Chariho’s Brianna DeGiacomo’ two-run single gives the Chargers a 2-0 lead
Chariho softball hosts Coventry in RIIL softball on Friday.
- La Salle defeated Cranston West 10-6 in a Rhode Island Division I high school softball game.
- Hailey Vigneau hit a key bases-loaded triple for La Salle and also pitched.
- Phoenyx Silvia hit two home runs for La Salle.
- Cranston West’s Mia Crudale and Siena Nardelli each hit a home run.
PROVIDENCE — Hailey Vigneau made the most of a key chance to help herself.
La Salle needed some insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning on Wednesday. Its seemingly comfortable lead over Cranston West was down to a single run, and Vigneau dug in with the bases loaded.
Her two-out triple to deep center was the swing that pushed the Rams to victory in this state championship softball rematch. La Salle held off the Falcons, 10-6, in Division I action at breezy McLaughlin Field.
Vigneau capped an offensive attack in which six of 10 hits went for extra bases. Phoenyx Silvia homered twice and consecutive doubles to left by Kayleigh Ventura and Alivia Ring each brought home a run in the third. The Rams required every bit of that thunder to stay perfect against a Cranston West team that pushed them to the brink in a 7-5 thriller at Rhode Island College last June.
“I think we’ve had a great start to the season,” Vigneau said. “But we have more work to do and more things to come.”
Haley Vigneau went from pitcher to hitter
Two walks and a hit by pitch set the table for Vigneau, who started the game serving solely as the pitcher. She popped to second as a pinch-hitter in the fifth and came to the plate again with La Salle nursing a 7-6 advantage. Siena Nardelli nearly made a second spectacular catch of the day while crashing into the fence, but the ball dropped out of her glove and sent Rams runners scrambling around the bases.
“I had a different mindset,” Vigneau said. “I knew what I had to do. I had to attack earlier.”
Vigneau worked around a one-out walk to record a scoreless top of the seventh — the second inning was her only 1-2-3 frame of the day. An infield error and a looping two-run single to center by Gianna DiSpirito helped the Falcons cut into what was a 7-3 game in the top of the sixth. Vigneau recorded the last of her six strikeouts to leave the potential tying run at third base, and the Rams staged their fourth multi-run inning to pull away.
“We know that we’re capable of a lot,” Silva said. “We’re just proud to prove ourselves.”
Cranston West started strong
Cranston West (3-2) was coming off a 2-0 shutout loss at Coventry, and that scoreless string lasted exactly one pitch in this one. Nardelli crashed a leadoff home run off the foul pole in left and Mia Crudale added a two-run shot to left-center in the third. The Falcons handed a pair of early leads to first-year pitcher Mia Sampaio, who started in place of Crudale in the circle.
“Last year was no piece of cake with them,” Silva said. “It was always rough and tumble. But we trust ourselves, and that’s all that counts.”
Silva laced a two-run homer to right-center in the bottom of the first and led off the third with a solo shot to straightaway right. Ventura, Ring and Silva each added RBI doubles over the next two frames and Diana Hall lined a run-scoring single into right with two outs in the fourth. La Salle (7-0) opened a four-run cushion with nine outs to go thanks to what has become a typically relentless lineup.
“We work very hard on our offense one through nine,” Silva said. “We can trust ourselves. We have practices where it’s just hitting, and I love that about our team.”
The Falcons finish a difficult four-game week with Chariho and Cumberland at home, part of a stretch that has them scheduled to be on the field six times in eight days. The Rams host the Clippers before facing Connecticut power Cheshire in a Saturday game at Bryant. La Salle plays a handful of foes from out of state before the playoffs begin next month, including a May 17 showdown with Massachusetts champion Taunton at Brown University.
“It comes out every day,” Vigneau said. “Just in warmups we try to be the best we can. Based on everybody’s talent everybody competes against each other, so we build each other’s skill level every day.”
Cranston West 102 003 0 — 6 6 0
La Salle 203 203 x — 10 10 1
Mia Sampaio and Payton Wells. Hailey Vigneau and Izzy Dong. HR – Siena Nardelli, Mia Crudale (CW); Phoenyx Silva 2 (LS).
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On X: @BillKoch25