After starting the season with seven straight wins, the wheels have fallen off the Duxbury softball express.

It looked like a great season was developing after big Patriot League wins over Silver Lake (9-3) and Hanover (2-1) in mid April put the team’s record at 7-0, but a coaching decision by Carol Savino during spring break seems to have taken the steam out of the Lady Dragons’ locomotive.{sidebar id=4}

Since substituting for several of her regulars, who had built up a 7-2 lead after four innings against Division I Brockton, it’s been all down hill for the Lady Dragons. The replacements couldn’t hold the lead, while the regulars watched their five-run cushion disappear in a 9-7 loss.

Danielle Antonellis

Ducinski wasn’t her sharpest in last week’s 8-0 loss to Middleboro, especially after having had oral surgery just a few days earlier. The junior hurler did manage to strike out nine Sachem batters, but her fielders let her down by committing six errors that resulted in four unearned runs.

Middleboro’s Amber White kept Duxbury’s bats silent, as Ducinski was one of the few players to get a hit when she tripled and was left stranded on third.

The bats remained dormant on Thursday when the team traveled to Pembroke and absorbed a 5-0 loss to the Titans.

It just wasn’t in the cards for Duxbury, as they out-hit Pembroke five to four and hit the ball all over the field, but right at people.

Ducinski did her best once again by striking out 10 Pembroke batters. But her defense was atrocious, as it committed seven errors, including three in the third inning that allowed three Pembroke runners to score without a hit.

Three more errors in the fourth brought home the final run of the game, as the Titans walked away with a 5-0 win.

It’s a torturous week for the Lady Dragons, who play four games in five days with hopes of seeing their losing streak come to an end.{sidebar id=6}