By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

CUMBERLAND ---- When two evenly-matched teams battle each other, all it takes is one inning to get the job done.

It also helps when your pitcher is on the mark, too.
Behind a splendid three-hitter from right-hander Jordan Tingley, La Salle Academy scored twice on four hits in the top of the fifth inning, providing all the offense that was needed in a 2-0 blanking Cumberland High at Tucker Field.
The game turned out to be exactly the type of game one would expect between the two squads, who each entered the contest with one loss. There was solid defense (just one error) and strong pitching. Tingley finished with 11 strikeouts in her gem, while CHS starter Jillian George (nine hits, seven strikeouts) was in command for most of the afternoon.
The difference was the fateful fifth. With the teams locked in a scoreless tie, La Salle’s No. 9 hitter, Lizzie Graham, got things started for the Rams with a leadoff single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then, with one out, Jenna Edine delivered the decisive blow when her weak hit dropped just enough ahead of rightfielder Rachel Baxter to drive in the eventual winning run. Mary Holt followed with a bunt single that dribbled just past George to plate the insurance run.
“Just one inning,” said CHS head coach Marty Crowley, whose team dropped to 3-2 in the league (6-2 overall). “A big hit, a (wild) pitch, and things happen. We had runners on, they had runners on. They broke through and we didn’t. They put the ball in play.”
There wasn’t much style or muster on the two key hits for La Salle (5-1, 6-1), but there also didn’t need to be.
“That’s what softball is,” La Salle coach Leanne DeMarco said. “Softball is about the small game, the short game. I always tell the girls I’m not looking for the big hit. I’m looking for them to put the ball in play and make something happen. That’s what they did. My best hitter, who can hit home runs…put a bunt down to score (the second) run. That proves that if you put the ball in play, things will happen.”
Holding their 2-0 advantage, Tingley actually turned it up a notch on the mound, securing the lead by retiring the final nine batters she faced. She did not allow a hit in the final four innings. 
Prior to Thursday’s tilt, DeMarco felt Tingley was having some problems the last few contests with her overall gameplan.
“It was a matter of throwing the pitches at the right time,” she said. “We came to that conclusion the last (few games) after talking a lot. I worked with her and (catcher) Lizzie (Graham) the last couple of days and they called a great game.”
“She pitched well,” Crowley said. “She kept us off balance a little bit. She kept the ball around the plate. We just couldn’t put the ball in play. She pitched a heckuva game.”
The Clippers, who lost to Westerly in 10 innings on Tuesday, dropped their second straight game after beginning the season at 6-0. Cumberland’s best chances to score occurred in the second and third innings.
With one out in the second, Baxter slammed a line drive to left field that the Rams’ Taylor Bartone managed to catch. Back-to-back singles by Bethany Paul and Katie Beauregard would put runners on second and third – a situation that was set-up when Paul hustled around the second on Beauregard’s hit and barely beat out a throw to third on a well-timed slide. Tingley got out of the jam, however, ending the frame by striking out Brittany Crawford.
In the third, Kara Solebello’s leadoff single and a walk to Marissa Speroni would put runners on first and second before Tingley fanned George to end that threat.
“We just couldn’t get the hit when we needed to,” Crowley said. “Baxter hit one right at somebody, we had second and third early on, we just couldn’t get the run home. We just couldn’t put the ball in play. We are just having problems scoring runs right now. In the last one (against Westerly), we didn’t score until we got to extra innings.”
The Clippers will now have a six-day layoff before hitting the diamond at Pilgrim next Wednesday. Crowley’s confident his squad can rebound.
“We are just going to work hard,” he said. “In this league, I tell the kids’ everyday that anybody can do anything on any given day. We just got to find a rhythm and get the bats going, and hopefully it will come soon.”
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La Salle 000 020 0 – 2 8 1
Cumberland 000 000 0 – 0 3 0
Jordan Tingley and Lizzie Graham. Jillian George and Kara Solebello. 2B – L, Gillian Cardarelli, Zeena Babarita.