PLAINVILLE — Sometimes, when you start a sophomore on varsity softball, she may be a little timid, and not quite ready for prime time.

Or, in the case of King Philip’s McCoy Walsh and Ali Gill, they perform so well you can’t believe they’re not seniors.

With Walsh holding it down in the circle, and Gill providing the offense with a home run, King Philip beat Central Catholic, 2-1, in the first-ever nonleague meeting between the programs.

KP improves to 15-2, while Central falls to 8-2.

“My babies,” KP coach Kate Fallon said of Walsh and Gill. “They both did outstanding today. (Gill’s) got a hot bat going this season. She takes care of business when we need her to. I was glad to see that ball sail into the playground today. I thought it was nice. McCoy did an excellent job today in the circle. Got ahead of batters. Took care of business. She had a lot (of strikeouts) today, which was huge keeping them off the bases.”

Walsh was tremendous, and finished with 12 strikeouts. Her most impressive inning was the fourth, as she allowed the first two batters to reach base on a walk and infield single. But Walsh battled back to strike out the side and avoid any damage.

“I thought I started every at-bat very strong,” Walsh said. “Kept my focus a little bit more and saw their swings. I know (catcher) Maddie (Paschke) called a great game with working off what they could and couldn’t hit.”

KP got all the offense it needed in the bottom of the third inning. Syd Burch reached base with a single to left with one out. From there, Gill crushed one over the fence for the 2-0 lead. Gill got all of it, and she has been hitting for power all season.

“For me, I kind of just try to stay calm at the plate,” Gill said. “I was thinking, anything close, see it and just drive it. That’s kind of what I think when I’m at the plate. See ball, hit ball.”

Central’s Julia Malowitz pitched well for the Raiders, and only allowed six hits.

Central got on the board in the sixth inning, as Caitlin Milner blasted one over the fence in center.

But Walsh did not allow Central to get any closer, as she struck out the last two batters to seal it in the top of the seventh.

Was Fallon able to exhale at any point of that close game?

“Yeah, when the game ended,” Fallon said. “When I was lining up to shake hands. It’s like, oh, OK. All right. We got that. That was a good team. Love playing good teams, good competition. Love being in 2-1 games like that. It’s good for us.”