Coach Jay Santomassino | McClelland Miscellanea

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April 18, 2022 · 9:46 pm

Molly LeBel strikes out 15 in Pentucket’s 11-1 win over Georgetown

Freshman Molly LeBel struck out 15 Royals

(Groveland) “Molly (LeBel) pitched an excellent game,” said Pentucket coach Deb Smith afterwards.

The stats confirm the assessment: 15 strikeouts, four-hitter, two walks.

Pentucket defeated Georgetown, 11-1, on Monday afternoon.

“This was our first win, and we needed that,” added Coach Smith.

Pentucket (1-3) now has something to build on.

Meanwhile, Georgetown (0-6) continues to chase that first W with a very young team. How young? Today they started six middle schoolers with the Royals only run today driven in by a seventh grader!

McKenzie Riley drove in the Georgetown run

Pentucket took control of this game in the first inning collecting five runs.

“We have been focusing on hitting,” said Coach Smith. “Today it paid off.” Pentucket had eleven hits.

Five of Pentucket’s hits were in their productive first inning when Pentucket sent up ten batters. Nikki Mitchell, Emma Lopata, Meg Hamel, Kayla Murphy, and Julia Daley all singled for the home team.

Georgetown coach Jay Santomassino thought that his team could have done better in the first inning. “We needed to make a play or two to limit the runs they scored,” said Coach Santomassino.

“We were much better defensively after that inning, but it was too late for us,” Coach Santomassino added.

Nikki Mitchell (3 rbi, 3 hits, 2 runs), Emma Lopata (3 rbi, 2 hits, 1 run), and Kayla Murphy (1 rbi, 3 hits, 1 run) put up the big numbers in the Pentucket offense.

“We’ve been working hard in practice to get better,” said senior Emma Lopata post-game.

While the hitting of Pentucket was very good, the pitching of freshman Molly LeBel was “very strong,” according to her coach.

“I was just trying to get it done out there,” said Molly afterwards.

Again, the stats confirm how successful she was. This game went the full seven innings and Molly had at least one strikeout in each inning.

Innings four, five, and six were special. Molly retired nine straight and eight of the outs were K’s. “She was hitting her spots,” said Coach Smith.

While the Royals struggled to make contact, Pentucket started adding runs. Emma Lopata drove in a run in the second on a fielder’s choice and two in the fourth on a loud double to left. Freshman Kayla Murphy tripled in the third inning and scored on a wild pitch. Nikki Mitchell knocked in two runs in the fifth inning with a single.

The Pentucket bats were good, and their pitching was excellent. Two things that will put a team into a good position to win a game.

The Royals (four hits) made solid contact in the seventh. Gillian Figueroa rapped a double to left and McKenzie Riley followed with an RBI single to right.

Windy at Groveland Pines with temperatures falling as the game went on.

Amesbury players were watching today’s action.

Pentucket seniors Emma Lopata (UMass Amherst) and Meg Hamel (Union) have settled on colleges.

Georgetown 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 1

Pentucket 5 1 1 2 2 2 – = 11

(The pictures will enlarge.)

2B Gillien Figueroa takes throw as Jocelyn Bickford slides in

Kayla Murphy scores the 7th Pentucket run

Shortstop Alli Mansfield dives for a grounder

Amesbury shuts out Georgetown 17-0

Alana Delisle struck out thirteen batters

(Amesbury) The difference between the two teams was obvious even before the first pitch was thrown.

Amesbury started four seniors while Georgetown started five eighth graders, including the pitcher and the catcher.

“We’re inexperienced,” understated Royals’ coach Jay Santomassino afterwards.

Amesbury (2-0) took full advantage in the second inning gathering eleven runs on their way to a, 17-0, shutout.

Senior Alana Delisle got the start and notched thirteen strikeouts often overpowering the youthful Royals.

“It was super fun to be pitching again,” said Alana post-game. “Since July I have been playing travel ball and Ella (catcher) is on the team. We’ve done a lot of pitch/catch together.”

Everyone in the Amesbury lineup contributed to their offense. Izzy Levasseur, however, was the hitting star with three hits, three runs scored, and five RBI.

Ella Bezanson had three hits and three runs scored. Leadoff batter Ella Delisle added two hits and scored four times.

“It’s fun to watch Amesbury as a spectator but not as a coach,” Coach Santomassino said with a smile afterwards.

“I told the team that Amesbury battles for the state championship every year,” he said. “They are very good.”

Izzy Levasseur (in the middle) had three hits and five RBI

After facing hard-throwing Abby Bettencourt of Peabody two days earlier it was a problem for some of the Amesbury hitters early on to time Madelyn Grant’s slower pitches.

“It did throw us off a bit,” said AHS coach Jacquie Waters afterwards. “We tried to bring the pitching machine down yesterday to get used to slower speed. I thought that the Georgetown pitchers moved the ball around pretty well.” Five Amesbury hitters struck out.

Two of the strikeouts came during Amesbury’s fifteen-batter, eleven-run second inning.

A triple (Liv DeLong) and three doubles were part of the hitting attack that led to eleven runs during that separation second inning.

Ella Bezanson, freshman Lexi LeBlanc, and Olivia Levasseur each had two hits in the second inning.

Georgetown (0-2) finished with three hits. Allison Mansfield led the game off with a rip hit to centerfield. In the third inning, Cora Robinson dropped a nice bunt for a hit while teammate Madelyn Grant singled to center.

Most of the time, however, the Royals struggled to make contact while Amesbury made steady contact.

“There are teams ahead in the schedule that we will be much more competitive with,” said Coach Santomassino. “Hopefully the next time we face Amesbury the score will be closer.”

“I thought Alana (Delisle) did a very good job,” said Ella Bezanson afterwards. “Our hitting was also very good. The pitching today was certainly at a lot different pace.”

Alana Delisle will be at Southern Maine next year along with Ella Bezanson and Olivia Levasseur. “It is a place where I can play softball and major in nursing,” Alana, said. “Neither Ella nor I knew that the other had committed there. Olivia committed after we did. We get to play four years of softball together.”

There was a forecast of rain, but it never happened.

The mystery of the missing Amesbury uniforms continues unsolved. There is now a rush order in for a new set of uniforms.

(The pictures will enlarge.)