Babe Ruth 14U softball bows out in New England Regionals

LYNN – To say the Kingston Kanons had the Lynn Babe Ruth 14U all-stars’ number in the New England Regionals this weekend at Bowser Complex would be an understatement.Kingston defeated Lynn twice, with the killer blow coming in the losers’ bracket final. The New Hampshire team rallied from a 9-4 deficit to win 18-9, sending the host team packing. Kingston’s ride came to an end in the final with a 9-6 loss to Cheshire, Conn. The Cheshire team, which defeated Lynn 17-0 in pool play, was the other thorn in the Lightning’s side.”I think both the Kingston team and the Cheshire, Connecticut team were a little older and a little more experienced,” Lynn manager Paul Dejoie said. “But I’m really proud of the girls. They never quit.”After playing two games on Friday and going 1-1, Lynn came back on Saturday morning to defeat Pittsfield in the final game of pool play. The win propelled Lynn into the double elimination round and its first run-in with Kingston. Round One didn’t go well, with Lynn losing 8-3 behind a solid pitching outing by Ally Dunnigan, who had picked up the win over Pittsfield earlier in the day.Lynn rebounded from the Kingston loss with a 7-4 win over Arlington. Courtney Braswell (3-for-4, double, triple), Madison Angelli (3-for-3) and Shannon Magner (2-for-3) had the hot bats in that game. Michaela Hamill picked up the win with 10 strikeouts. She also had a pair of hits to help her own cause.Lynn’s losers’ bracket game against Kingston started out well, with Lynn leading 5-4 after two innings and 9-4 after three. The wheels started to come off the wagon in the third inning when Kingston scored six runs to take a 10-4 lead ? and they fell off in the fifth. Kingston got the big inning going with a couple of bleeders and then put it away with a grand slam. Outfielders Angelli and Brandy Sequeira collided on the hit. Both players, who are recovering, were down for a while and had to leave the game.”We were basically in the game, but the floodgates opened,” Dejoie said.The Lightning team has had a busy summer, playing in three ASA tournaments (with one more remaining) and two Babe Ruth tournaments (the states and the regionals). With three 14s on the team and the remainder only 13s, Dejoie was optimistic about the team’s future.”We’re building up some pitching depth, which is good,” Dejoie said.One of the best games of the weekend came on Saturday morning against Pittsfield in the final game of pool play.Facing elimination, the Lightning refused to call things quits after trailing Pittsfield 2-1 through five innings. The tournament’s host (although playing as the away team) fought back to force extra innings before prevailing 5-4 in eight innings at Breed.From the outset, things were tight, as both starters engaged in quite the pitching duel. Lynn’s Ivy Martin and Pittsfield’s Mikayla White went pitch for pitch until the former was removed in the fifth. Lynn was able to grab an early lead, scoring one in the top of the first.After walking to lead things off, Hamill took second on an attempted pickoff at first from White. Hamill advanced to third on a groundout to short by Magner, before the throw back to third sailed over Haley Cowlin’s head, allowing Hamill to score.Martin got through the first two innings rather easily with three strikeouts and a gem of a play at third from Hamill, who snared a grounder down the line on the backhand, before a strong throw to first.Pittsfield was resilient, however, scoring two in the third to grab the lead.The score would remain the same until Lynn adopted a patient approach in a game-changing sixth inning. Showing clear signs of fatigue, White walked Lynn’s 7-8-9 combo of Lyndsey Tobin, Megan Geaney and Angelli.After Hamill struck out, Courtney Braswell delivered a game-tying single before an RBI walk to Magner gave Lynn the lead. The Lightning’s patience continued to pay off as Jessica Dejoie drew a two-out RBI walk before White escaped the inning.”The bottom of the order came up big in