Category Archives: Amesbury

May 4, 2015 · 8:56 pm

That’s nine and counting as Amesbury gets past Newburyport 5-2

Hayley Cantania leaves the mound after pitching a one-hitter for Amesbury

Megan Reid delivered two runs in the crucial 3-run 4th inning

(Newburyport MA) That’s nine straight for the 2015 edition of Amesbury Indians softball.

Coach Chris Perry’s team hasn’t lost since June 8^th of 2014 when they were defeated by St. Mary’s (Lynn) 8-5 in the Division 3 North title game at Lowell.

In Monday afternoon’s 5-2 win over Newburyport, the Indians again had strong pitching by Hayley Catania. The freshman took a no-hitter into the final inning and allowed only two walks.

Minus the quality start the Indians might have lost this game because their infield defense (six errors) and faulty base running (ran into three outs) kept the Clippers (3-5) just a big hit or two from the upset.

Stephanie Gleason

Good teams find ways to win, however. Newburyport starter Stephanie Gleason allowed only four walks in six innings of pitching but three of them came in Amesbury’s 3-run fourth inning. Two of the walkers would cross the plate. Big hit? Megan Reid’s two-out double to right in that productive inning brought in two runs (Emily Robinson & Sam Stone).

The Clippers got a run back in the bottom of the fourth. An infield dribbler by Stephanie Gleason tallied teammate Shelby O’Brien from third.

Amesbury built on their 3-1 lead with a unearned score in the sixth. Zoe Fitzgerald singled, reached second on a wild pitch, and came home on Hayley Cantania’s two-out grounder got past shortstop Morgan Johnston.

Newburyport picked up an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth as Jade Carpenter reached on one error (Maddie Napoli) and scored on another (catcher Caity Baker).

Jade Carpenter waits for Autumn Kligerman in the 7th inning

The Insurance Man arrived in the Amesbury seventh. A two-out, three-base throwing error by 3B Carley Siemasko enabled Meagan Aponas to reach third. Autumn Kligerman’s single to left delivered Amesbury’s fifth run.

The big deal, at least in my head, was whether or not Hayley Cantania could get a no-hitter. It didn’t seem to matter to anyone else, however. Regardless of the lack of interest, Paige Gouldthorpe started the last of the 7^th with a line drive to right. Megan Reid charged it but it bounced in front of her and then away from her to give the Clippers their first (and only) hit.

Hayley Catania reached base all three times – single, walk, and error.

Zoe Fitzgerald scored two runs.

Paige Gouldthorpe broke up the no-hitter in the 7th inning

Paige Gouldthorpe made several terrific plays in left field for Newburyport.

Molly Kelley pitched in the 7^th for the Clippers.

With the win, Amesbury sweeps the season’s series with Newburyport. Last year Newburyport won both meetings.

Weather? It was shockingly nice! Temps in the 80’s with a nice breeze is about as good as it gets in these parts.

Next game for Newburyport is at Ipswich on Wednesday. On the same day Amesbury will host a pretty good Pentucket team.

Amesbury box

Newburyport box

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Morgan Johnston waits for Zoe Fitzgerald to arrive

Zoe Fitzgerald

Caity Baker chases a popup

Emily Dobson

Hannah Briedenbach

Hayley Catania

Maddie Napoli

Molly Kelley pitched the 7th inning

Morgan Johnston

Stephanie Gleason and Jade Carpenter converge on a popup

collision at home

Leave a comment

Filed under Amesbury, Newburyport

Tagged as Autumn Kligerman, Hayley Cantania, Megan Reid, Paige Gouldthorpe, Zoe Fitzgerald

April 14, 2015 · 11:44 am

Amesbury defeats Newburyport 11-2 behind Hayley Cantania

Nine strikeouts for Amesbury starter Hayley Cantania

Lauren Fedorchak (2B) catches the final out for Amesbury

(Amesbury) Perfect softball weather.

The softball played on Monday afternoon…not so perfect but Amesbury did come away with an 11-2 win over neighboring Newburyport.

AHS freshman Hailey Cantania kept nine Clippers off the base paths with strikeouts in her five innings of pitching. That was significant in a game where the defenses were nowhere near where they will be later in the season. Overthrows and bad decisions abounded for both sides on balls in play. The Indians (2-0) had fewer chances to deal with, however, thanks to Hailey’s pitching.

But this was early season action and with the weather around here who could even tell until recently that there were softball fields in the area. Practicing indoors in gymnasiums or outdoors in cold/windy weather won’t prepare a team for a season of softball. This was the opener for Newburyport and it showed.

Down 7-0, catcher Shelby O’Brien whacked a two-run homer or at least we thought she did. However, an appeal was made that base runner Morgan Johnston had failed to touch third. Goodbye, two runs!

Emily Robinson (#14) gets mobbed by her Amesbury teammates after 3-run homer

Biggest hit in the game? Three-run blast by junior Emily Robinson of Amesbury to center in the sixth. The Clippers might have had a chance to get Emily at the plate but on this day the relay throw went to third instead of to home.

Several times for both teams potential double plays were lost because of throws to the wrong base or throws too high to the right base. I hope I’ve made my point……the defenses were shaky!

I also heard a retiring coach shouting to a second baseman to throw the ball to first (for a double play?) AFTER the second baseman had caught a popup for the third out of the last inning. It was that kind of game!

Molly Kelley had a good game at second for the Clippers.

AHS relief pitcher Sam Stone

Helmets? Glad Sam Stone had one on when catcher Shelby O’Brien’s throw from home struck that helmet as Sam slid back into first base. The ball ended up caroming out of play.

Masks? As a photographer I would prefer that the players didn’t wear masks in the field. However as a parent/grandparent I am uncomfortable seeing infielders not wearing masks. Way too dangerous, in my opinion. One line drive up the middle nearly got AHS pitcher Hayley Catania who wasn’t wearing a mask. Has no one figured out that a batted softball off a metal bat could cause a serious injury?

The weather was a great treat. Temps close to 70 with plenty of sun.

I enjoyed being back with players and coaches of both teams. I have been around both teams long enough to know who is new this year and who is missing. Good folks on both sides.

My current schedule (working part-time at Pickwick Driving School Tuesday-Friday) will keep me from doing many games this season. I regret it but some things have to be.

I was pleased to see that Dan Harrison, formerly of the Salem News, is now part the the Newburyport Daily News staff. He is a good writer and the coverage of the area spring sports should be significantly upgraded as a result.

(The pictures above and below will enlarge significantly if you click on them.)

Amesbury lineup

Maddie Napoli (shortstop) throws to first

trouble in the Newburyport outfield

Molly Kelley (2B) about to catch a popup

Jade Carpenter (3B) prepares to throw home

Morgan Johnston

Newburyport team picture

Clippers relief pitcher Carley Siemasko throws to Molly Kelley at first

Leave a comment

Filed under Amesbury, Newburyport

Tagged as Hayley Cantania, Sam Stone, Shelby O'Brien

January 23, 2015 · 11:28 pm

Amesbury girls win the rematch 53-35 over Newburyport

McKenzie Cloutier (12 points) readies a block attempt against Emily Pettigrew (13 points)

Megan Reid (11 points) gets off a shot

(Amesbury MA) Amesbury put runs of points together in both halves and defeated Newburyport, 53-35, on Friday night in Cape Ann League play. The win avenges an earlier loss to the Clippers.

In the first half the Indians (6-5) put a 13-2 segment together to build up a ten-point league. In the second half the home team ran fourteen unanswered points and with it ended any curiosity about the final outcome.

The Clippers (3-9) missed a ton of shots but credit the Amesbury defense for allowing very few uncontested shot attempts.

McKenzie Cloutier (12 points) led the AHS scorers getting ten of them in the second quarter. After Newburyport had moved to within seven points (17-10) in the second quarter on a driving layup by freshman Krysta Padellaro, McKenzie tallied three straight baskets to set up Amesbury with a, 23-10, halftime advantage.

Morgan Johnston (10 points) puts up a shot in the paint

The Clippers finally were able to get some shots to fall in the third quarter. Krysta, Morgan Johnston (10 points), and Emily Pettigrew (13 points) combined for fifteen points for NHS in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the third quarter and the visitors were within ten, 35-25. When Emily drained a three-pointer the Amesbury lead was sliced to seven.

Plenty of game left for Newburyport to finish the comeback. The Clippers hopes were further buoyed by word that Amanda Martin had fouled out with 2:18 left in that 3rd quarter.

But rather than being in trouble, the Indians took their seven-point lead (35-28) and added fourteen straight points to it while holding Newburyport scoreless. Shut out for 6+ minutes, the Clippers emerged from the dry spell down and out, 49-28, with four minutes left.

Zoe Fitzgerald looks for someone to pass to

Megan Reid, Julia LaMontagne, Abbie Sartori, McKenzie Cloutier, and Zoe Fitzgerald scored points in the game-deciding Amesbury streak.

Junior Megan Reid finished with eleven points for Amesbury.

Newburyport has now lost four of their last five games. Amesbury has won three of four.

Newburyport won the first meeting between the two teams, 50-48, on January 5th. Olivia Olson had twenty points in that one. This time around the AHS defense held Olivia to a quiet two points.

The Indians won despite little playing time for Cape Ann League All-Star Amanda Martin. Amanda was a foul-magnet from the very outset getting two fouls in the first forty-nine seconds. She picked up a 3rd in the second quarter and in the third quarter two more. The 5th one came on an Amesbury 2-on-1 fastbreak and didn’t sit well with the Amesbury faithful. But on this evening it didn’t matter because the Indians had tight defense no matter who was playing and shots were falling for their team.

waiting for play to resume

The free throw shooting wasn’t very good in this game: Amesbury (11-for-19) and Newburyport (4-for-13).

Both teams resume play on Tuesday. Newburyport hosts Lynnfield while Amesbury visits Triton. Tessa Lafrance and Erin Savage from the Triton team were in the house tonight.

Amesbury boxscore

Newburyport boxscore

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Abbie Sartori gets in for two

Olivia Olson tries to finish as Abbie Sartori defends

Tight defense by Amesbury

Polly Corbett shoots a three

Emily Pettigrew goes for a block on Zoe Fitzgerald

Olivia Olson (#5)

Leave a comment

Filed under Amesbury, Newburyport

Tagged as Emily Pettigrew, McKenzie Cloutier, Megan Reid, Morgan Johnston

January 5, 2015 · 11:02 pm

Olivia Olson (20 points) leads Newburyport past Amesbury 50-48

Olivia Olson and Morgan Johnson surround Emily Pettigrew after her game-winner

Olivia Olson – 20 points and strong defense

(Newburyport MA) It was one of those nights for Newburyport sophomore Olivia Olson.

Olivia paced the Clippers (2-5) with twenty points but her biggest shot of the night was a complete miss that set up the game-winner in Newburyport’s 50-48, win over Amesbury on Monday night.

Olivia’s late-in-the-game launch was undershot but came right to teammate Emily Pettigrew (11 points) under the basket. Emily, who struggled all game to get open, was wide open on this occasion and cashed the last-second layup to seal the deal for the Clippers.

Amesbury (3-3) had rallied in the last minute on inside scores by Abbie Sartori and McKenzie Cloutier to knot things at 48-48 before Newburyport’s last-second heart breaker.

The Indians were down by as many as eight (23-15) in the first half but miscues by the Clippers in the 3rd quarter (eight turnovers) opened the comeback door for the visitors. Maddie Napoli’s fall-away 3-pointer put Amesbury ahead, 30-28, with 2 1/2 minutes left in the quarter. Newburyport (2-5) responded with seven unanswered points. Amesbury tied the score at 43 (converted rebound by Megan Reid) and later at 48 with seventeen seconds left.

Amanda Martin defended by Olivia Olson

Olivia Olson hit five 3’s getting at least one in each quarter. Her work defending the Indians’ top scorer Amanda Martin was also noteworthy. Olivia limited the Cape Ann League second-teamer to seven free throws. Amanda did miss a number of minutes in the second half because of foul trouble.

The Indians’ zone defense was very effective in keeping the ball away from 6′ Emily Pettigrew (CAL first team). Amesbury’s concentration on the inside opened opportunities on the outside and on this night Olivia Olson took full advantage.

Emily’s layin in the last second won the game but she also had a three from the right corner (set up by Michaela Corvi) that put NHS in front by four with 1 1/2 minutes to go.

Newburyport missed eight free throws (10-for-18) while Amesbury missed only four (14-18).

Maddie Napoli (16 points) guarded by Krysta Padellaro

Sophomore Maddie Napoli (16 points) impressed at point guard for Amesbury. The Indians had only five turnovers in the second half. Maddie hit two 3’s and made several difficult layups in the lane.

Newburyport travels to Everett on Wednesday night. Next for Amesbury is an away game versus Pentucket on Friday night.

No one seemed to know when the last time was that Amesbury defeated Newburyport. Believe me; they nearly pulled it off in this game!

Newburyport box

Amesbury box

(All of the pictures above and below enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Amanda Martin

Newburyport defense

Zoe Fitzgerald and Julia LaMontagne surround Emily Pettigrew

McKenzie Cloutier gets a rebound

Abbie Sartori (32) and Emily Pettigrew (10)

scramble on the floor

Morgan Johnston (12) blocks a shot

Leave a comment

Filed under Amesbury, Newburyport

Tagged as Amanda Martin, Emily Pettigrew, Maddie Napoli, Olivia Olson

June 8, 2014 · 10:12 pm

St. Mary’s defeats Amesbury 8-5 to take Division 3 North softball title

St. Marys (2014 D3 North champs)

Coach Chris Perry accepts the runner-up trophy for Amesbury

(Lowell MA) On Saturday, Amesbury fell behind by two runs in the first inning and came back to defeat Lowell Catholic, 3-2, in the D3 North semifinals.

On Sunday, that fall-behind-thing didn’t work so well as the Indians trailed St. Mary’s (Lynn), 7-0, after two innings and ended up losing the Division 3 North title game, 8-5, to the Crusaders at Martin Field.

St. Mary’s moves on to the state semifinal game versus Greater New Bedford (South winner) on Wednesday night (5PM) back at Martin Field in Lowell.

Spartans start to celebrate

The Spartans (17-7) won state titles in 2009 & 2010. Last year they lost in the finals to Assabet Valley. The most remarkable thing to me about past performance was that St. Mary’s has been in the D3 North finals for NINE straight years. If experience means anything in big games they have it.

Amesbury (17-7), despite being down big early, never quit and put runners on base in the innings that followed and left the bases loaded in the fourth (after getting two runs) and in the seventh (after getting one run).

St. Mary’s picked up an insurance run in the sixth inning when Cassi LaFauci’s two-out double scored Alexis Mango with the Spartans eighth run.

That run loomed large in the Amesbury seventh after reliever Mia Nowicki walked in the Indians fifth run with two outs and had to face the Cape Ann League’s MVP Amanda Schell. Mia escaped by getting Amanda to ground out to second baseman Jen Mucciarone to end the game.

Mia Nowicki

St. Mary’s totaled ten hits but had five of them in their seven-run second inning. Amesbury had three errors in the game and unfortunately, for them, all three came in the second inning.

In that second inning, the Spartans loaded the bases with two hits and a walk with one out. Pitcher Rachel Cyr then bobbled Jess Martinello’s grounder and Vanessa VanBuskirk scored. With two outs and the bases still loaded, another grounder and this time the throw home was over catcher Amanda Schell’s head and two runs scored. Later a single (Molly Doyle) to center went through CF Sam Stone allowing yet another tainted run. All seven runs were unearned.

Amesbury began the long road back with two runs in the third and two more in the fourth.

Autumn Kligerman and Rachel Cyr picked up RBI in the third.

collision course

Jordan D’Orsi started the fourth inning for St. Mary’s. Consecutive doubles (Zoe Fitzgerald & Lauren Fedorchak) produced a run and after a walk Mia Nowicki came on in relief. Mia hit the first batter (Amanda Schell) she faced and walked the next batter (Alexis Boswell) forcing in a run. Here was a key point in this game: bases loaded with one out and Amesbury within three runs. Mia, however, came up big for the Spartans registering a strikeout and a popout to escape further damage.

Mia Nowicki fanned seven Indians in her 3 2/3 innings of work. The freshman has plenty of speed and a devastating changeup.

Michaela Hamill pitched three innings for St. Mary’s giving up two runs on five hits.

Third baseman Autumn Kligerman and second baseman Lauren Fedorchak had terrific catches on infield popups.

Alexis Mango

Alex Fisher, Alexis Mango, and Mollie Mello each had two hits for St. Mary’s.

Lauren Fedorchak had two hits, scored a run, and had an RBI for Amesbury.

St. Mary’s won an April 22nd game versus Amesbury, 4-1, at Amesbury. Vanessa Van Buskirk had three RBI in that one.

Weather? Sunny/Cloudy with an off-and-on breeze.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Sam Stone tries to get back to third

Alex Fisher heads for home

Maddie Napoli (25) and Sam Stone (13) chase the same popup

Autumn Kligerman takes a cut

Meg Aponas slides back into third as Mollie Mello takes the throw

Rachel Cyr

Second baseman Jen Mucciarone gets an assist on the final out of the game

Vanessa VanBuskirk

Zoe Fitzgerald flips to first

Leave a comment

Filed under Amesbury, St. Mary's

Tagged as Alex Fisher, Cassi LaFauci, Mia Nowicki, Rachel Cyr

June 3, 2014 · 8:57 pm

Pitcher/Hitter Rachel Cyr leads Amesbury past Notre Dame Academy 11-2 in D3 North quarterfinals

Rachel Cyr had nine strikeouts, four hits, and three RBI for Amesbury

Alexis Boswell scored three runs and drove in two runs

(Amesbury MA) Rachel Cyr struck out nine and drove in three runs leading Amesbury past Notre Dame Academy (Tyngsboro) 11-2 in the Division 3 North quarterfinals on Tuesday afternoon.

Next opponent for the Indians (16-6) will be Lowell Catholic on Thursday night (6:45PM) at Martin Field in Lowell.

This was a 2-2 game after 3 1/2 innings but Amesbury put up a six-spot in the fourth and the team from the Commonwealth Athletic Conference never recovered.

Rachel Cyr was extremely effective. The AHS senior threw strikes (no walks) and K’d nine of the Lancers. She also retired the last seven batters she faced to thwart any comeback plans NDA may have had.

The Indians jumped off to a 2-0 lead with single runs in the second and third. Rachel had a part in both runs. In the second, she singled to deep short and her pinchrunner (Liv Stolworthy) came in on Zoe Fitzgerald’s single to short left. In the third, after teammates Alexis Boswell and Autumn Kligerman reached, Rachel had an RBI single up the middle.

Kendall Liggett slides across with the first NDA run

The Lancers (12-11) rallied back to tie the score in the fourth inning. After Kendall Liggett singled, Regan Szekely doubled hard down the first baseline scoring Kendall. Breanna Richard ran for Regan. Tara Kelleher followed with a grounder that got between AHS first baseman Zoe Fitzgerald and second baseman Lauren Fedorchak allowing Breanna Richard to hustle home with the second NDA run.

Amesbury gained separation in their half of the fourth inning. The Indians put seven hits together to collect six runs in an inning extended by a 2-out drop by centerfielder Mary Grace Handy. Amesbury sent ten batters to the plate.

trouble in the outfield

In the sixth inning the Indians added three runs. Rachel Cyr had her third RBI and teammate Alexis Boswell scored her third run of the game. This inning was also extended for Amesbury by another drop in centerfield.

Clare Handy paced NDA with two hits.

For Amesbury, Rachel Cyr had four hits while Alexis Boswell had three hits. Alexis also had two RBI.

NDA rightfielder Loren Sullivan made a nice running catch in the third inning.

Alexis Boswell chased Regan Szekely’s double into some Wrigley Field vegetation in foul territory in the NDA fourth inning.

Second baseman Lauren Fedorchak made a terrific running catch in foul territory of a popup in the third inning.

Amanda Schell

Meg Aponas and Amanda Schell hit long foul balls to left.

Last home game for Rachel Cyr, Alexis Boswell, Lucy Scholz, and Amanda Schell.

NDA was 13-7 last season.

The Lancers had two close games with Rockport this season.

Amesbury and St. Mary’s of Lynn are just a win away from facing each other in the D3 North finals. The Spartans defeated the Indians 4-1 in a game this season at Amesbury.

Amesbury box

Notre Dame Academy box

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Deanna Desmond ready to tag out Meg Aponas

Alexis Boswell tracks down a double

close play

Regan Szekely

shortstop Kaycie Pereira

Lauren Fedorchak runs down a foul popup

Allie Wilson

Leave a comment

Filed under Amesbury, Cape Ann League, Notre Dame Academy (Tyngsboro)

Tagged as Alexis Boswell, Amanda Schell, Clare Handy, Kendall Liggett, Rachel Cyr

June 1, 2014 · 5:58 pm

Amesbury routs Weston 17-1 in D3 North First Round

Weston errors proved very costly against Amesbury

Pitcher Rachel Cyr allowed only two hits

(Amesbury MA) Amesbury overwhelmed Weston, 17-1, in Division 3 North first round action Sunday afternoon at Amesbury.

The mercy rule kicked in after the Wildcats batted in the top of the fifth inning.

With the win, Amesbury moves ahead to the quarterfinals on Tuesday afternoon (4PM) hosting Notre Dame of Tyngsboro.

Weston (9-12) rolled up twenty-five runs in their preliminary round victory against New Mission two day ago. Nothing like that happened today, however, against Rachel Cyr as the AHS senior limited the Wildcats to two hits (Gene Miller) and one unearned run.

Because the game was shortened, the Indians (15-6) had only four innings of at-bats and they made the most of them. There were seventeen Amesbury hits with everyone in the starting lineup getting at least one. The only extra base hits were by Lauren Fedorchak (triple) and Amanda Schell (double).

Alexis Boswell caught between Naomi Siverstein (#17) and Marie McMann

Anyone at this game asked to explain it won’t be starting with Weston’s lack of hitting or Amesbury’s ability to hit. They would probably start with the very shaky Weston defense. The Wildcats committed eight errors, by my count, including four in the first inning when Amesbury put up seven runs.

For some reason, both good defense or bad defense can be contagious. In this case, the inability to make plays in the field enveloped the visitors from the Dual County League. And Amesbury just aggravated the situation by putting ball after ball in play for four innings.

What looked like minor damage by Amesbury in the first inning (two runs), due to two fielding miscues (Gene Miller and Katie Valle), became major damage (seven runs) when two more errors (Katie Valle and Naomi Silverstein) followed before the end of the inning.

Amanda Schell steals second base

The Indians added four runs in the second, two in the third, and four more in the fourth. AHS coach Chris Perry had all of his reserves in action before this one ended. Sophomore Megan Reid came off the bench to single in the fourth inning.

Amanda Schell and Alexis Boswell led the way for Amesbury with three hits apiece. Lucy Scholz, Zoe Fitzgerald, and Lauren Fedorchak each had two hits for the Indians.

The Wildcats collected their lone run in the fourth inning. Alison Heilbronner’s bunt was thrown away by 3B Autumn Kligerman allowing Alison to get second. A wild pitch moved Alison to third and from there she was singled home by Gene Miller.

Weather? The only concern might have been from a possible sunburn!

Maddie Piccione

Sophomore Maddie Piccione took the loss for Weston. The less said about the support behind her the better.

Rachel Cyr will be going to Salem State next year to play softball.

Cape Ann League softball Player-of-the-Year (Amanda Schell) will attending Ithaca (NY) to play field hockey for the D3 Bombers next year. I wonder if the softball coach knows about her?

Amesbury had a nice speaker system in place for the game and we heard the National Anthem as well as batter identifications. The scoreboard was also used.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Talia Cramer gets treatment

Lauren Fedorchak tripled in the third inning

Alison Heilbronner nears home

Skyla Lynch

Kasie Wrean eyes a popup

Lucy Scholz scored two runs

Catcher Amanda Schell settles under the game-ending popup

Leave a comment

Filed under Amesbury, Weston

Tagged as Amanda Schell, Gene Miller, Lauren Fedorchak, Lucy Scholz, Maddie Piccione, Rachel Cyr

May 28, 2014 · 4:33 pm

2014 Cape Ann League All-Star softball team (pictures)

Alexi Boswell

Rachel Cyr

Autumn Kligerman

Jen Nutter

Maddy Crateau

Meredith Kercher

Hannah Travers (#20)

Paige Zeval

Julianna Kostas

Alex Mendelsohn

Kylie Currier

Vicki Allman

Ashley Hodge

Catcher Sophia Warner

Kassidy Kennefick

Maddie Binding

Kayla Parisi

Mara Spears

(Annika Han, Melanie Carter, and Jackilyn Murphy also made the team.)

Leave a comment

Filed under Amesbury, Cape Ann League, Georgetown, Ipswich, Lynnfield, Masconomet, Newburyport, Pentucket, Triton

Tagged as Alex Mendelsohn, Alexis Boswell, Annika Han, Ashley Hodge, Autumn Kligerman, Hannah Travers, Jackilyn Murphy, Jen Nutter, Julianna Kostas, Kaddisdy Kennefick, Kayla Parisi, Kylie Currier, Maddie Binding, Maddy Crateau, Mara Spears, Melanie Carter, Meredith Kercher, Paige Zavel, Rachel Cyr, Sophia Warren, Vicki Allman

May 28, 2014 · 1:09 pm

2014 Cape Ann League All-League softball team (pictures)

Amanda Schell (Player-of-the-Year)

Emily Dow (Player-of-the-Year)

Carolyn Lynch

Shortstop Rachel Gallagher

Maddie Kelly

Carley Siemasko

Cassidy Gaeta

Jen Castro and Tarah Reilly

Tyler Feeney

Hannah Lorden

Jess Collins

Kylie Gilroy

(Jackie Whelan of Lynnfield also made the CAL 2014 All-League team.)

Leave a comment

Filed under Amesbury, Cape Ann League, Ipswich, Lynnfield, Masconomet, Newburyport, North Reading, Pentucket, Rockport, Triton

Tagged as Amanda Schell, Carley Siemasko, Carolyn Lynch, Cassidy Gaeta, Emily Dow, Hannah Lorden, Jackie Whelan, Jen Castro, Jess Collins, Kylie Gilroy, Maddie Kelly, Rachel Gallagher, Tara Reilly, Tyler Feeney

May 14, 2014 · 10:32 pm

Amesbury defeats Lynnfield 6-4 in eight innings in Cape Ann League softball

Amanda Schell and Rachel Cyr race home on a 2-run single by Zoe Fitzgerald in the 8th inning

Second baseman Lauren Fedorchak squeezed the final out

(Lynnfield MA) Converting second chances played a big part in Amesbury’s, 6-4, win over Lynnfield in eight innings on a sunny Wednesday afternoon of Cape Ann League softball.

The Indians (11-4) had the Pioneers (8-9) down by three runs, 4-1, with two outs in the seventh inning. However, a boot by AHS shortstop Maddie Napoli and a dropped popup by second baseman Lauren Fedorchak delivered the tying runs for the Pioneers.

That exciting seventh inning ended for Lynnfield with Malia Roberto, carrying the winning run, getting tagged out at third by Autumn Kligerman.

The visitors had only five hits off of LHS pitcher Sadie Oliver but collected two of them in the extra inning. Amanda Schell singled and Rachel Cyr walked to start the inning. They both moved up on a fielder’s choice and scored easily on sophomore Zoe Fitzgerald’s sharp single up the middle.

Autumn Kligerman tags Malia Roberto to end the 7th inning

Those two runs looked to be enough………..unless you recalled the previous inning in which three runs looked like enough! After two outs Lynnfield had two straight singles (Lauren Guerra and Hannah Travers) and visions of the previous inning started dancing in everyone’s head. But second baseman Lauren Fedorchak was given a second chance to end the game and this time held onto Rachel Buzzotta’s popup to do just that.

Amesbury has won five straight and have made the post-season tournament. For the Indians the final five games will be about getting as high a seed as possible in the Division 3 state tournament.

Lynnfield still has to make the tournament. Ten wins will do it. They must win at least two of their last three games. I like their chances of getting what they need since they’ll be playing three teams (Ipswich, Georgetown, Manchester-Essex) with losing records.

Rachel Cyr

The Pioneers certainly had plenty of hits (ten) off of AHS pitcher Rachel Cyr but stranded ten runners. Why LHS didn’t score more times with all their hits was because three Pioneers (Hannah Travers, Annika Han, and Lauren Guerra) had eight of the ten hits.

Amesbury started the scoring with a tainted run in the second inning. Autumn Kligerman doubled but reached third on a bad relay throw from leftfielder Malia Roberto. Autumn later slide home on a wild pitch by Sadie Oliver.

The Indians started the fourth inning with two straight hits (Meg Aponas single, Amanda Schell double). Rachel Cyr’s sacrifice fly scored Meg. Before the inning was over Amesbury would get two more runners to third (Amanda Schell, Autumn Kligerman) and both would come home on wild pitches.

Amesbury carried a 4-0 lead into the sixth inning. In that inning Annika Han of Lynnfield singled, stole second, and reached third on a passed ball. Malia Roberto’s single into right field put the Pioneers on the board.

The exciting seventh saw Lynnfield rally to tie the score, only to lose in the eighth inning.

Hannah Travers (#20) made a super catch in center field

The good crowd on hand saw a terrific running catch by centerfielder Hannah Travers to take away a double and possibly more from Meg Aponas to end the sixth inning. The LHS junior went straight back and dove to make the catch.

Third baseman Autumn Kligerman had a strong game at third for Amesbury especially in the third inning when the AHS junior had three assists.

Weather? Just terrific. After yesterday’s 50’s I was overdressed for today’s 70’s.

Autumn Kligerman and Amanda Schell each scored two runs for Amesbury.

Amesbury won the previous meeting this season between the two teams, 9-7, on April 11th.

Next game for the Indians is at Rockport on Thursday.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)