Swampscott defeats WLA for District 16 softball title

LYNN – In the end, the glass slipper didn’t fit for West Lynn American on Wednesday at Lynn Woods Field.Swampscott jumped out to an early lead and then used a nine run third inning to take control and claim a second District 16 softball title in three seasons with a 20-11 win.Click here for a photo gallery.Swampscott will take on East Bridgewater Friday (TBA) at Wyoma in its sectional opener.”I never was relaxed until we got the last out,” Swampscott manager Eve Gambale said. “And that was because West Lynn kept battling back every time. Steve (Martin) is a great coach and they had a terrific year.”On Wednesday, WLA was betrayed by its defense as nine errors were its undoing. Despite that, Martin was more than happy with what his team did.”Swampscott was the better team and they showed it the last two games,” Martin said. “For us to get here considering where we’ve been the last four or five years is amazing. We have nothing to be ashamed of.”West Lynn jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Jen Ierardi walked, stole second and scored on Brandy Sequeira’s groundout.Swampscott fought right back in its half of the first. Sarah Hingston led off with a walk, stole second and scored on Christina King’s bases-loaded walk. Jess Potter then scored on a passed ball to make it 2-1.Gabby Fagone and Julia Potter followed with RBI groundouts for a 4-1 lead.The teams traded runs in the second before the Americans pushed two across in the third when Tayla Harkness scored on a passed ball and Shannon Magner scored on an error.”I’m so proud of these girls for the way they kept fighting back,” Martin said.Swampscott, though, would blow it open in its half of the third by sending 14 batters to the plate against Ivy Martin.Fagone singled, stole second and scored on an error. A passed ball scored Julia Potter and a double from Sophia Kennedy plated Olivia Cooke.Maddie Dove followed with a single and later crossed on an error. King’s 2-run single would make it 12-4 before Fagone and Potter scored for a 10-run lead.”That third inning was a huge momentum swing for us,” Gambale said. “Our subs came up with a couple big hits.”Not ready to go away, WLA fought back to make things interesting in the fourth.Alicia Bates and Angela Unubun walked to start things. Ierardi’s walk loaded the bases with no outs.Martin singled home a run and Harkness walked home another. Magner’s groundout plated Ierardi before Martin and Harkness scored on a wild pitch to make it 14-9. An error plated Courtney Braswell to cut the lead to four.Swampscott, though, would come back with three in the bottom of the fourth to push the lead back to seven and reassume control.”It was nice to see another team step up and play well,” Gambale said. “We knew we’d have an uphill battle with them and it’s nice to win.”