(Amesbury) Neither team had a hit through four innings.
Amesbury did have a run, however, as Ella Bezanson had walked, stolen second, and come home in the 4th inning after two wild pitches.
No doubt that Concord-Carlisle’s Madi Gambino and Amesbury’s Liv DeLong were in charge.
But everything changed in the fifth inning. In fact, the game ended before the fifth inning ended!
In the top of the fifth, the Patriots (2-4) got their first hit (Brooke Boyle) and it drove in Phoebe Rodgers who had walked and advanced to third on an infield error.
That tied the score at 1-1 and now it was Amesbury’s turn to bat in the fifth.
And did they ever bat….and score. Eight hits and twelve runs before the mercy rule kicked in.
13-1 was the final.
“My team was competing for a while,” said CC coach Lisa McGloin afterwards. “Give credits to Amesbury. They made adjustments at the plate, and they hit the ball hard.”
Not only hard but far. There were six extra-base hits among the fourteen players who batted for (9-0) Amesbury in their explosive fifth.
Alana DeLisle, Olivia Levasseur, Cali Catarius, and Lexi LeBlanc each scored twice during the inning. The second time Lexi scored ended the game.
Olivia Levasseur had two triples in the inning and drove in three runs.
Maybe the events of last night played a part in the way this game unfolded? Concord-Carlisle played a game under the lights while the Amesbury girls had their prom.
“We had the prom last night,” said Coach Waters, “which is always a killer. They were all out late which was why the game was moved to a 2PM start.”
“The prom wasn’t a problem,” countered rightfielder Lauren Celia. “They were a good team.”
Madi Gambino impressed through four innings. She had solid support behind her. RF Lana Bardzik robbed Ella Bezanson of extra bases in the first inning with a running catch. Shortstop Nicole Cela got in front of Olivia Levasseur’s line-drive laser in the second inning.
In the Amesbury fifth, their hard hits found space while the Patriots’ defense allowed extra at-bats.
The nightmare inning (for CC) started with a fly ball that two outfielders went after. They got tangled up and Amesbury had its first hit. The home team went on to get seven more hits to gain the win.
The mercy ending kept Liv DeLong from pitching any longer. She did finish with eleven strikeouts and gave up just one hit in the five innings.
“They were definitely up there to hit,” recalled Liv. “The strike zone was a little tight and I wasn’t getting much on the outside. So, we worked inside. I can’t, however, be afraid to throw outside.”
Amesbury faced Concord-Carlisle a week ago, in a game that went the full seven innings, winning 11-0. Alana DeLisle pitched and had thirteen strikeouts.
“Our team today was resilient enough to know that we had to pick it up,” said Coach Waters.
“There are always a lot of coulda, shoulda, woulda’s but you can’t live in that world,” said Coach McGloin.
When the first Amesbury batter was robbed by a nice running catch in the outfield, I had an immediate flashback to last year’s title game against Turners Falls. TF had three remarkable outfield catches in that 5-4 heartbreaker.
“Every close game we have at the start, I think ‘Turners Falls,’ said Liv DeLong. “But we’ve learned from that experience. It just took us a while to get going today.”
Concord Carlisle’s run today was only the second run scored against Amesbury through nine games. Peabody had the first one on April 4th in the season opener. Meanwhile, Amesbury has scored 112 runs over the same period. We’re talking special team!
It was cold (50’s) and a little breezy at the start but the wind died down to make things more pleasant.
(The pictures will enlarge.)
McClelland Miscellanea 