H.S. SOFTBALL: Bishop Feehan jumps on King Philip early in win

King Philip ultimately recorded the third out, making Feehan strand two runners on base, but the damage was done in a six-run bottom half of the first inning.

“I thought we came out real flat and they just took advantage,” King Philip head coach Kate Fallon said. “We come out, we got to be a little tougher and ready to play, moving forward.”

Feehan followed its first-inning flurry with a leadoff single by Faherty in the second to bring up Haley Coupal, who smashed a fly ball to right-center field that carried far enough for a two-run homer, giving the Shamrocks an 8-0 lead.

The home run knocked KP’s Jo Bennett out of the game after one full inning of work. Emma Sheehan took over and held Feehan scoreless until the fifth inning. The Shamrocks added three more in the bottom of the sixth, ending the day with 13 hits.

The early scoring was a pleasant surprise for Bishop Feehan assistant coach Jenn Stringfellow, who was stepping in for head coach Bill Milot, out for personal matters.

“I didn’t know what to expect. They always give us a good game, and knew it was going to be a tough game,” said Stringfellow. “The fact we got out there in the first inning scored the way we did, I’m happy with that.”

King Philip didn’t get things going until the fourth inning when Sarah Cullen ripped the Warriors’ first hit of the day.

Cullen came around to score, but aggressive base running by Charlotte Raymond on her hit into the gap proved costly as she was thrown out at third base. Ava Kelley followed later in the inning, driving in Meg Sherwood after her two-out double.

Mia Bennett scored Kelley for the Warriors’ final run of the game in the fourth inning. Taylor Regan was cut down on Bennett’s single trying to get to third base, ending an opportunity to drive in more.

The aggressiveness, was not by design for the Warriors. Fallon said her players needs to be smarter in certain situations so they’re not making outs a third base, which contributed to two outs in their three-run fourth inning.

“I think we just need to be a little smarter on the bases — this is was a big conversation I had with them between innings,” Fallon said. “You’ve got to know who’s coming up behind you (in the batting order) and you’ve got to know the situation. Be a little smarter, and a little less aggressive.”

Fallon said the Patriots Day game will be a lesson to learn from going forward and will help the Warriors get better down the road.

“Losses are great because they teach you a lot,” Fallon said. “It’s kind of what you do with this loss moving forward, that’s what defines your team. We learn from it, correct mistakes and get better.”

Stringfellow acknowledged KP’s position as one of the top teams locally, but pointed to the early attack as the deciding factor in the game.

“Every time we play them we know it’s going to be a good game and they have a lot of respect in this area,” Stringfellow said. “They played a good game too, but we just attacked and that’s kind of what made the difference.”

Feehan was led by Madi Narducci, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Coupal drove in two with her home run and scored three times. Abigail Brooks and Ava Maloof also had two RBIs in the win.

KP was led by Cullen and Meg Sherwood, both finishing with two hits.

Next up for King Philip (5-1, 5-0) is a game on the road against Milford at noon. Bishop Feehan (3-1) returns to action on Wednesday, going to Attleboro for an 11 a.m. first pitch.