Rico's Perfect Game Leads King Philip Softball Past OA

There’s a reason that the King Philip softball team is the defending state champions. There’s a reason King Philip is the best team in the state. And there’s another reason King Philip has a perfect 20-0 record going into the state tournament.

The Oliver Ames softball team found out first-hand in its 5-0 loss to King Philip in the Hockomock Showcase Thursday afternoon at 

To top it all off, KP junior pitcher Meghan Rico (16 strikeouts) tossed another perfect game, frustrating OA with her command throughout the afternoon.

Rico also contributed to the Warriors’ offense, going 2-for-3 on the afternoon.

“She had 16 strikeouts and she had a good offensive day,” said KP coach Jim Leonard about Rico, who has verbally committed to George Washington University on a softball scholarship. “She’s just as solid as can be. All of her pitches are working because she and her catcher [junior Olivia Godin] are consistently on the same page and it gives you a nice piece of mind.”

KP’s offense gave Rico a comfortable cushion to work with at the start of the game, with three runs against Elizabeth Batsinelas in the top of the first (one unearned). Senior third baseman Anna Kelley drove in Alyssa Siegmann on an RBI double for the games first run and later scored on an RBI single, courtesy of sophomore second baseman Tori Constantin.

“At this point, we’re pretty comfortable playing with the lead,” Leonard said. “We’ve had great pitching and defense throughout the season. We thought three runs was going to be enough, and we capitalized a little later on as well.”

Though they trailed 3-0 before they even got their first at-bats, the Tigers were aggressive at the plate in hopes that one hit against Rico would make a huge difference.

Rico, though, was more aggressive, getting ahead in her counts early and often to put OA in a bigger hole at the plate.

“We were getting ourselves in holes and bad hitting counts against one of the best pitchers in the state,” said OA coach Bob Huckabee, who saw his team drop to 14-7 on the year. “We certainly wanted to put her in holes if we could help it, but that’s easier said than done.

“What was happening was we were down two strikes early and she would say ‘well how about a pitch inside now’ then she would strike us out. But our kids were battling out there and I was pleased with [how we hung in there] because she was tough to hit. She’s thrown one perfect game already and four no-hitters. She’s a tough pitcher to face that’s for sure.”

KP gave Rico a couple of insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings with an RBI from leadoff hitter Jenn Robillard and another run in the seventh after OA committed two of its four errors in the inning.

Despite going against the best pitcher in the state, Batsinelas held her own allowing just one walk and two earned runs, while striking out seven in the losing effort.

“I thought she threw the ball really well,” Huckabee said about his starter. “I thought we had a real tough first inning and she was a little nervous. But we keep telling her she’s as good as Rico if she’s on and she is. And of course you’re facing a good team and suddenly there’s a situation where a ground ball back to the mound isn’t a regular ground ball, it’s a King Philip ground ball. They have that aura about them which they earned and it’s good and I would love to get that swagger down the road.”

Leonard also praised Batsinelas.

“She’s a good pitcher,” he said. “She’s got a good variety of pitches and she’s a very worthy opponent as one of the première pitchers in the league. And we have a lot of respect for her.”

Both teams await the announcement of the Division 1 state tournament pairings this Tuesday.