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Lyndon State - Tower Sanborn, Cosmos hold off Vikings to end title drought

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Created on Saturday, 11 June 2011 14:29

Written by Administrator

06/11/2011 2:53 PM - Heather Sanborn didn’t look like a freshman in the circle Friday at Poultney, weathering the storm of two Lyndon homeruns and striking out eight batters on the way to Springfield’s first softball state title in 25 years.

The Vikings were held to just four hits in the ballgame after topping Harwood in the semis to the tune of 17 base knocks. Friday’s game started out the way any Lyndon fan could have hoped though, with a two-run bomb from catcher Kayla Franklin that gave the Vikes the lead after one inning of play.

Immediately following the two-run jack, the freshman Sanborn settled in for what turned out to be a dominating effort. She dueled with LI junior Becca Simpson, who kept the Cosmos in check until she ran into trouble about midway through.

A four-run fourth inning from Springfield quickly changed the dynamics of the contest, with the tables suddenly turned in favor of the Cosmos. Three consecutive hits kicked off the frame, with Kaylee Haskell driving in the first Springfield run with an RBI double. An errant throw on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Kristin Cook brought home the second score, setting up two straight run-scoring sacrifices to put Springfield ahead by two. Jenna Paul and Alexis Locke each picked up an RBI in the inning.

The Viking errors started to pile up, resulting in an insurance run for Springfield in the sixth. Cook reached on a dropped third strike and resulting throwing error from Franklin, eventually coming around to score on a fielder’s choice.

The Vikings never quit though, making things interesting with a one-out rope over the left field fence from Carys Potter in the top of the seventh. Kelsey Croft walked with two outs in the inning, but Sanborn forced the tying run to pop out to seal the victory.

The championship win is Springfield’s first ever in Div. II, and first state title since a 4-2 Div. I victory over Spaulding in 1986. The Cosmos finish the season with an overall record of 15-4, while Lyndon ends the year at 12-6.

Lyndon…….2 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 3 R 4 H 4 E
Springfield…0 0 0 4 0 1 X – 5 R 8 H 0 E

WP – H. Sanborn
LP – B. Simpson