Eisenmann a hit for
East Bridgewater
Nicole Eisenmann does it all in EB win
EAST BRIDGEWATER — Even though she came into her senior season with six school batting records in her pocket, including the single-season and career home run titles, East Bridgewater’s Nicole Eisenmann is careful not to boast about her big bat.
After a four-RBI effort in a 4-0 victory against Whitman-Hanson on Saturday morning, both, Eisemann and her coach, Mike Dunphy, highlighted her grounder to knock in the first run of the game in the third inning rather than the senior captain’s two-run home run two innings later that gave East Bridgewater a 3-0 edge.
“I don’t keep count,” Eisemann said firmly when Dunphy asked what her career home run total was, which, after some thought, he figured was 18.
“Driving in runs is more important than home runs,” Eisenmann said a few moments earlier. “It’s about situational hitting. Not big hits.”
But she also admitted that it feels pretty good to give it a ride once in a while.
“Yeah it does,” she agreed with a nod and a grin.
Eisemann was also the winning pitcher for the Vikings (5-2, 4-0 South Shore League), striking out five batters and retiring nine straight hitters in the final three innings.
“That was the first time (Whitman-Hanson) was shut out all year,” Dunphy told his players after they redeemed a 14-2 loss to Cardinal Spellman the last time out on Friday. “That’s what we need to do when we play schools like this.
“We’re very confident going into the South Shore League now. The way we acted today is how we have to act all the way through. If we want to be champions, that’s what it takes every game from here on out. Not ‘one game on, one game off.’”
Dunphy called the win his team’s best defensive effort of the year, singling out center fielder, senior Gianna Desisto, for making four big outs, including catching a line drive with a runner on second and no outs in the fourth.
“Desisto took that away from them,” Dunphy said of Whitman-Hanson’s chances to put runners in scoring position. “When they did get some runners on, Nicole toughened up and shut them out.”
Rylee Burt pitched three innings in relief for the Panthers (5-3, 5-2 Patriot League), making her first appearance since pulling her groin in a win against Duxbury two weeks ago. On Saturday, after Whitman-Hanson starting pitcher Amanda Daily gave up three hits and one run, Burt walked two and struck out two while letting the rest of the runs score.
Whitman-Hanson coach Sandy Lombardi said they tried to conserve their best pitcher in the hopes that she will be healthy when the team returns to league play Monday, Lombardi also said they were up against the toughest pitcher in Eisenmann they will probably see all year.
“We got some hits but we couldn’t get hits back to back,” Lombardi said of her squad’s four-hit effort before commending Eisenmann’s own hitting, especially the home run. “I think that boosted their morale. It was a close game before those runs.”
But the Vikings’ first, and most important run, came after both Eisenmann and Daily each had shutouts going into the third. E-B’s leadoff hitter, sophomore Ashley Smith, got on base on an infield error, and senior catcher Kayla Palaschak’s sacrifice bunt moved Smith to second. Eisenmann was at the bat next and opted to show her wisdom rather than her might.
“She knew to shoot a ground ball through the infield to get one run up,” Dunphy said of Eisenmann, who collected another RBI in the sixth with another base hit. “Then to come back and put (runners on) second and third and shut them down with her pitching, she’s the real deal.
“She’s going to Stonehill (College). She’ll play just as well at Stonehill.”
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