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PLAINVILLE, Mass. -- If April 24 was a day of infamy for King Philip softball, May 15 was a day of opportunity, encircled on the calendar by a bright red marker.

No. 2 KP’s date with redemption arrived much the way its team members envisioned. A three-hit shutout by ace Meghan Rico and a two-run home run by battery mate Olivia Godin paced the Warriors to a 3-0 win, splitting the season series with No. 7 Coyle-Cassidy.

“They’ve been chomping at the bit,” KP head coach Jim Leonard said. “We’ve had this date circled for a while now.”

KP (13-2) fell to C-C (11-3) in the teams’ previous meeting in Taunton, with Coyle making a late comeback. Since that date, KP embarked on a scorched earth campaign, with a streak of 67 scoreless innings tossed between pitchers Rico and Meg Carnase.

The new found attitude was on display Tuesday. Even as C-C eyed a comeback in the sixth inning, loading the bases, there was something different this time around.

“I was over the plate a little too much,” Rico said of her last outing against Coyle. “This time, I felt my pitches were breaking.”

Rico quelled C-C’s one-out riot in the sixth with a pair of strikeouts, painting the outside corner, both swinging.

She received all the offense she’d require in the fourth when Godin went opposite field for a two-run home run over the right-center field fence.

KP added an insurance run in the sixth with a sacrifice fly from Cayleigh McCarthy, scoring Carnase (2-for-3, double, two runs scored).

“I feel like we’ve been on top of our game since the Frankin game, and there’s no going back,” Rico said. “We’re ready to go for the rest of the games, we’re ready for the tournament.”

CONTRIBUTIONS THROUGHOUT
It might not have shown up on the scoreboard, but KP’s lower third of the lineup showed why the Warriors possess one of the state’s top lineups.

KP’s No. 7 through No. 9 hitters were a combined 5-for-7, between Annie Shiebler, Shannon Jones, Amy Nolan and pinch hitter Alyssa Siegmann.

The bottom of the order was responsible for a pair of bases-loaded threats in the third and fifth, however C-C starter Kelsey Boarman was able to wiggle out of both situations with double plays.

TAUNTON, Mass. –- Coyle-Cassidy softball’s hacks in the box against King Philip ace Meghan Rico on Tuesday were at first feeble.

The second time through the order, C-C showed promise. Third time? A little bit better. Fourth time? A little closer still.

The fifth time around, the Warriors wouldn’t need another go-round. That’s when the vaunted C-C offense ended the game in a 3-2 walk-off, extra-innings win.

It all started up top as C-C leadoff hitter Patty Borges reached in each of her five plate appearances, scoring each of the Warriors’ three runs. Meanwhile, cleanup hitter Julie Leclair provided the fireworks, driving in the game-tying run in the seventh and the game-winner in the ninth.

“All three parts of our game – our hitting, our pitching and our defense – came together well,” C-C head coach Russell Hunt said.

KP (5-2) looked poised to run away with it early, scoring runs in both the first and second, thanks to lead-off doubles. Rico started the game with a two-bagger on the first pitch of the game, before scoring on Meg Carnase’s double. In the second, Anna O’Neill doubled to the left-center field fence and scored on an Amy Nolan single.

Rico breezed through 4 2/3 innings without allowing a hit, but that’s when C-C began to catch on.

Borges’ two-out single in the fifth was the first indication of trouble. Genna Whalen promptly plated Borges with a double to right. Borges, a Stony Brook signee, led off the seventh by drawing a walk. After a sacrifice bunt from Whalen, Leclair stepped to the plate.

“The strikeouts [earlier in the game], I didn’t let them bother me," Leclair said. “Everybody had to do their part, so that’s why I just went up there, made contact and hit it.”

Leclair rapped Rico’s 0-2 offering into the outfield, scoring Borges with the tying run.

C-C (7-1) nearly pulled out the victory in the seventh on Katherine Clark’s suicide squeeze bunt. KP first baseman Cayleigh McCarthy caught Tricia Quinn sliding into home, with catcher Olivia Godin blocking the plate, for the second out of the inning.

Both teams were retired in order in the eighth before C-C ended it.

Borges scored her third run of the game after drawing another lead-off walk in the ninth.

And, once again, Leclair delivered.

“You can’t give those kinds of ball teams those kinds of opportunities,” said KP head coach Jim Leonard, whose team committed an uncharacteristic three errors in the field. “I’m not sure if because the layoff because of the rain we weren’t that sharp, but like I said, against good teams, you have to score your runs and then stay tight defensively.”

WALL TO THE LEFT
For all that Borges and Leclair produced with their bat on Tuesday, C-C’s key to victory was undoubtedly its defense.

The Warriors have perhaps the strongest left side of the infield in the state, and Borges had perhaps the game of her career, with 12 assists in the field.

“I think we’re a phenomenal all-around team when we put our minds to it,” Borges said of C-C’s commitment to fielding.

She added, “We work at everything equally as much.”

More than that, the Warriors’ infield was superb on a whole. Quinn made an array of picks and stretches on the first base bag. Second baseman Brittany Perdiago turned in the play of the game in the sixth with a back-handed snare of grounder with a dive and then beat Carnase to the bag with a throw from her knees.

With a strong unit behind her, C-C starter Kelsey Boarman became stronger as the game wore on, retiring nine straight to finish the complete-game win.

In recent years, quality pitching has been synonymous with King Philip softball.

But the one constant in the last four years, whether it’s been Maggie Quealy or Meghan Rico in the circle, has been behind the plate in Warriors senior catcher Olivia Godin.

“Olivia’s been a rock behind home plate for four years,” King Philip head coach Jim Leonard said of his backstop. “She’s been a stalwart of the team, she cares so much about what’s going on in front of her and she’s on top of every aspect of our defense. She’s like having another coach on the field.”

Perhaps the best game-caller in the state, the UMass-Amherst signee isn’t just a dependable defensive catcher, she can hit. Last season, the ESPN Boston All-Stater hit .299 with three home runs and 18 RBI. After smashing a three-run home run against Hockomock League rival Mansfield this week, Godin’s off to another hot start.

We caught up with the Plainville native earlier this week:

Q: You started as a freshman. How long did it take for you to feel comfortable as a part of the team?

A: “It was a little unsettling the first couple of time out there, Cara [Daly] was calling where to throw the ball, she’d be calling to the infield where to make the plays. I’d say it took about halfway through the season to feel comfortable. The breaking point I’d say was the Coyle-Cassidy night game we were featured on. That’s when I started calling plays and had a pick-off. That was a big turning point for me. I had two home runs in a that game, too, so at that point they were like ‘She can play with us.’”

Q: You’ve had some pretty exceptional pitchers to work with in your time here and they’ve all been successful. What has been different working with each of them?

A: “I think there’s a different presence. Maggie [Quealy] had, it wasn’t a profound confidence on the mound, but she definitively had it. Whereas Meg [Rico] presents herself as confident and the batters really fear her. I don’t think hitters feared Maggie until they saw that first pitch and they were like, ‘Whoa.’ I feel like girls coming up the plate are scared of Meghan. Plus, just the pitches they throw. Meg throws everything and she throws it well. Maggie was more a pure drop-ball pitcher, so that changes your framing and everything.”

Q: One thing I’ve always been interested in is how catchers in general are able to balance their responsibilities between defense and offense. How are you able stay sharp with the bat as well as making sure you’re putting in the work with the pitchers?

A: “During practice, I get to have a step-aside time when the infielders are doing their work, I get to work on my blocking and all of that. I always make sure I take that 20 minutes to work on my blocking, and my framing, and throw long to make sure I keep my arm strong. Hitting is consistent, I try to hit at least three times a week.

Q: Do you work on your catching with anybody in the offseason?

A: “In freshman year, I made David Lotti’s travel team [Rhode Island Thunder] and Bob Rossi is the catching coach, so he’s been my catching coach for the last four years, and he’s taught me everything.”

Q: What made UMass-Amherst your college selection?

A: “It’s the legacy there. Coach [Elaine] Sortino is a legend. She’s been in the game for 33 years, in the Hall of Fame. She has such a strong presence on the field, but she’s the nicest person off of it. She welcomes you with open arms. She loves her team unconditionally and I felt the minute I visited. She made me feel like this is the school I wanted to be at.”

Q: What is the key to the program’s success at King Philip? It seems like there’s a never-ending supply of talent coming through.

A: “The PAL [in Plainville] has always been run by good presidents. There’s just always been a talent pool. It starts from the time we’re in T-ball until we’re in high school. They offer a lot, too, there’s clinics in the winter and throughout the spring. I just played in Plainville until I was in seventh grade and that’s taken me pretty far.”

Q: What keeps this team motivated year after year?

A: “I think it’s the drive to prove that King Philip softball is legitimate and to carry on this legacy and prove that we’re an athletic school. I couldn’t have been more proud signing with all the other athletes at the school this year. It’s the fact that we want to show that King Philip breeds good athletes.

PLAINVILLE, Mass. -- On an afternoon where King Philip's ace pitcher Meghan Rico was not her standard, near-perfect self, her teammates made sure it wasn't going to be a problem.

The top-ranked Warriors pushed across five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, highlighted by a three-run homer by UMass-bound catcher Olivia Godin, and then held off a seventh inning rally by No. 7 Mansfield to escape with a 5-4 victory at Watters Field.

Having mustered just two hits off of Hornets ace Trish Hansen through the first four innings, the Warriors (2-0) got to work with the bats in the fifth. Cayleigh McCarthy (two hits) led off the frame with a base hit, Rico reached on a fielders choice two batters later and Hailey Mullen singled to load the bases.

Up to the plate stepped Colgate-commit Meg Carnase, who ripped a two-run double into left to bring home McCarthy and Rico with the game's first two runs. Godin was next, and the senior launched the first pitch she saw well over the fence in left to score Mullen and Carnase ahead of her.

"We came in and really lit a fire under each other," Godin said of the rally. "We were like, 'we've played [Hansen] so many times, we know what she throws, lets go. Lets get it going.' We have our 2-3-4 [hitters] struggling to get on base and we hit better than this so we just wanted to get it done."

NOT A REPEAT OF LAST WEEK
Staring at a 5-0 deficit against the state's reigning Player of the Year, you might as well have just put a "W" next to KP in the Hockomock League' standings column and move on to the next one. Mansfield already found themselves in a similar situation in its season opener, having spotted North Attleborough an early 6-0 lead from which they could not recover.

On this day, the Hornets decided to fight it out. Mansfield opened the seventh with a single by Alexis Stanley and a four-pitch walk by Lauren Boen. Two batters later, Bri Chiusano (two hits) belted a rocket over the centerfield fence to cut the deficit to 5-3.

After an out, Hansen helped her own cause with a base hit and catcher Kelly English brought her all the way around with a double to make it 5-4 before Rico finally retired the last hitter.

"Coming in 5-0 against Rico, you just go in say, 'Alright, rally caps,'" Mansfield head coach Jinneane Sperrazza. "Our left fielder, who got the bunt sign all game, comes up and ropes a single. Our next girl is a sophomore, she got a walk. and we're thinking something's going to happen. Then we have Bri, who I'm thinking is going to rip a single and we'll score a run and instead she hits a 3-run home run. I couldn't be any prouder of these kids."

AN ATYPICAL PERFORMANCE ON AN ATYPICAL DAY
Not only did the sun disappear somewhere around the third inning, leaving nothing but a cool wind breezing through the Plainville Athletic Complex, but both teams also had to deal with the sound of a chainsaw grinding away in the background. A television crew from the National Geographic Network's reality show 'American Chainsaw' was hard at work carving up a tree just behind the Hornets dugout, creating not only unneeded noise but sending ashes of chewed up tree bark wafting through the air.

Rico, who is a threat to toss a perfect game with 15-plus strikeouts every time she takes the mound, seemed to struggle a bit. Mansfield got runners aboard in every inning but the sixth, and got the leadoff batter on five times.

The Hornets made Rico work for this one, consistently getting deep into the count and forcing her throw a staggering 115 pitches through the first five innings. That said, the George Washington-bound standout escaped every tough situation, including inducing a game-ending groundout to squash the Hornets seventh inning rally.

"We're used to having Rico be next to perfect," KP head coach Jim Leonard said. "She's usually a very efficient pitcher and they took her deep in the count. Not the typical performance that we've come to expect from her but when we don't get that we need to make sure that other aspects of our game step up."

Today we kick off our high school coverage of the spring season with our preseason MIAA softball All-State team, as selected by ESPNBoston.com staff and state high school coaches.

STARTING ROTATION
Kiara Amos, Sr., Malden
Trish Hansen, Sr., Mansfield
Meghan Rico, Sr., King Philip
Sarah Ropiak, Sr., Acton-Boxborough
Shannon Smith, Jr., Milford

STARTING NINE
Taylor Archer, Sr. C/3B, Milford
Patty Borges, Sr. SS, Coyle-Cassidy
Alex Burgess, Sr. OF, Chelmsford
Bri Chiusano, Sr. OF, Mansfield
Lexi Gifford, Sr. IF/OF, Natick
Olivia Godin, Sr. C, King Philip
Nicole Lundstrom, Jr. C, Dighton-Rehoboth
Christina Raso, Sr. SS, Burlington
Reilly Weiners, Jr. C, Agawam

"BEST OF THE REST"
Meg Carnase, Sr. P, King Philip
Katie Casey, Jr. P, Braintree
Katherine Clark, Sr. P, Coyle-Cassidy
Allie Colleran, Jr. SS, Concord-Carlisle
Meghan Colleran, Soph. P, North Attleborough
Stephanie Cornish, Sr. SS, Abington
Abby Curran, Sr. IF, Bishop Fenwick
Alexis DeBrosse, Jr. 2B, New Bedford
Audrey Dolloff, Sr. P, Bridgewater-Raynham
Maggie Hoffman, Jr. P, Avon
Kaleigh Finigan, Jr. C, St. Mary's (Lynn)
Natalie Leone, Jr. 2B, Ashland
Rachel Levine, Jr. CF, Milford
Abby Johnson, Sr. SS, Chelmsford
Galen Kerr, Jr. P, Concord-Carlisle
Jackie Kielty, Jr. P, Middleborough
Kayli Moniz, Sr. SS, Fairhaven
Breanna Monroe, Sr. OF, Shrewsbury
Shannon Orton, Sr. P, Case
Kaci Panarelli, Jr. C, Shrewsbury
Meghan Rich, Sr. P, Chelmsford
Julie LeClair, Sr. 3B, Coyle-Cassidy
Cayleigh McCarthy, Sr. 1B, King Philip
Madi Shaw, Soph. SS, Bridgewater-Raynham
Alyssa Siegmann, Sr. SS, King Philip

STARTING ROTATION – FIRST TEAM
Ali Maloof, Sr. P, Norwood
The senior captain led the Mustangs to the D1 South finals with a 12-1 record and 0.59 ERA with 162 strikeouts in 82 innings. The Southern New Hampshire commit also hit .493 out of the leadoff spot for Norwood.
Emma Mendoker, Sr. P, Amherst
The Gatorade Massachusetts Player of the Year finished her high school career with 1,002 strikeouts, including 300 this season. The East Carolina commit went 23-2 leading the Hurricanes the D1 state final while posting a 0.17 ERA. She also batted .461 with three home runs and 23 RBI as Amherst’s clean-up hitter.

Meghan Rico, Jr. P, King Philip
Rico went 21-0 with a miniscule ERA of 0.15 and allowed just 29 hits over 144 innings thrown with 313 strikeouts and 24 walks. The George Washington University commit allowed only seven runs all season, three of which were earned, and threw two perfect games. Rico also threw four shutouts in the postseason on the Warriors’ drive to their repeat D1 title performance.

Sarah Ropiak, Jr. P, Acton-Boxborough
The two-time Dual County League All-Star team went 13-2, including 10 shutouts, with a 0.60 ERA. Ropiak is a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society and American Leadership Council.
Shannon Smith, Soph. P, Milford
The 2010 Gatorade Player of the Year returned with a fine second season, going 21-2 for the D1 Central champion Scarlet Hawks. Smith posted a 0.94 ERA while striking out 296 in 164 innings. Smith also contributed to her own cause, hitting at a .357 clip with three home runs and 25 RBI.

STARTING NINE – FIRST TEAM
Katie Bumila, Sr. C, Coyle-Cassidy
The senior captain led a vaunted Warriors offense, hitting .536 with a home run and 22 RBI. The four-year starter was also entrusted by Coach Russell Hunt to call all the pitches behind the plate and was a three-year EAC All-Star. A star in the classroom as well, Bumila will attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute next year.

Megan Congro, Sr. Sr. 1B, Sandwich
The URI commit led the Atlantic Coast League with a robust .661 batting average with two home runs and 30 RBI.

Lauren Duggan, Sr. 3B/P, Norwood
At third base, the UConn commit delivered the ball from third to first just about as quickly as you'll ever see. Duggan's cannon arm also helped her boast 1.13 ERA in the circle, splitting time with Ali Maloof. She also led the Bay State League in home runs with eight, while batting .415 with 33 RBI.

Quianna Diaz-Patterson, Sr.
The UMass-Amherst commit was perhaps the most feared lead-off hitter in the state with a tremendous first step out of the box. The captain and three-year starter hit .559 with eight home runs and 40 runs scored. Diaz-Patterson also stole 31 bases this year and held the distinction of never having been thrown out once on an attempted steal during her high school career.

Olivia Godin, Jr. C, King Philip
As much as Meghan Rico garnered the attention of the softball world this year, it was the Warriors' junior backstop who helped call the games for the hurler. The defensive stalwart also managed to put up a .400 on base percentage along with three home runs and 18 RBI. The Plainville resident has a verbal commitment to UMass-Amherst.

Meg Kelly, Sr. 2B, Reading
Kelly was a triple crown winner in the Middlesex League this season, batting .628 with five home runs and 35 RBI. She also struck out just three times all season. The URI commit was also a standout out on the Rockets' soccer and indoor track teams.

Anna Kelley, Sr. 3B, King Philip
Kelley's defense at the hot corner and her bat were main contributions to the Warriors' second straight D1 title. The UMass-Amherst commit batted .375 with a slugging percentage of .697. She also led KP in RBI with 33.

Brianna Martin, Sr. CF, Central Catholic
The three-year Merrimack Valley League All-Star was as strong in the field as she was at the plate. Martin didn't commit an error in her senior year while adding three outfield assists. Martin hit at a .549 clip while setting a Raiders program record for slugging percentage at .985.

Jenn Robillard, Sr. SS, King Philip
The Sacred Heart commit set the table for the Warriors from the lead-off spot with a .467 average and .533 on base percentage. The senior captain also stole 15 bases while contributing strong defensive play in the field.

BULLPEN – SECOND TEAM
Kiara Amos, Sr., Malden
Emily Berardi, Sr., Boston Latin
Noelle Christmas, Sr., Plymouth South
Audrey Dolloff, Sr., Bridgewater-Raynham
Meg Donegan, Sr., Central Catholic
Trish Hansen, Jr., Mansfield
Courtney Lanfranchi, Sr., Burlington
Bridget Lemire, Sr., St. Peter-Marian
Emily Mailloux, Sr., Turners Falls
Kelly Norton, Sr., Abington
Shannon Orton, Jr., Case
Megan Rich, Sr., Chelmsford

OFF THE BENCH – SECOND TEAM
Hannah Byrne, Sr. SS, Lynn Classical
Michelle Cooprider, Sr. P/OF, Hopkinton
Ellen Czuba, Sr. CF, Franklin
Alexis DeBrosse, So. 2B, New Bedford
Zoe Dillon-Davidson, Sr. C, Amherst
Amy Entel, Sr. P/OF, Somerset
Simone Frank, Sr. 3B, Amherst
Laura Kaminski, Sr. C, Amesbury
Nicole Lundstrom, So. C, Dighton-Rehoboth
Breanna Monroe, Jr. CF, Shrewsbury
Christina Raso, Jr. SS, Burlington
Reilly Weiners, So. C, Agawam

HEAD COACH OF THE YEAR
Dustin Belcher, Wahconah

WORCESTER, Mass. -- When Meghan Rico is in the circle, she remains in control. It’s not so much as King Philip head coach Jim Leonard says that perfection is “almost expected,” but nothing seems to faze her.

During Saturday’s Division 1 state championship softball game at Worcester State’s Rockwood Field, Rico found herself in a serious pickle in the sixth inning against Western Mass. champion Amherst. There were runners on first and third with one out.

No fear.

Rico reared back a little bit harder and came back with two of her 19 strikeouts to end the inning and preserve the scoreless tie. In an uncharacteristic moment, the George Washington commit gave a fist pump while sprinting off the field.

It was a big out.

And, as it would turn out, it was the difference after the Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth on Meg Carnase’s double.

Rico returned to strike out the side in the seventh to provide KP with its second straight state title and finish the season undefeated at 26-0.

“We needed that right there,” Rico said of getting out of the sixth-inning jam. “If they score right there, it was going to be really hard to come back to score against them. I knew we had to score first, we had to be the ones to score and we did that.”

Runs came at a premium as the state’s top pitchers squared off in the circle with Rico opposing the Hurricanes’ Emma Mendoker.

Mendoker, the East Carolina commit, kept the Warriors hitless through 5 2/3 innings, only to take the hard-luck loss in the end. The Gatorade Massachusetts Softball Player of the Year finished with 10 strikeouts while surrendering only two hits.

“I think the main thing for Emma is that she has such an arsenal of both movement and speed that if keeps them off balance,” Hurricanes head coach Kacey Schmitt said.

Rico snapped Mendoker’s no-hit bid with a single to right-center to start the two-out rally. Courtesy runner Hailey Mullen came around to score the game’s only run on Carnase’s bases-loaded double after Amherst centerfielder Athena Donta slipped while trying to make a play on the fly ball.

It looked as though Carnase’s hit had cleared the bases, but the inning ended as an appeal made to the umpires was upheld finding that Jenn Robillard hadn’t touched third base while scoring what would’ve been KP’s third run. Instead, it was the third out.

“There were two strikes against me, so I was just trying to protect the plate,” Carnase said. “It was close, so I just swung at it and fell in.”



Amherst (23-2) jumped on Rico immediately with lead-off hitter Quianna Diaz-Patterson (2-for-3, 3 SBs) and third baseman Simone Frank banging out hits to start the game. The Hurricanes stranded both runners on base as Rico reeled off three strikeouts.

It was the beginning of a chain of 10 straight strikeouts by Rico, which helped her equal her single-game career high of 19.

“When there’s runners on base, it’s almost like she takes it personally,” Leonard said of Rico. “It was huge for us to strand those base runners in the first and again in the sixth innings, to keep those runners standing at third.”

Diaz-Patterson, the UMass commit, was again the fulcrum to the Hurricanes’ sixth-inning rally. Frank reached on a fielder’s choice via the bunt, but again the Amherst runners advanced no further.

Rico got Zoe Dillon-Davidson swinging and Mendoker looking to end the inning.

“We knew how their hitters hit,” Warriors catcher Olivia Godin said. “We went to the Amherst-Milford [state semifinal] game, so we knew that some batter we couldn’t pitch inside and we just had to go all away, off the plate. Mendoker’s great, so we had to go off plate to her.”



All they needed was just one run.

“It was a lot of pressure to get that perfect season,” Rico said. “We wanted it so bad that I had no doubt in my mind that we weren’t going to have a perfect season, but just to finish it like this is amazing.”

PLAINVILLE, Mass. – They could’ve gone all night and there likely wouldn’t have been a resolution.

No. 1 King Philip eventually pulled out a 1-0 win over No. 3 Milford Tuesday night in Plainville with two of the state’s best softball pitchers going head to head. The Warriors’ Meghan Rico and Scarlet Hawks ace Shannon Smith played dueling banjos, placing zero after zero on the board through seven innings.

Milford threatened to score in the top of the eighth, but it was King Philip (19-0) who earned the walk-off win with Tori Constantin laying down a perfect suicide squeeze scoring Hailey Mullen from third, dealing the Scarlet Hawks their first defeat of the season.

“It’s always rewarding to see when all the practice you put in leads to really good execution,” said Warriors head coach Jim Leonard, who led his team to a win over Milford in last year’s Division 1 state title game. “The girls have worked very hard, giving up Sundays and extra time in order to get things done. A team like that, we knew it was going to come down to one play and having them make the right play at the right time.”

Rico started the game on fire, retiring the first 10 Milford (15-1) batters in order via the strikeout. The George Washington commit finished the game with 16 strikeouts and allowing just two hits.

However, she had to rely on her defense to get out of a pickle in the eighth inning.

Softball tie-breaker rules place a runner on second base to start each extra-inning frame. After the first batter struck out, the runner advanced to third. With one out, Milford’s Sam Bonvino laid down a suicide squeeze attempt, only to see the ball pop straight up. Warriors catcher Olivia Godin snared the ball and fired to third to double up the retreating runner, ending the inning.

“They’re great hitters,” Rico said of Milford’s lineup. “I was really nervous coming into this game, but my defense was strong, our hitting was strong.”

KP scratched across the game-winning run thanks to some skillfully executed small ball.

With Mullen on second to start the inning, Godin put down a sacrifice bunt. Constantin followed that with another perfectly placed bunt between Smith and Scarlet Hawks first baseman Caroline Atkinson, who was shading in anticipation of the bunt.

“I knew getting up there that I was going to have to squeeze with Hailey [Mullen] on third,” Constantin said. “I just set in my head that I had to get it done no matter what.”

It appeared the Warriors might come up with the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh. With one on and one out, Meg Carnase lined a single over the second base bag into center. KP center fielder Alyssa Siegmann looked as though she might have the legs to score from second base, but when rounding third, she was met by Leonard who was holding up the sign to stay just there.

“We had good hitters coming up and we have a lot of confidence in our hitters,” Leonard said, explaining his rationale for not waving Siegmann homeward bound. “You don’t want to take the bat out of their hands. You’ve got runners on second and third with [third baseman Anna] Kelly coming up.”

Kelly put a jolt into Smith’s 2-2 offering to the opposite field. However, she didn’t get quite enough as ball fell into the right fielder’s glove, several feet shy of fence.

“She put a few more feet on that ball and it’s all over,” Leonard added.

Smith took the hard-luck loss after striking out 11, while allowing seven hits and three walks.

KP stranded nine runners on base.

After delivering heroics in the circle en route to the 2010 Division 1 state championship, King Philip ace Meghan Rico has arrived in the 2011 season as one of several big-time pitchers to watch in Massachusetts.

The junior first made waves when she came on in the sixth inning of a one-run battle with Dighton-Rehoboth in the D1 South semifinals, after UMass-bound hurler Maggie Quealy took a line drive to the face, and picked up the win. She then pitched a shutout of Bishop Feehan in the sectional final; came on again in place of Quealy in the state semifinals against Concord-Carlisle, after Quealy had thrown a number of illegal pitches; and delivered the Warriors to a 10-1 defeat of Milford in the finals for the state title.

Rico, a Division 1 prospect, isn't your classic power pitcher. But she still brings the heat across the plate with considerable force, in addition to some well-placed offspeed stuff. Through her first four appearances, she's 4-0 with 57 strikeouts in 28 innings, including 15 K's in a 1-0 win over Shrewsbury Monday in which she was a hit batter away from a perfect game. Rico sat down with ESPNBoston.com following the game to talk about her stuff, the battery with her best friend, and how she calms her nerves.

Q: First, take me through your pregame routine.
A: "I usually don't come in too nervous. Last year, I came in with a lot of nerves, because I hadn't pitched before. Just, my catcher [Olivia Godin] calms me down all the time. She goes through my warmups with me, calls the whole game, does a good job with it. I listen to her for everything, and she gets me through it."

Q: Does she call a lot of fastball for you? Seems like based on today, you're able to locate it well for strikes.
A: "My go-to pitch is probably curve and screwball, I have to say. Not so much fastball, though."

Q: How much work has gone into developing that repertoire?
A: "A lot of work, definitely, because I want to go to college for softball, and I know I'm not tall. And if I'm trying to be a pitcher at a D1 school, I need to make it spin, because I definitely don't have the speed that some of those girls have. So, I have to put a lot of work into my spin pitches, more so than the speed."

Q: And just building on that last point, you don't have a prototypical college pitchers' body, so how have you made it work?
A: "This year, I worked with a trainer [at Challenge Fast, Inc., in Plainville] every day over the winter. I gave up basketball and soccer to work with the trainer and focus on the sport for college."

Q: How important is the leg strength for you?
A: "So important. He worked with me so much on my legs and my arms, with squats and everything. It's definitely helped me out this season, to pick up a little more speed even though my size isn't all there (laughs)."

Q: Let's go back to the state championship game last season against Milford. How nervous were you before the game?
A: "If you talked to my catcher...I was so nervous. Coming into the Dighton-Rehoboth game [a 3-2 win in the D1 South semifinals] was probably the most nervous I'd probably ever been for something in my life. I thought I was gonna pass out when I got called out to pitch. Milford game, he told me I was going to pitch a few games before, so I had time to calm my nerves, whereas the D-R game I was thrown right in. But [I] had to expect it, we've been working hard all season and it was only a matter of time."

Q: How did you calm down?
A: "My catcher. She does a good job with me. She is my AAU catcher too (with the Rhode Island Thunder), so I know her pretty well."

Q: How close are you and her off the field?
A: "She's my best friend. Yep, she can pretty much read my brain, so when she's calling my pitches I don't question her."

Q: Are you aware you almost had a perfect game today?
A: "Oh!...I don't know. I really don't pay attention to that in the game. Honestly, when I strike out batting, it makes me really, really mad. And I think I do better pitching when I'm more mad out there, because I'm not used to hitting, and I haven't hit in a long time. I love it, but it's something I've got to work on. It's hard to focus on both."

Q: Is it one of those things where you just zone everything out?
A: "Yeah, when I'm out on the mound I have a lot of confidence in myself, and I think that's how I get through it. Batting? Still working on that, but we'll see."

Q: Where would you like to improve the most?
A: "I mean...I definitely want to win a state championship again. That helped me a lot with recruiting and everything, and it was the best feeling I had for probably the whole summer -- and still is. But, just keep working on my spin, because I can't really get too much more speed. I've been trying to lift and get as much speed as I can, but just work on my spinning, work on my hitting.

Q: What did you learn the past two seasons from spelling Maggie Quealy?
A: "I learned so much from her. She's a great leader on the field, and everyone said we're going to have a tough time this year with losing her, and our other captain Kara [O'Neill], because they're such good leaders. And just on the field, when she got hit, and when she got caught for illegal pitching [in the state semifinals against Concord-Carlisle], she went right out to right field and told the whole game, 'You look out here, I'm your focus point. Turn around, I'll be there. If you're nervous, look at me'. It calmed me down, along with my catcher [Godin], to help me do what we did."

PLAINVILLE, Mass. –- Meghan Rico was cruising right along during Monday’s matchup against Central Mass power Shrewsbury.

The King Philip softball pitcher had retired the first 12 Colonial hitters in order to start the game. Then, Rico struck out during her plate appearance in the bottom of the fourth inning and really got mad.

“I know that if I’m not hitting well, I need to pitch well,” the junior hurler said.

Not that wasn’t dominant through the first four innings, but something else kicked in. Painting the corners of the plate and mixing in a healthy dose of curveballs and screwballs, the top-ranked Warriors’ ace bore down and finished the gem she’d started with authority.

Only a hit batsmen to start the seventh inning kept Rico from finishing a perfect game, while spinning a no-hit complete game in a 1-0 win over the 20th-ranked Colonials.

“When you’re in these tight games and you need a little something extra, that’s when you hope that your pitcher comes through,” said King Philip head coach Jim Leonard, who celebrated his 50th birthday with the victory. “[Rico] knows when she needs to bear down a little bit and she’s able to that. She’s very consistent and she’s very composed.”

In a stretch from the second through fifth innings, Rico sat down 11 consecutive Shrewsbury (4-1) hitters via the strikeout while finishing with 15 for the outing.

Meanwhile, Colonials pitcher Erica Armenti was nearly as effective, striking out seven and surrendering four hits in a tough-luck decision.

King Philip (5-0) scratched across the lone run of the game in the third inning. Warriors shortstop Jenn Robillard crossed the plate on a double-steal attempt with what would prove to be the game-winning run.

“They did a good job of knocking down a run at the plate,” Leonard said. “Then we had a first and third in the third, and that’s just a chance that you have to take. That was some heads-up running on Jenn Robillard’s part. We work on that a lot and we were able to score the run there. That was the difference.

“You wish it weren’t always that way, but you have to take the runs when you can get them.”

It looked as though King Philip had broken the scoreless stalemate during the previous inning, when Tori Constantin rounded third toward home on Alyssa Siegmann’s single to right. However, Shrewsbury right fielder Jenna Pickett’s throw was right on the money and catcher Kaci Panarelli anchored her outstretched left heel in front of the plate, blocking Constantin short of the plate

Still, the single run provided by Robillard’s guile on the basepaths was all Rico needed on a special afternoon.

“She likes to paint the black,” Warriors catcher Olivia Godin said. “She likes to paint her pitches and work all of her pitches in there. Once we get ahead, we want them to chase. We don’t want to play around with any batter, we want to go right after them.”

Shrewsbury head coach Phil Chevalier knew what his team was getting into while making the trip to the Plainville Athletic League fields, however, and the path doesn’t get any easier this week with defending Division 2 state champion Hudson next on the slate.

“We asked for this game and we wanted to come down here,” Chevalier said. “You like to always win, but I’d rather play a tough game like this than fattening up against other teams.”