Swampscott softball defeats Classical

LYNN – If this had been a Classical-Swampscott football game in the middle of November, it might have been appropriate weather.But an end-of-April softball game? Absurd.?Conditions were horrible,” acknowledged Classical coach Chris Warren after the Big Blue overpowered his team, 12-5, at Breed Middle School?s Rogato Field Tuesday.Warren knew pitching in the bone-chilling low 40-degree weather was going to be a challenge, and he told his team that his pitcher, Ivy Martin, would need some support.?I told them early that we?d need to support her,” Warren said.The Rams never had much of a chance to do that. They were down 5-0 after a half-inning; and 8-0 after two.?They just pounded the ball,” he said.Sam Rizzo led off the game with a single, and Tori Thistle followed with another one. One out later, Christina King walloped a three-run homer over the fence.?That sort of set the tone for the game,” Warren said.Swampscott?s Danielle Mayblyum pitched, and she supported herself with the bat quite nicely. She got two hits, one of them in a three-run second inning in which Hannah Leahy knocked in one run, and Rikki Rooklin doubled home two.Classical had a chance to make inroads, getting three runs in the fourth inning. Catherine Perez started it off with a double, and Martin drove her in with a single. Jessica Perez, running for Martin, came home on Jill Strileckis? double, and Jill Magner?s ground ball scored Strileckis.In the fifth, Franki Galeazzi singled and a throwing error got her to third, where Martin drove her in on a grounder, and an inning later Strileckis singled, took third on two passed balls, and scored on Ally Dunnigan?s single.But poor fielding by the Rams kept them from creeping any closer. They committed seven errors overall, six of them in the latter stages of the game, which led to more Swampscott runs.The loss evens Classical?s record at 5-5 while Swampscott, which got off to an 0-2 start, won its sixth straight. Mayblyum pitched all seven innings, striking out six.?I?m proud of the kids,” said Swampscott coach Frank Kowalski. “Everyone?s learning their roles, and we?re playing with a lot more confidence now. We still have a lot of work to do.”Also, the Big Blue lost to Danvers and Everett, both good teams, to start the season.?We learned today we can beat a good team, because Classical?s also at the top of the league,” Kowalski said. “We have a big game Friday against Revere. They?ve been playing real well so far this year.”