SWANSEA – Despite just three hits themselves, Case held off a tough Dighton-Rehoboth offense at home Monday afternoon.

The Cardinals were able to push across the lone run in the first inning to come away with the 1-0 South Coast Conference victory at Elizabeth S. Brown Elementary.

“We had a talk yesterday as a coaching staff and I said that we need Lila (Alvarez) to pitch like she pitched last time against them, but this is not going to be a one-run game (again). Twice I’ve said that to my team and twice they have proved me wrong,” said Cardinals coach Shannon Silva about her team’s performance.

Senior captain Megan Smith doubled to lead off the bottom of the first before a sacrifice bunt for Nicole Rebelo moved her to third. Junior captain and catcher Breanna Fontes drove Smith in from third with a RBI groundout to second to make it 1-0 Case (12-1) after one.

From there, freshman Alvarez took over as she went the distance while working around three walks, three hits, a hit batter and a couple two base errors.

“As a freshman pitcher, we were all very nervous how she wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure just because she’s so young, but she’s done an amazing job so far,” said Smith about playing behind Alvarez. “She’s always dialed in. She never loses her composure.”

Alvarez struck out eight batters on the day and retired seven of her final eight batters faced.

The outfield defense was a big part as Smith made a couple catches a few feet shy of the centerfield fence and she even kept a runner from scoring from first by playing a hit by Skye Harrison on the bounce as Izzy Moss had to hold at third.

“We worked really, really hard in practice (on outfield drills),” Smith said. “I know everybody always kind of thinks infield is the most important. The outfield is really, really important and we luckily have two great outfield coaches in coach Nicki (Henrique) and coach Julie. They dedicate so much time to us. So, that’s the reason why we’re able to perform like that.”

Overall, both teams combined 1-of-14 with runners in scoring position with Dighton-Rehoboth (11-3) going 0-for-6 in those opportunities.

“I’m super proud of my team because they’re very young this year, but they don’t play like they are young,” Silva said. “They don’t play like they’re jittery. I say to them, ‘You wouldn’t know it was the seventh and we were up one run or if it was the first and it was nothing, nothing.’ They play the same way all the time.”

Elly LaTour pitched six frames while allowing one run and striking out three for the Falcons.

Next up, Case will head to Bourne Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. The Falcons will head to Old Rochester for a 3:45 p.m. contest also on Wednesday.I’m