Late Swampscott surge leaves Wyoma softball in the dust

LYNN – The Swampscott and Wyoma Little League softball all-stars have had some great tournament match ups the past few years and for five innings, it looked like another gem was in the making.Swampscott held a tenuous 4-3 lead heading into the sixth, but the bats came alive with a vengeance and when the smoke finally cleared, Swampscott had put eight more runs on the board en route to a 12-3 win at West Lynn American’s Walter Flynn Field.”It was a great game until the sixth inning,” Swampscott manager Henry Wong said. “Wyoma played a great game.”Swampscott advances to the winners’ bracket final against West Lynn American/Pine Hill Saturday (5:30) at Walter Flynn Field. Wyoma will play Saugus Saturday (5:30) at Swampscott in a losers’ bracket game.”My thing was to try and score early and put some pressure on Wyoma,” Wong said.The strategy seemed to work. Swampscott came out flying, scoring two runs in the first inning. Swampscott teams have traditionally killed their opposition with an aggressive running game and this one was no different. Lead-off hitter Emma Walsh stole home for the first run of the game and Erin Cassidy drove in Tori Thistle on a fielder’s choice.Wyoma had its work cut out with hard-throwing Abby Chung on the mound for Swampscott, but Wyoma chipped away, scoring a run in the third when Krista Cuozzo walked and reached third on a Tatiana Doucette double down the left field line. Lauren Pohlmeyer dropped a bunt that died in front of the plate. The throw to first sailed into right field, scoring two runs to tie the game.. After having a runner forced out at the plate, Wyoma scored the go-ahead run in the fourth when Doucette walked with the bases loaded.Swampscott regained the lead with two runs in the top of the fifth on an Emma Walsh triple with the bases loaded. Wyoma escaped the inning without any further damage, but the Lynn team’s dime ran out in the sixth.Wyoma got the first out, but an error, an Erin Cassidy double and a single by Bridget Genoversa-Wong and Swampscott was off to the races. Two more walks and a couple of booming hits later, the game was in the bag. Chung delivered the killer hit that inning with a base-clearing double to right field.Wyoma pitcher Amy Blocksidge took the loss, allowing seven hits and seven walks. Chung picked up the win, allowing five hits, seven walks and striking out seven.Wyoma made a couple of nice defensive plays in the loss, including a double play in the third inning (the ended with a runner being thrown out at the plate) and a relay from left field also cut down a run at the plate.