Saugus grits out win over Beverly

SAUGUS – Chalk this one in the category of just another typical day at the softball diamond for Saugus.Facing Beverly in a make-up of a game postponed last week, the Sachems were held to a single hit by Rachel Willwerth yet still found a way to pull off a 2-1 walkoff win on Thursday.Click here for a photo gallery.”That’s the way this game is sometimes,” Saugus coach Bobbie Finocchio said. “Our defense played great and Nichole (Lowe) pitched well. We also showed the fortitude that we have.”Mother Nature showed all of her sides on Thursday as the game started in sparkling sunshine, saw a hailstorm move through during the top of the seventh inning before concluding under the sun once again.Lowe would retire the first 15 Panthers in a row as she carried a perfect game into the sixth. Beverly’s Rachel Willwerth, however, was just as good as she held Saugus hitless for the same five innings as neither team threatened to score.Natalie Shea broke up the no-hit bid for Lowe with a leadoff single in the sixth but was stranded at second.The Sachems (8-1, 7-1 NEC South) would break the ice in the bottom of the sixth with the clouds closing in. Melissa Toomey reached on a one-out error, swiped second and came home when shortstop Alyssa Furtado raked a double up the gap in left-center.No sooner had Toomey crossed the plate than the heavens opened up and hail pounded down on the diamond. Willwerth stayed poised and escaped the inning with no further damage.”Rachel pitched great,” Beverly coach Meghan Sudak said. “We made a couple of mistakes and they killed us.”The Panthers (5-4, 4-4 NEC North) went small-ball against Lowe in the seventh as Erin Silvestri and Monica Cassola bunted for hits to lead off. A fielder’s choice put runners on the corners before Silvestri beat Rachel Forgione’s throw home on an Aimee McKenna grounder to tie the game.The Sachems then saw Willwerth retire the first two hitters in the bottom of the seventh before the wheels left the wagon.Walks to Lowe, Gabby Cogliano and Gina Vozella – the bottom three in Saugus’ order – preceded a Toomey grounder that was misplayed, allowing courtesy runner Nicole Roberto to score the winning run.”The bottom of our order has been struggling but I told coach (Glen) Davis before the game that I thought they would come through for us and they did,” Finocchio said.