Saugus softball powers past Gloucester

SAUGUS – The Saugus softball team took a step towards clinching the NEC South title on Monday as it dodged the raindrops against Gloucester.With a charcoal gray sky as the backdrop, the Sachems were white-hot with the bats, pounding out 14 hits en route to a 13-1 win in five innings. The win, paired with Marblehead’s loss to Danvers on Monday, means the Sachems (12-4) could clinch at least a share of the league title with a win on Wednesday.”It was nice to see us get the bats going early,” Saugus coach Bobbie Finocchio said. “And we played really strong defensively.”The runs came early and they came often for the Sachems on Monday.After a quiet first inning for Gloucester, the Sachems would explode in their first at-bat.Melissa Toomey tripled to lead off. Nichole Lowe followed with a bunt hit before shortstop Alyssa Furtado emptied the bases with a 3-run homer to right.Two-out walks to Rachel Forgione and Stefani Terrazzano led to RBI singles from Gabby Cogliano and Toomey for a 5-0 lead after one.Gloucester fought back with a run in the third against Lowe thanks to a 2-out hit from Katie Munroe. The Sachems had chances in the third and fourth innings to score but came away empty.They would not do so in the fifth.For the second time in the game, the Sachems batted around. This time, 11 batters headed to the plate as Saugus scored seven times on seven hits and two errors.Toomey began the parade as she became the first of seven consecutive hitters to reach base without an out being made. Furtado drove home her fourth run of the game to make it 6-1.An error increased the lead to 7-1 before Furtado scored on a passed ball. Terrazzano added a 2-run single later in the inning. Saugus would add one more run in the fifth on three singles to finish off the efficient win.