Johnston softball hands Lincoln first loss on eve of postseason
· Yahoo Sports
LINCOLN – How dangerous Johnston could be in the upcoming Division II softball playoffs was made clear Monday.
Lincoln suffered a first defeat of the season courtesy of the Panthers, who used one offensive outburst and some dominant pitching from Haley Boudreau to spoil Senior Night at Sullivan Field on May 18.
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Johnston did all of its scoring in the top of the fourth inning and Boudreau made the lead stand up, working out of jams in each of the last three frames. Her 16th strikeout of the evening came with the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh and closed a 3-1 triumph.
The Panthers finished their regular season with a statement, taking out the likely No. 1 seed in the upcoming tournament. Samaya Imondi, Jadyn Giroux and Savannah Paquin all drove in single runs to back their senior pitcher, who faced the minimum over the first four innings and allowed just four hits.
“I feel like we have a lot more confidence,” Boudreau said. “Our issue is if we don’t have fun and play free we do badly. When we go into games having fun and having confidence we perform very well.
“You could tell in that inning we were all having fun and goofing off. That’s when we scored our runs.”
Boudreau and Molly Ganim were untouchable into the fourth until Johnston found some offense. Arianna Colon beat out an infield single to deep short, Bella Boudreau singled to left and Imondi dropped a run-scoring single into shallow right that made it 1-0. Giroux’s bunt out in front of the plate left the Lions with no play on Boudreau sliding across and Paquin’s sacrifice fly to right brought Imondi in from third to give the Panthers a 3-0 cushion.
“It felt amazing,” Boudreau said. “It was the bottom of the lineup, too. I’m just so proud of the girls.”
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Boudreau fanned 10 straight and set down 11 in a row before a leadoff walk to Lucia Whyte invited trouble in the bottom of the fifth. She took second on a wild pitch and scored when Kayleigh Gouchie lined an RBI single down the line in right. Brielle Lambert reached on a bunt single before Imondi caught a pair of sacrifice attempts crashing in from third base and Boudreau stopped the threat with a strikeout.
It was more of the same in the sixth, with Brooke Tilson drawing a leadoff walk and Chloe Landry reaching on a fielder’s choice when Johnston couldn’t record an out on a bunt. Whyte bounced a one-out single up the middle to load the bases before Boudreau fanned two straight to leave the tying run in scoring position.
“I just remember that the batters are more nervous than I am,” Boudreau said. “They’re down. We’re up. They’re trying to do everything they can to put the ball in play.
"Their swings are going to get longer. They’re going to try harder. I’ve just got to do my thing and spin the ball, and I got it.”
Annika Simpson’s leadoff double to right gave Lincoln (15-1) one last shot in the seventh, but Boudreau was equal to the challenge yet again. A sacrifice, a strikeout looking and a strikeout swinging sealed the result for the Panthers (14-3), who won for the fifth time in their last six games and look set for the No. 2 seed in the playoff field ahead of Portsmouth.
“We’re not leaving this year without a fight,” Boudreau said. “I’m not going down like I did all the other years.”
Johnston 000 300 0 – 3 6 0
Lincoln 000 010 0 – 1 4 0
Haley Boudreau and Bella Boudreau. Molly Ganim, Kayleigh Gouchie (4) and Sydney Marchand.
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Result of Johnston vs. Lincoln softball on Monday, May 18, 2026