BURLINGTON – Finley Strong and her Rice Memorial softball team dominated Burlington and Richford before splitting a pair of games with Burlington and Mount Abe last week to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Strong, the daughter of Hazen alum Jeff Strong and granddaughter of Wildcat coaching great Jack Strong, belted an RBI triple in the Green Knights 15-1 road win in their first matchup against Burlington. Bella Messineo twirled a complete game no-hitter to earn the win in the circle, striking out seven. Alayna Havreluk was a perfect 4-4 at the plate, blasting a home run and driving in four in the win.
Strong collected two more hits, including a two-run triple, as they blew past Richford at home 29-3. Havreluk earned the win, striking out 12 Lady Rockets on the day. Strong blasted a pair of home runs and drove in three last Tuesday as they outlasted Burlington 16-10 to sweep the season series. Mt. Abe handed the Green Knights their first loss of the season on Thursday 13-7. Rice has outscored their opponents 97-33 on the season and look poised to return to the Division II Final Four for a second straight season.
Strong and the Green Knights were back in action on Tuesday at Milton before hosting Vergennes on Thursday and traveling to Enosburg on Friday.
