It was four home runs and an all-or-nothing final play that almost tied the game between the Dartmouth High and Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School softball teams.

Facing its league rival on April 9, the Indians struggled early on with two scoreless innings as the Trojans picked up a three home run lead. The Indians tied the game in the third inning, but the Trojans ended the inning with a 6-3 lead. In the sixth inning, the Trojans still held an 8-5 lead.

The seventh inning is where the magic almost happened for the Indians as the team scored four straight home runs. That still fell short of tying the game, resulting in a 10-9 loss by the end of the inning.

Captain Rachel Pereira said even with the rough start the team kept pushing through.

“I thought we battled back hard and that we never really gave up,” Pereira said. “We struggled in the beginning, but we never really gave up.”

As for challenges, Pereira said the team needs to work on bunt coverage. Coach Beth Arguin said the girls will wok on fundamentals and mental toughness. She is looking to make sure the team stays focused even in harsh weather conditions, which can make it harder to play at the team's very best.

“It was tough, the weather’s tough,” Arguin said. “The field conditions were lousy. There’s a lot of things we can blame it on, but hey, they had to face the same conditions, so unfortunately they came out and played harder than we did or at least made fewer mistakes then we did.”

Notable players of the night were both pitchers, Sophia Sousa and Hannah Arruda. Arguin said even with freezing temperatures the team pitched well. Pereira and Lindsey Oliveira played a solid defense, Arguin said.

With the loss the team is 2-1 on the season. The Indians next game is April 11 at 2:15 p.m. against Dufree High School at the Dufree High School Outdoor Athletic Complex.