base error by the NEC shortstop. After Gilbert advanced on a passed ball, Paxton Ebling (Pittsfield, MA) got on the hard way with a hit by pitch to set runners on the corners for Amelia Leasure (Pittsfield, MA). The sophomore DP came through with an RBI single to left field to put the Trailblazers ahead 3-0 at the end of the first.
  • The Pilgrims would respond with one run on one hit in the top of the second behind Kate Gagne's double down the left field line that scored Mackenzie Yirrell.
  • MCLA came back in the bottom of the frame to post two more runs on one hit. Hannah Mitchem (Baltimore, MD) led off with an eight-pitch walk, followed by Closinski wearing an inside pitch. Both runners would score two batters later when Gilbert launched a shot off the fence in the left-center field gap.
  • NEC would respond again in the top of the next inning, this time stringing three hits together by Emma Lopez (a double to left), Makayla Halley (a swinging bunt that died along the third baseline), and Sydney MacLean (a single through the left of the infield) to cut the MCLA advantage to 5-2.
  • After each team posted a scoreless frame, the Trailblazer bats awoke again in the bottom of the fourth when Lopez walked and then scored on a double to left center by Gilbert.
  • The Pilgrims would add one additional run in the sixth thanks to a triple by Grace Giesler and a single by Abigail Grimes.
  • Allie Mienaltowski went the distance for the Trailblazers, scattering 10 hits over seven innings and allowing only three runs while striking out two. The effort levels the sophomore's record on the season at 3-3. Yirrell took the loss for the Pilgrims, falling to 0-4.
• Game #2
  • The second game of the day was close from start to finish, and both teams posted a single multi-run inning to set the final score. Early, it looked like a pitcher's duel despite each starter having to work out of an early jam. For NEC, the jam came in the bottom of the first after MCLA got two runners on before Wren Anhalt induced a sacrifice fly to center field, a strikeout, and another harmless fly ball to center, to strand the runners on second and third.
  • Gilbert was the magician for the Trailblazers in the top of the next inning, squirming out of a bases-loaded, no-out situation with a ground ball back to the pitcher for a forceout at home, a groundball to the first baseman for another force out at home, and capping it with a three-pitch swinging strikeout of Ashley Lemay.
  • Just like the first game, MCLA got on the scoreboard first, only this time it didn't happen until the third inning. Lopez again opened the inning for the Trailblazers and knocked a 1-2 pitch through the left side of the infield. Closinski then hit a groundball deep into the hole that the shortstop got to, but her throw was late, and allowed Lopez to move to third. Gilbert then lined a shot right at Halley, the NEC third baseman, with Lopez off on contact. Halley chose to throw home, but the catcher couldn't corral the throw, allowing Lopez to put MCLA up 1-0.
  • Following a mostly clean fourth inning, the Pilgrim bats came alive in the top of the fifth with the visitors scoring four runs on four hits while playing station to station ball. Giesler knocked in the first run with a single through the right side, followed by a Grimes single to right, an RBI groundout by MacLean, and then scoring an unearned run on an error by the Trailblazers' second baseman on Surena Montero's ground ball that put NEC up 4-1.
  • The score would hold until the bottom of the sixth when MCLA posted their big inning. It started with a Miranda Ranzoni (Adams, MA) lead-off single to right field, followed by Samantha Wheeler (Agawam, MA) laying down a perfect bunt and then busting it down the line to beat the throw. Mitchem then loaded the bases with an infield single. Ranzoni would then score on Hailey Peabody's (W. Springfield, MA) sac fly to the left fielder. Two batters later, Closinski would again load the bases with a single into left. Gilbert then plated Wheeler and Mitchem with a single through the left side to tie the score, while both runners moved into scoring position on the left fielder's throw home. Ebling then knocked in what would become the winning runs with a lined shot just out of reach of Anhalt and into center field, allowing Gilbert and pinch runner Gabrielle Goonan (Washington, MA) to score.
  • A 1-2-3 top of the seventh for Gilbert secured the win for the home team and pushed the first-year pitcher's record to 4-2 after seven innings of six hits and seven strikeouts. Anhalt took the loss for NEC, dropping to 1-3.

UP NEXT:

On Thursday, MCLA will be back in action when it travels to Cheryl R. Condon Field and Elms College for a non-conference matchup with the Blazers. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.

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