Swampscott Little League softball edges Woburn in sectional final

WORCESTER? The Swampscott Little League softball all-stars bent but they didn’t break in a 4-3 win over Woburn Tuesday in the Section 2 final at Jesse Burkett Little League.With the win, Swampscott advances to the state finals (vs. Jesse Burkett) for the first time in three years. The best-of-three series begins Friday (5:30) at Jesse Burkett’s Rockwood Field.Swampscott led 3-0 after the first three innings, but Woburn, still stinging from a 2-1 loss to Swampscott earlier in the sectionals, refused to pack it in.Woburn was down to its final strike in the top of the sixth inning when Molly McLean singled to centerfield, driving in the tying run. Swampscott stormed back in the bottom half of the inning to win the game on a Stephanie Collins walk-off single to center.Swampscott pitcher Bridget Genoversa-Wong turned in another stellar performance, allowing only three hits and striking out 13. She hit a couple of rough spots along the way because of walks, but every time it looked like Woburn might make a little headway, she came up with a key strikeout or two.”She battled back every time she got into trouble,” Swampscott manager Henry Wong said. “She showed a lot of heart.””I give Woburn a lot of credit,” Wong said. “They played a great game. If we played each other 10 times, I bet they would all be one-run games. We were pretty evenly matched. We just played a little better defense.”Woburn coach Bill Pappalardo was impressed by Genoversa-Wong’s performance.”She’s a very good pitcher,” he said. “She got a little wild at times, but then she would reel it in when she had to.”Woburn tried to stir things up right off the bat, loading the bases in the first inning with one out. Genoversa-Wong, who had walked the first two batters and hit a third, settled down nicely and fanned the next two to get out of the jam.Woburn pitcher Angela Pappalardo (5 hits, 6 strikeouts) came out firing in the bottom half of the inning, setting down the side in order, but Swampscott fared a little better in the second inning, scoring three runs on three hits and a walk.Alexa Steriti got the ball rolling with a leadoff single. With Erin Cassidy at the plate, Steriti tried to steal second and ended up scoring Swampscott’s first run thanks to two throwing errors, one to second base and the other to third. Stephanie Collins drove in the second run on a groundout to the shortstop and Sam Rizzo hit a grounder up the middle on which the pitcher slowed down, but couldn’t make a play. The run scored for a 3-0 Swampscott lead.Woburn threatened in the third, loading the bases on a pair of walks and a hit, but Genoversa-Wong buckled down again and whiffed the next two to end the inning.Swampscott stranded two runners in the bottom of the third and Woburn took advantage of the gift by scoring a run in the fourth on Pappalardo’s single to center.Woburn kept Swampscott off the board in the fourth and fifth innings, setting the stage for a dramatic finish. Woburn cut the deficit to 3-2 in the top of the sixth on a Courtney Davis ground out and then tied the game on McLean’s single to center.Swampscott recovered in a hurry in the bottom half of the sixth and final inning. Erin Cassidy walked to lead off and Genoversa-Wong came up with a single to left-center to move her along. That set the stage for Collins’ heroics.Win or lose Friday, Swampscott and Jesse Burkett will play again at 3 p.m. on Saturday. If an “if-necessary” game is needed, it will be Sunday at1:30 p.m. The winner for the states will go to the East Regionals in Albany, N.Y.