Tag Archives: Rachel Webster

June 4, 2011 · 10:47 pm

Newburyport Rallies Over Arlington 6-5 in D2 North Softball With 3-Run Seventh

Sam Wahlgren get congrats from JV teammate Casey Barlow at game’s end after Sam delivered a key hit in the final inning.

Taylor Summit heads home with the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh.

(Newburyport) Plenty of excitement at Cashman Park on Saturday afternoon as Newburyport defeated Arlington, 6-5, in the first round of Division 2 North softball.

There were five lead changes and the Clippers (17-4) entered their last at-bats trailing, 5-3, after the Spy Ponders (there is a pond in Arlington called Spy Pond!) had grabbed the lead with three runs in the top of the 7th.

Lea Tomasz led the final inning with a single to right.  She reached second on a fielder’s choice and third on a passed ball.  Rachel Webster earned a 2-strike walk on a pitch that went past the Arlington catcher.  Lea scored Newburyport’s 4th run on that wild pitch.  Kendra Dow reached on a fielder’s choice but the Clippers were down to their last out.  The Clippers, in fact, got down to their last strike with their next batter (Taylor Summit) before she singled to center sending Kendra to 3B with two outs.

Still with two outs, junior varsity call-up Sam Wahlgren drilled a shot to left easily scoring Kendra from third with the tying run.  The other runner on the bases, (Taylor Summit) was off from first on contact with two outs and looked content to pull up at third on Sam’s hit but when Arlington botched the relay Taylor flew home with the game winner and scored standing up.

Kaleigh Tomaszewski reaches third on Courtney Sacca’s double in the second inning.

This was a game with plenty of hitting (each team had ten hits) and plenty of opportunities to score (runners were stranded by both teams in every inning).

Arlington (12-9) picked up three runs in the top of the seventh on five hits.  A key piece of strategy was when NHS coach Peter Murray’s opted to walk the very dangerous Courtney Sacca (two doubles) to load the bases with two outs.  Pitcher Beth Castantini got the next batter (Kayleen McLaughlin) to pop to second to limit Arlington to three runs and a 2-run (5-3) advantage.

Another piece of strategy that also worked was Coach Murray’s willingness to use the sophomore from the JV’s (Sam Wahlgren) in the last two innings.  She delivered hits in both innings and had plenty to do with extending Newburyport’s season into Monday when they will travel to play #4 seed Reading (18-3) in the D2 North quarter finals.  The MIAA site currently has game-time listed at 3:45 AM!  I suspect that time will be changed.

Kayleen McLaughlin out at home in the second.

Cassie Davis out at home in the first.

Sophomore leadoff batter Kaitlyn Morse led Arlington hitters with three singles.  She also scored a run.  Courtney Sacca had two doubles and also scored a run.

For Newburyport, Lea Tomasz, Taylor Summit, and Sam Wahlgren had two hit’s apiece.  Each of them had a key hit in the crucial seventh inning.  Lea ended up scoring three times while Taylor reached home twice including the seventh inning game winner.

Newburyport opened the scoring in the first as Cassie Davis’ triple to left drove in Maddy Stanton who had singled.  Later in the same inning Cassie was thrown out at the plate attempting to score in a delayed fashion after Kendra Dow had bunted.

Leah Tomasz – two hits and scored three runs

Arlington jumped into the lead in the second inning with two runs, one of them unearned.  Kaleigh Tomaszewski walked, went to third on Courtney Sacca’s double and scored on Kayleen McLaughlin’s single.  Courtney came around to score when Taylor Summit dropped a throw covering first.

Newburyport tied the score with a single run in the 4th.  Taylor Summit singled to center, reached second on a passed ball, and scored on Eleni Kacher’s single on the ground into right field.

The Clippers pulled ahead (3-2) in the fifth inning with another single run.  Lea Tomasz reached on an infield single and advanced to third on two ground outs.  Kendra Dow hit a ground single to left to score Lea.

The Ponders collected five hits in a bat-around top of the seventh.  Natalie Tarantino (double), Michelle Reilly (single), and Kaleigh Tomaszewski (single) had the RBI for Arlington.  Three runs were scored and the visitors left the bases loaded.  Those runs, and the 2-run lead they gave Arlington, looked to be enough but weren’t as Newburyport rallied in the bottom of the seventh.

Eleni Kacher steals second base in the 4th inning.

Kayleen McLaughlin was thrown out at the plate to end the second inning.

The weather was fabulous – sunny with a light breeze.  Certainly not what we’ve been used to over the past two months!

Both pitchers (Beth Castantini and Erica County) pitched complete games.

Newburyport AD John Daileanes delivered timely rosters for the good-sized crowd on hand.  Some potential spectators were probably watching the NHS baseball team in action about the same time at the high school.

That roster was especially helpful for identifying Sam Wahlgren.

#1 seed Amesbury lost today to Marblehead.  I wasn’t totally surprised by that because I had seen Marblehead defeat Triton on Thursday.  The Magicians didn’t use their top pitcher versus Triton so she was available for Amesbury.

(I collect my own information and take my own pictures.  Inaccuracies can result for which I apologize for in advance.)

Leadoff batter Kaitlyn Morse (reaching third) paced Arlington with three hits.

Natalie Tarantino – a hit, an RBI, and a run scored

Shortstop Kendra Dow catches a popup to end the sixth inning.

Courtney Sacca smiles after fourth inning double.

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May 25, 2011 · 10:09 pm

Newburyport Defeats Amesbury 7-4 and Gets Share of Cape Ann League D2 Title

Newburyport celebrates winning at least a share of the Cape Ann League D2 title.

(Amesbury) This game will not be fondly remembered by AHS Coach Chris Perry and his Amesbury Indian softball team.

Why?  With a chance to win the Cape Ann League Division 2 title, Amesbury played poorly and lost to Newburyport, 7-4, on Wednesday afternoon.

The Newburyport win means that the Clippers (who won the CAL D2 title last year) have earned at least a tie for the title.  The pressure is now on Amesbury because they have a game (Thursday) at home with Triton that they must win to also share the title.

Newburyport (15-3) has now won twelve of their last thirteen games and with this win they avenge an early-season 10-9 loss at Newburyport.

The Clippers built up a 4-0 lead after 4 ½ innings and then gave all four runs back  in the bottom of the fifth.  The Indians gave up three more runs in the top of the sixth and never recovered.

Hits were plentiful (20) and Amesbury lost despite having at least one hit in every inning.  Amesbury loaded the bases twice and didn’t score either time.  The toughest was the 4th when they loaded the bases with no outs.

Let’s just say that there was plenty of offense!  It was the defenses that surprised me – “subpar,” would put it kindly because Amesbury had three errors and Newburyport five.  The “good” news for the Clippers was that theirs all happened during the Indians four-run fifth.

The Indians spread their mistakes out.  There wasn’t a single Newburyport run that couldn’t be considered some sort of gift.

Taylor Summit holds the ball high after tagging Janine Fatal for the game’s final out.

Amesbury also had, by my estimation, five costly mental mistakes.  Catchable popups dropped in between Ali French and Janine Fatal and later Erin Leary and Cassie Schultz and both runners scored.  Third baseman Anna Kate Webber fielded a grounder in the sixth and instead of getting the out at first tried to catch the runner off third unsuccessfully.  On a relatively deep fly ball to left, Ashley Valme (on third base) didn’t tag up and score.  The most grievous was the fifth one.  The Indians had a two-out rally started with a single by Janine Fatal and then another single, this time by Amanda Schell.  However, on Amanda’s hit Janine rounded second too far and Lea Tomasz’s throw to second baseman Taylor Summit nailed her for the final out of the game.

I apologize for beating on the Amesbury team with this summary but it was all so uncharacteristic of a very good team.  You certainly don’t get to be 17-2 the way they played in this one.

Maddy Stanton had a “memorable” fifth inning but recovered to score a run in the sixth and cleanly handle a grounder in the seventh.

Newburyport won this one but if all you saw of this game was them in the field in the fifth inning you would have wondered how.  After two outs things got real ugly.  Over the next six batter third baseman Maddy Stanton had three errors.  Normally sure-handed it was shocking to see grounders go off her glove as well as under her glove.  It is an unwritten rule that if someone is having trouble in the field the ball will always find them.  It sure happened to Maddy.  Pitcher Molly Rowe bobbled a grounder and there was also a throwing error to home (by shortstop Kendra Dow?).

But other than the fifth inning, Newburyport was solid in the field.  As for Amesbury, they hit very well but were out of character in the other aspects of the game.

In the Newburyport first, Lea Tomasz singled up the middle and later scored on Ashley Casellini’s sacrifice fly to center.

In the Newburyport second, Taylor Summit walked and eventually scored on Rachel Webster’s sacrifice fly to right.

In the Newburyport fifth, Eleni Kacher and Lea Tomasz  reached second and third and Kendra Dow drove in both of them with a single to right.

In the Amesbury fifth, the Indians had one hit (Erin Leary single) but benefited from the five Clipper errors.  Scorers were; Ali French, Erin Leary, Ashley Valme, and Alexis Boswell.

In the Newburyport sixth, the Clippers loaded the bases and Rachel Webster scored on Lea Tomasz’ fielder’s choice.  Eleni Kacher scored on catcher Laura Kaminski’s throwing error and Maddy Stanton reached home on Cassie Davis’ sacrifice fly to center.

AHS coach Chris Perry had a lengthy, and heated, discussion with the umpiring crew.

Another memory from this game was the extended delay in Amesbury’s 4-run fifth when AHS Coach Chris Perry argued for the longest time on a ruling that gave his Indians two runs.  That the umpires didn’t end the discussion and resume play had me believing that they weren’t sure that they had it right.

The weather was shocking.  Who expects a game played under sunny skies with temperatures in the 70’s in April/May in these parts??

Both Lea Tomasz and Eleni Kacher had two hits and scored two runs.  Kendra Dow had two RBI.

Laura Kaminski, Erin Leary, Ashley Valme, and Janine Fatal all had two hits for Amesbury.

Prior to this game with Newburyport, Amesbury had allowed less than two runs per game over the last ten games.

Both teams have qualified for the state tournament.

(I keep track of things myself and take my own pictures.  Mistakes are not uncommon.)

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May 23, 2011 · 8:00 pm

Newburyport Softball Defeats Masconomet 7-3 for Thirteenth Win

Centerfielder Eleni Kacher relaxes after catching the final out in Newburyport’s win over Masco.

Molly Rowe – retired eleven of the last twelve batters in a complete game win.

(Newburyport)  The Newburyport softball team defeated Masconomet, 7-3, on Monday afternoon at overcast Cashman Park in Cape Ann League action.

Newburyport (13-3) continues to roll along.  They’ve won ten of their last eleven games.  Masconomet (4-12) continues to roll along as well but unfortunately for them it is in the opposite direction – they’ve lost eight of their last nine games.

The Clippers stacked up five runs in the second inning to recover from a 1-0 deficit and that was enough as Molly Rowe limited the Chieftains to four hits over the last five innings.

Molly had five strikeouts and retired eleven of the last twelve batters she faced.

Newburyport was hitless in their first inning but erupted for twelve hits off of Masco pitcher Molli Marshall the rest of the way.  Other than the five-spot in the second, the Clippers had solo runs in the third and fourth.

Masco picked up two runs in the 4th and then their bats were nearly silent the rest of the way.

Kendra Dow – Clipper shortstop had three hits and scored two runs.

Kendra Dow led the Newburyport attack with three hits while scoring two runs.  Cassie Davis, Shannon Brunault, and Rachel Webster each had two hits.

Julia O’Reilly and Kiki Brown collected half of Masco’s eight hits between them.

Julia’s first hit in the top of the first was a well-placed bunt that attracted the attention of pitcher Molly Rowe and first baseman Rachel Webster.  Unfortunately, for Newburyport, no one was covering first and it turned into a hit.  Two hits later the Chieftains had a run (RBI by Molli Marshall) and runners on second and third with one out.  However, Molly Rowe K’d Taylor Evans and handled Lissa Rescigno’s grounder to get out of the jam.

In the Newburyport second, the Clippers mixed five hits together with a throwing error by third baseman Julia O’Reilly.  Newburyport batted around in the five-run outburst.  Shannon Brunault, Rachel Webster, Maddy Stanton, and Lea Tomasz had RBI.

The Clippers picked up their 6th run in Inning #3. Kendra Dow singled, went to second on a wild pitch, and to third on Taylor Summit’s single.  She came home on shortstop Taylor Evans’ throwing error.

Julia O’Reilly – two hits and RBI

Kiki Brown – two hits and run scored

Masco tallied two runs in the fourth inning.  A walk (Lissa Rescigno), a hit (Kiki Brown), and a sacrifice bunt (Courtney Gotts) put runners on second and third with one out.  Third baseman Maddy Stanton decided to go home with Samantha Martin’s grounder and was too late to get Lissa Rescigno.  Julia O’Reilly’s single to left brought Kiki Brown home with the second run.  Still threatening with runners on second and third, Molly retired the next two hitters to limit the Masco damage.

Newburyport got a gift run in the bottom of the fourth.  Cassie Davis singled, went to second on a passed ball, and reached home on third baseman Julia O’Reilly’s 2-base throwing error.

NHS coach Peter Murray was heavily into landscaping the Cashman Park field when I arrived early.  He made the usual puddles disappear.

What can you say about the weather!  The good news during this game was that there was no wind and it didn’t actually rain.  Bringing an umbrella to a game this season has been almost as important as trying to guess which of the three home fields the Clippers will be playing on.

Molli Marshall – Masco pitcher

Molli Marshall was just about the most relaxed pitcher I’ve seen.  She was carrying on conversations even while she was pitching!

After a missed popup by her third baseman Julia O’Reilly, who was wearing a mask, Molli said, “Take off the mask and let them see the dye job!”  Comedy Central material!

Clipper shortstop Kendra Dow continues to impress with her strong, accurate throws.  I learned that she grew up throwing a baseball rather than a softball.

I’m still looking forward to Wednesday’s game at Amesbury between the Indians (16-1) and the Clippers (13-3).  The Indians were beaten by North Reading on Saturday.  The Clippers lost, 10-9, in their earlier non-league meeting with Amesbury.

Both teams have qualified for the post-season.  At stake could well be a share of the CAL Division 2 title.

(I collect my own information and take my own pictures.  Mistakes happen.)

Shannon Brunault heads for third

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May 20, 2011 · 1:49 pm

Poor Defense Dooms Haverhill 10-2 Against Newburyport

Cassie Davis reaches third as NHS Coach Peter Murray watches.

Lea Tomasz scores in the first on Rachel Webster’s rbi single.

(Newburyport) Newburyport defeated Haverhill, 10-2, on Thursday afternoon at Perkins Field in a non-league softball game.

The Clippers (11-3) have won eight of their last nine games and the contrast between them and visiting Haverhill (1-15) took a while to become evident.

I went anticipating a blowout and even tried, before the game, to get up to speed on softball’s mercy rule.  But this wasn’t one of those kinds of games, in fact the Hillies led 2-1 into the bottom of the 4th.

Newburyport got it’s run in the first on a double to right center by Lea Tomasz and 2-out bloop single to center by Rachel Webster.

Haverhill took the lead in a wild third inning after going runner-less in the first two innings.  They loaded the bases with one out on a Ellie MacArthur single to right, a hit batsman (Liz Murphy) and late throw to 3b by pitcher Molly Rowe on Kayla Pellot’s bunt.  Second baseman Taylor Summit took in Kallie Suplinskas’s liner and nearly picked Ellie MacArthur off of third for what would have been the last out.  Then Taylor dropped Casey Birch’s infield popup to let in the Hillies first run and Theresa Ross singled up the middle to bring home Liz Murphy.  However, Kayla Pellot also tried to score and was thrown out at the plate for the final out of the inning.

Haverhill’s Kallie Suplinskas was victimized by poor defense.

In the bottom of the fourth it was Haverhill’s chance to get “generous.”  It was a harmless start with two unassisted putouts by first baseman Haley DeRoche.  However, a couple of walks and Liz Murphy’s drop of a third-out infield popup and Newburyport’s Shannon Brunault crossed home with a run.  Ashley Casellini’s infield single drove Taylor Summit home with another run.

Newburyport led 3-2 going into the bottom of the 5th.  This was when Haverhill showed why it has lost twelve straight.  Lack of defense.  Three of the first four Clippers reached on errors.  Two routine fly balls to center were dropped and later an infield popup was dropped at first.  These miscues gave the Clippers two undeserved runs.  Shannon Brunault singled another run in and later a fielder’s choice by Taylor Summit brought home a fourth run.  All four runs were seriously unearned and put the Hillies down, 7-3.

The Clippers added three more in the sixth.

Except for the glitch on the infield popup in the third inning, the Newburyport defense was excellent especially against bunts.  The Hillies bunted often but had little to show for it because of solid infield defense by the Clippers.  Bobbles are infrequent and throws are usually strong and accurate.

Haverhill bunted often but the Newburyport infield defense reacted well.

Bad weather.  You just can’t get enough of it this season.  Cloudy and drizzly with a chance of serious rain at any moment.  Ink on paper never holds up well under those conditions.  My camera manual takes a dim view of dampness.  Point?  I lead the way to the exits when rain seems likely!

A game to look forward to is next Wednesday (May 25th) at Amesbury with Newburyport.  Amesbury is cruising along undefeated but in an earlier meeting (at Newburyport) the Indians barely won (10-9).  The Clippers had runners on 2nd and 3rd in the last inning with one out and couldn’t get either run in.  The game should be worth seeing.

(I collect my own information and take my own pictures.  Mistakes happen.)

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April 27, 2011 · 8:29 pm

Newburyport Takes Triton 2-1 in Softball

Cori Simons slides in under Cassie Davis while Molly Rowe backs up the play.

(Newburyport)  I hoped to take in/write about the Newburyport/Triton softball game this afternoon but was misguided by the online edition of the Newburyport Daily News to Byfield rather than Cashman Park.

Beth Castantini catches the final out for Newburyport

I did end up seeing almost all of the game and watched Newburyport (4-2) prevail, 2-1, in a Cape Ann League contest on Wednesday afternoon that was undecided until Beth Castantini, playing first, latched onto a last-out popup in the top of the 7th.

Beth at first base was a bit of a novelty by her account.  “I haven’t played there since, like, seventh grade,” I overheard her say during between-innings practice after she had taken over first.  She did fine there.  She handled a low throw from Maddie Stanton (3B) and later took in the final out.

Before that final out, the Vikings (2-5) had runners on second and third and were in excellent position to tie or even go ahead, but it didn’t happen.

Molly Rowe (six strikeouts) was the complete-game winner for the Clippers.  Marion Dullea (eight strikeouts) went the distance for Triton.

Rachel Webster heads for third after a long triple to center. Her pinch runner (Molly Sullivan) would later score what turned out to be the winning run with Eleni Kacher getting the RBI.

A long triple by Rachel Webster set up Newburyport’s winning run in the 4th.

Cori Simons scored Triton’s only run in the 6th.

(I take my own pictures and collect my own stats……as best I can.)

Taylor Summit takes the throw as Cori Simons slides into 2B

Everyone wanted to play!

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