Dons withstand late rally

The Mercy bats finally woke up after being no hit for four innings by Aragon pitcher Kelley Potter. They had three hits, six baserunners and, more importantly, three runs in the final three innings.

Unfortunately for Mercy, the Crusaders dropped a 4-3 decision to the Dons and fall to 0-7 on the season. But Mercy coach Jim Henderson was pleased to see his offense finally wake up.

"At this juncture (of the season), moral victories are just fine," Henderson said of his Crusaders' team that lost seven starters from last season's Central Coast Section finals team.

"I felt we played our worst game of the year this morning and we played our best game just now."

Mercy cut a 4-0 deficit in half with a two-run fifth and pulled within one with a run in the sixth but the Crusaders couldn't rally for the tying run in the seventh.

Early on, it looked like the game was primed for an Aragon blowout. Aragon (3-1) took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. With one out, Taylor Lynn reached on an error and Amanda Ryder singled to left. Rachel Reed followed and on a 1-0 pitch, blasted a Kim Mathews offering to the fence deep in right field. It resulted in a three-run home run for Reed.

"It always feels good to score that first run," Reed said. "To scare [the opponent] a little bit.

"I felt [it was a home run] right away. I hit the sweet spot."

Potter followed Reed's blast with a dominating pitching performance for half the game. Mercy's Amy Matthews reached first on an error in the first inning. That, and a Kim Mathews walk in the third were the only baserunners the Crusaders got through the first four innings.

In the fifth, the Crusaders finally got to Potter. Jaime Parres led off the inning with a single and Melissa Torrigino walked. After a strikeout and a fielder's choice putout, the Crusaders had runners on first and third with two outs. Leadoff hitter Rachel McGuigan appeared to hit into an inning-ending out but her sharply hit ball up the middle deflected off Potter's glove and got by Ryder at second to plate Parres with the Crusaders' first run of the game. Amy Mathews followed with a single to right to score her sister and Mercy was down only 4-2.

"(Those runs were) very important," Henderson said. "That's when our intensity picked up."

When Jessica Belluomini led off the sixth with a walk for the Mercy, it ended Potter's day. Nina Campos came on and although she eventually allowed Belluomini to score, she got out of the inning with her team still leading. She then set the Crusaders down in order in the seventh to pick up the save.

" was doing really good," Reed said. "She just couldn't finish it at the end, but she doesn't pitch a lot."