West Lynn American outduels Swampscott

LYNN – For the last four years, the West Lynn American softball team has basically been cannon fodder for the powers in District 16.Times have changed.On Wednesday at Lynn Woods Field, the Americans jumped out to a big lead against Swampscott and then had to hold on for dear life to take an 11-10 win and clinch a spot in next Tuesday’s district final.Click here for a photo gallery.”We’ve been working with a lot of these same girls for four years now and it’s paying off,” WLA manager Steve Martin said. “Never did I expect we’d score 11 runs against them. I figured if we held them under double digits, we might have a good chance.”Swampscott proved to be its own worst enemy on this day as it made four errors that led to seven unearned runs and a hole that was too deep to escape.”That game wasn’t like how we can play,” Swampscott manager Eve Gambale said. “I was happy with the way we fought back but we gave them too big a lead.”The tone was set early as WLA manufactured a run in the first when Jen Ierardi led off with a walk, stole second and third and scored on a passed ball.In the second, the Americans added another run when Courtney Braswell reached third with two outs on an error and scored on a wild pitch.Swampscott tied the game in the bottom of the second thanks to two errors and two stolen bases.Julia Potter reached on an error to lead off and promptly swiped second. Then with two out, Olivia Cooke reached on an error, scoring Potter.Christina King then reached on another error, allowing Cooke to cross to tie the game.”You know against a team like Swampscott that if you make any mistakes, they’re going to make you pay,” Martin said.West Lynn then exploded in the third, scoring six times on three hits and an error.Christina Behan reached on a leadoff error and stole second. Brandy Sequeira bunted for a hit with one down and Ivy Martin followed with a walk to load the bases.Tayla Harkness’ bunt hit scored Behan before Gianni Pippa singled in two more with two down. A passed ball and error allowed Harkness and Pippa to cross before Alycia Bates singled in Braswell to make it 8-2.”Our bunt defense wasn’t very good,” Gambale said. “They are a team who likes to bunt and they did a great job of it.”Swampscott rallied to push three across in the bottom of the third on two passed balls and an RBI groundout from King.WLA got two of those runs back in the fourth, making it 10-5 on singles from Martin and Shannon Magner.The teams traded runs to make it 11-6 heading to the sixth, where things got a tad dramatic for the Americans.August Solone led off with a single and pinch runner Sarah Hingston later scored on a King infield hit.Madeline Dove’s groundout plated pinch runner Hannah Leahy to make it 11-8 with two out. An error and a single from Emma Faulkner later, the lead was two.And when Faulkner crossed on a passed ball it was suddenly 11-10. But Martin got Videtta on a grounder to short to seal the win.”We got contributions from everybody,” Martin said. “These girls have come out ready to roll and want to win.”