WLA/Pine Hill steams to victory over Saugus

LYNN – Familiarity breeds contempt. Well, in the case of the West Lynn American/Pine Hill and Swampscott softball teams, that familiarity has brewed a pretty good rivalry in District 16.The two teams are now set to meet again tonight (5:30) at Mack Park in Salem for a trip to the district final after WLA/PH exploded for six second-inning runs to eliminate Saugus, 12-6, in a losers’ bracket semifinal at Lynn Woods Field.Click here for a photo gallery.The winner of tonight’s game moves on to Thursday’s district final against Wyoma, needing to win twice to claim the title.”We’ve started slow in every game that we’ve played so far,” WLA/PH manager Dom DiCenzo said. “But once we settle in, we seem to play very well.”The slow start DiCenzo spoke of came when Saugus struck for a run in the top of the first inning against WLA/PH starter Shannon Magner. Mikayla Niles led off the game with a single, stole second and raced home on Victoria Benoit’s base hit.It didn’t take long for last year’s district runner-up to rebound as Courtney Braswell walked with one out and came home on two wild pitches and a passed ball to tie the game after one.Saugus retook the lead in the second when Brooke Westmoreland singled, reached third on two passed balls and scored on a one-out single from Maddie Caron.The response by WLA/PH was swift and decisive as 10 batters would come to the plate in the bottom of the second, forcing Saugus to go to its bullpen early.Tianna Evelyn led off with a walk and worked her way around on a passed ball and two wild pitches to tie the game. Victoria DiCenzo followed with a walk before Ashley Wojewodzic drew a one-out walk that spelled the end of Saugus starter Lexi Rizzutti’s day.Michelle Scuzzarella greeted reliever Westmoreland with a base hit that scored DiCenzo for a 3-2 lead. Magner then broke the game open with a 2-run single that upped the gap to three runs. Braswell followed with a sacrifice fly and Angela Unubun’s RBI single gave WLA/PH a 7-2 lead after two.”We were able to get production up and down our lineup,” DiCenzo said. “Everyone got on and did their job.”WLA/PH extended the lead to 9-2 in the fourth when Magner reached on an error and was singled home by Braswell. Gianna Pippa then delivered Braswell with a sacrifice fly to center.Not ready to go down without a fight, Saugus clawed back in the fifth and closed the lead to 9-4 as Rizzutti singled home Mikayla Allen and Niles with the bases loaded. But WLA/PH responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the inning to effectively put the game away.Saugus would score twice in the sixth before Magner shut the door with the bases loaded and the tying run in the hole.