The Winthrop High softball team had a light schedule thanks to the rain last week, but managed to get in a contest against Lynn English Monday in which the Lady Vikings claimed a 12-0 victory .
The Winthrop pitching staff was the big story in the game, with starter Alex Ferri fanning seven of the first eight Lady Bulldog batters she faced and ending up with eight strikeouts in her three innings of work. Jacky Hetherton came on in the fourth and whiffed three more opposing batters in her two innings.
The Lady Vikings got off to a big start, thanks to walks and English errors that allowed six Winthrop runners to cross the plate in the opening inning.
Haley Benson was hit by a pitch to start the game, Liana Ferullo walked, and Taylor Brown walked to load the bases. Alyssa Moore drew another base on balls to force in Benson, and when English committed an error on a ball hit by Ferri to produce two more markers, the Lady Vikings were on their way.
Winthrop would put up four more runs in the second and added a deuce in third. With Ferri and Hetherton hurling a shutout, the contest was called after four and one half innings because of the mercy rule.
Coach Dave Guffey and his squad were set to host Marblehead yesterday (Wednesday) and will hit the road to Mt. Alvernia tomorrow and to Salem Friday. They will host Gloucester Monday and travel to Danvers next Wednesday.
The leading hitters for Winthrop are: Liana Ferullo with a .366 batting average and Taylor Brown with a .350 BA and three home runs. On the pitching front, Alex Ferri leads the Northeastern Conference with 112 strikeouts in 72 innings.