By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

CUMBERLAND --- Cumberland High has been scoring runs in bunches this season, and on Wednesday afternoon, the Clippers picked a wonderful time to put a ten-spot on the scoreboard.
The Clippers finished their regular season in style by recording one of their biggest victories to date, a surprisingly-lopsided 10-1 triumph over Mount St. Charles Academy at Tucker Field that knocked the Mounties out of first place in the Division I ranks.
The Clippers will head into the postseason with an 11-5 record (their fourth year in a row with 10 or more wins) and their third victory in as many days.
They had knocked off playoff-bound Cranston West High on Monday and North Kingstown High on Tuesday before bumping the Mounties from the top of the standings in impressive fashion.
“We had a very good week,” said Cumberland coach Marty Crowley, whose crew has produced 10 or more runs in a game six times this season and leads all Division I squads with 104 runs scored. “We finished strong and we’re definitely getting better as the season goes along. This was a very good way to finish our season, but now it’s back to work and time to get ready for the playoffs.”
The Clippers, who entered the game tied for fifth place with Coventry High and Cranston West, are expected to receive either the fourth, fifth, or sixth seed in the playoffs. The top four seeds will gain a bye in the opening round, which take place next Thursday afternoon.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” said Crowley. “We’re definitely going to have a home game, but we can’t take anyone lightly, especially this season. But I’m happy with the way we’re playing. Our pitching is going to keep us in every game and our bats have really been coming around lately.”
The Mounties, meanwhile, fell to 11-3, and for the moment, sit in third place in the standings behind Bay View Academy (13-3) and La Salle Academy (12-3), which topped Woonsocket High on Wednesday and finish its regular season with a game on the road against Lincoln High.
If the Mounties can claim their final two regular-season games (on Saturday against North Kingstown High and next Monday against winless St. Raphael Academy) and the Lions can defeat La Salle, then they will win the regular-season title before they own the head-to-head tiebreaker with Bay View.
“We’re playing for a seed,” added MSC coach Cliff Matthews. “Every game is now a playoff game. We have to defeat North Kingstown and hope we get some help. We’re not out of it, but we just have to play a little better than we did today.”
The Mounties, who have surrendered six or more runs in five of their last six games, fell victim to an 11-hit attack by the Clippers that saw leadoff batter Casey McDonald go 3-for-4 with three runs scored, and the No. 3-4 batters, Bethany Paul and Christina Speroni, each collect two hits and as many RBIs.
The Clippers also took advantage of four wild pitches by ace pitcher Olivia Hendricks and four passed balls by catcher Alyssa Lanzi, and the Mounties had an infield error in each of the Clippers’ three-run rallies in the third and sixth innings. 
“It’s unfortunate when that happens,” admitted Matthews. “I know we have a freshman pitcher and a sophomore catcher who are young, but we’re still not a good enough team to be allowing runners to take extra bases like that.”
After both teams scored runs in the first inning, the Clippers pushed across the eventual game-winning run in the home half of the second inning on a wild pitch that plated Ashley Noke, who led the inning off with a ringing double into the gap in left-center field and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Samantha Curran.
The Mounties had a golden chance to knot the score in the top of the third, when a one-out walk to Eliza Foresti and a single to left by Nicole Silva put runners at the corners for Hendricks, who laced a sharp grounder in the hole that was ticketed for the outfield.
But Paul, the Clippers’ talented sophomore shortstop, gloved it with an all-out dive to her right and managed to regain her balance and get off a strong throw to the plate to nab Foresti, who tried to score on the hit.   
“That was an outstanding play,” said Matthews. “When she went after that ball in the hole, I didn’t think she was going to get to it, but for her to turn and throw from the position she was in, that was just a very good play.”
Things went from bad to worse for the Mounties in the bottom of the third, as the Clippers scored three times on a line single to right by Kailee Collins, a run-scoring groundout by Krissy Peffer, and a sacrifice fly to deep center by Noke.
In the fourth, the Clippers made it a 7-1 game on a sacrifice fly to right by Paul and a RBI single by Speroni, and the Clippers scored their final three runs in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Paul, fielder’s choice grounder by Lauren Sloss, and another run-scoring groundout by Peffer.
Paul and Speroni each finished the afternoon with multiple hits, while the Mounties received a 3-for-3 game from Silva and a pair of infield hits from leadoff batter Erica Fletcher.
Clippers pitcher Lyndsey Martins, who along with McDonald and Nicole Fontaine, were honored during the team’s ‘Senior Day’ pre-game festivities, picked up the win by scattering eight hits and three walks and striking out six batters.
**
Mount St. Charles    100    000    0—1-8-2
Cumberland        113    203    x—10-11-2
Olivia Hendricks and Alyssa Lanzi; Lyndsey Martins and Krissy Peffer. 2B – Ashley Noke (C).