Wyoma softball falls to Wakefield in state LL sectionals

WORCESTER – Wakefield’s 17-9 victory over Wyoma in the finals of the state Little League softball sectionals Saturday was a walk in the park.Literally.Wakefield really didn’t swing the bat all that much because it didn’t have to. Wyoma pitchers walked 22 batters, and that accounted for more runs than the Lynners scored by hitting the ball.”You can’t give a scrappy team like (Wakefield) 22 walks,” said Wyoma manager John Traversy. “They did all their damage on walks. They killed us.”The loss eliminated Wyoma from the state tournament and means that for the first time in five years, a team other than Wyoma or Swampscott will represent Massachusetts in the Little League softball regionals in Albany, N.Y.It didn’t start out as if it would be a difficult game for Wyoma, which had to win two games Saturday to qualify for the states this weekend at the Jesse Burkett Little League complex on the campus of Worcester State.After spotting Wakefield a run in the top of the first, Wyoma scored three runs in the first inning, one of them via a wild pitch by Wakefield’s Amanda Boulton; and the others on singles by Kristin Lauria and Molly Doyle.But trouble struck in the top of the third, and it was all due to wildness. Neither Doyle, who started, nor Shaina Zeramby (who relieved her midway through the inning) had any success finding the plate, and as a result, Wakefield scored 10 runs on only one hit to take an 11-3 lead.To Wyoma’s credit, the team did not quit. Wyoma immediately came back with two runs in the bottom of the third on a single by Doyle and two Wakefield errors, and that set the tone for the rest of the game. Wakefield couldn’t get the margin up over 10 runs, and every time it appeared as if it would come close, Wyoma would score a couple of its own to make sure the game went the full six innings.Wyoma got two more runs in the fourth to make it a 12-7 game on singles by Lauria and Doyle and it appeared as if momentum might propel the girls to make it a game. But in the top of the fifth, Wakefield put five on the board – again, thanks mainly to five walks, a hit batter and a catcher’s interference call. But in the bottom of the inning, Wyoma came back with two on back-to-back singles by Zeramby and Lauria.