Magicians’ defense, timely hitting subdue Triton

BYFIELD – Game-altering plays don’t often take place in the first inning, but that’s precisely what happened Thursday afternoon and it sparked No. 17 Marblehead past No. 16 Triton, 7-1, in a Division 2 North Sectional preliminary round softball game.With the bases loaded, one out and Cape Ann League Division 1 Player of the Year Marion Dullea at the plate, the Vikings (11-10) were poised to break the game open in their first at-bat. Dullea scalded a Michaela LeBlanc offering to left but Magicians left fielder Olivia Vener charged, caught the line drive with her momentum toward home plate and unleashed a strong throw to catcher Carly Score, who dropped the tag on Cori Simons for an inning-ending double play.”That play got our confidence up. Many of these kids had never been in a tournament game before and I think we were nervous at first. I’m very happy with the way we played,” said Marblehead coach Johnny Gold. “This win is very big for Marblehead softball. We only had one tourney win ever.”The Magicians settled after the first inning, adjusted to Triton’s rock-hard infield and made the most of their five hits off Dullea. The freshman LeBlanc struck out only one, trusting her defense to make the plays and they responded with a stellar effort anchored by junior shortstop Kathryn DiGiammarino and junior second baseman Alexa Gross, who had a hand in 11 of the 21 Triton outs.”Michaela did a nice job, pitched a very steady game. And I thought our second baseman and shortstop were both outstanding,” Gold said.Dullea set down the first seven Magicians in order but ran into trouble with one out in the top of the third. DiGiammario lashed a triple to the gap in left center, driving home Gross and Rachel McKay, both aboard via walks. Then, caught in a pickle after Vener’s bunt directly back to Dullea, DiGiammarino eluded the tag of Triton catcher Vanessa Eisen for a 3-0 lead. Vener alertly took second on the play and scored on Lucia Chalek’s triple to center.In the bottom of the third, Gross ranged into short right field for a splendid backhand stab of Emily Jutras’ looper, then fired to first baseman Maggie Hermann for an inning-ending DP.Marblehead tacked on solo runs in the fifth on an outfield error, sixth on Score’s sacrifice fly and seventh on DiGiammarino’s home run, a line shot down the left field line.Triton squandered a second bases-loaded opportunity in the sixth when Brooke Jamison popped out to DiGiammarino. The Vikings avoided the shutout with a single run in the seventh.Marblehead (13-10) now advances to face top-seeded Cape Ann League Division 2 co-champ Amesbury (18-2) in a first-round game Saturday afternoon in Amesbury (4 p.m.). By way of comparison, Amesbury swept Triton during the regular season (2-1, 8-2) and also routed Masconomet (16-1), a team Marblehead swept.”I know they’re [Amesbury] good. We lost a couple of games late in the season and this is what happens, but we’ll be ready,” Gold said.