Classical softball falls to Danvers

LYNN – Chris Warren and the Classical softball team haven’t been used to looking up to the top of the standings in the past few years. The Rams have been the ones being chased.This year, it’s Danvers. And Monday, at Breed Middle School, the Falcons came to town, and Warren used the game as an opportunity to see how his 2013 squad stacks up against the best.”We used it as a tournament-type game, to see how we measured up,” said Warren after Classical fell, 5-1. “Both teams have been at or near the top, and it was a good chance to see how we are, and what we need to do.”Click here for a photo gallery.The win increases Danvers’ record to 11-0 while Classical falls to 7-3.”I thought it was a very well-played high school softball game,” said Danvers’ Tara Petrocelli. “We did what we had to do to win.”The difference in the game was clearly Danvers pitcher Kendall Meehan, who surrendered only four hits. She was touched for the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning, when Classical pitcher Ivy Martin led off with a single to right, and her courtesy runner – Chelsea Martin – eventually scored on Catherine Perez’s grounder to short.But the lead was short-lived. Danvers sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the third, and four of them scored.The Falcons got six hits in the inning, but Ivy Martin was not hit especially hard.”Some of those hits did find their way through,” acknowledged Warren. “I like the way Ivy pitched. She’s given us a chance to win almost every time she’s been out there.”Devyn Downs led off with a single up the middle, and Julie Saggese beat out a bunt. After a sacrifice by Tori Costa moved both runners up, ground singles by Chrissy Gikas and Caitlin McBride each produced a run, making the score 2-1, Danvers.Meehan’s base hit loaded the bases and Devin Johnson’s single scored two runs – one on the hit and another on an error.”Against someone like Kendall, that’s a lot of runs to be chasing,” Warren said. “We could have been out of that inning with fewer runs if we make some plays, but we’ll learn to do those things.”Classical had the leadoff runner on in both the fourth and fifth innings, but could do nothing with it. In the fourth, Ivy Martin led off with a double and got as far as third on a groundout, but that’s as far as she got. And an inning later, Francesca Galeazzi blooped one behind shortstop that fell in. She got to second on a wild pitch, but could go no further.”You get the leadoff runners on like that, and if you’re not chasing runs the way we were, we can coach a lot differently – do different things,” Warren said.Danvers got its last run in the fifth inning. With one out, Saggese beat out her second bunt of the day. She took second on a wild pitch, and Martin was almost out of it before an error on a ground ball up the middle allowed her to score.Steve Krause can be reached at [email protected].