Classical softball no-hits Salem

SALEM – Things got off to an emotional start for Lynn Classical’s softball team Monday when co-captain Hannah Byrne addressed the team.”She wanted to dedicate the season to my mother (who died last December) and to Rob Garrity (father of former pitcher Jenny Garrity, who died last week),” said coach Chris Warren. “I am so fortunate to coach the kids I coach. That’s what I want to say before I say anything else.”After Byrne spoke to her teammates, she went out there and backed it up. She drove home a run in the first inning with a double to left that set the tone for the Rams’ 8-0 victory over Salem; and then, in the third – in the only inning in which pitcher Mackenzie Coppinger got into trouble – she went deep in the hole, dove for a grounder, and threw to third baseman Jennie Erekson for the force. The play not only saved the shutout for Coppinger, it saved a no-hitter, too.Click here for a photo gallery.”It’s the first one I’ve ever coached,” noted Warren.The game was billed as a pitcher’s duel between Coppinger and Salem’s Sarah Chasse, and for a while it was. Classical got a run in the first when Francesca Galeazzi bunted her way on, and scored from first on Byrne’s double. Two more runs came home in the second on Danielle Moran’s two-base hit that scored Katie Cuozzo (double) and Jerrica DeLosSantos (infield hit).But it was the fourth that drove Salem coach Dan Bertone crazy. Salem made four errors, including a booted ground ball and a dropped popup, that led to five Classical runs as the Rams put the game away. Two runs came home when Byrne reached on an error, and Chelsey Bartlett singled and came all the way around – scoring Byrne ahead of her – on two more fielding errors. Coppinger’s home run accounted for the fifth run.”She had a game, didn’t she?” Warren said. “A no-hitter, a home run, plus she made some really nice plays in the field.””You can’t play like that against a team as talented as Classical,” Bertone said. “They’re certainly the best team in our league, and I think they’re one of the best teams in Division 1, too. You have to make the plays.”Coppinger only allowed three baserunners. Two came on walks in the third. With two out in the inning, Chasse hit a scorcher that looked to be into left field. At the time, it was only 3-0. But Byrne dove for it, and threw to Erekson for the out.”We made a few nice plays in the field,” Warren said. “Angela (Erelli) took a hit away from one of their girls too.”The only other runner for Salem was Gloria Mustafaraj, who hit a soft liner up the middle that Byrne almost managed to stab. She had it, but it fell out of her glove. The unanimous consensus among the coaches was that it was an error, thereby giving Coppinger her no-hitter.