Swampscott’s extra work pays off with Holland title

LYNN – The Swampscott softball team won four of the first eight Holland Tournament titles but hadn’t won since 2004 thanks to the dominance of St. Mary’s and Lynn Classical.
But in the 19th edition of the tournament, the Big Blue finally took back the title with a 7-5 win in nine innings over Classical on Sunday at Grace Rogato Field.
Led by Hannah Leahy, who received the Ginny Dandreo Award as tournament MVP, the Big Blue survived a three-run, two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh by the Rams.
?For us, this is bigger than winning the Northeastern Conference title,” Swampscott coach Frank Kowalski said. “This is a tournament that will create memories for the girls, especially the seniors. They really wanted to win this.”
Holding a 5-2 lead entering the bottom of the seventh, it appeared Swampscott (13-6) would comfortably take back the title.
But the Rams? Ivy Martin, who was a terror at the plate all weekend, led off the inning and reached second on an error. With two outs Tori Adams and Jenn Ierardi singled, scoring pinch runner Janna Robertson. Madison Angelli singled up the middle for another run.
Emma DeJoie another hit to tie the game, 5-5.
?The girls did a great job of battling back,” Classical (12-6) coach Erica Richard said. “That took a lot of character.”
It stayed tied until the top of the ninth when Leahy (3-for-4, two runs) led off with a shot to right that got past the right fielder, putting Leahy on third, scoring on a wild pitch.
Christina King doubled with one out, taking third on a wild pitch and scoring on Kasey Kennedy?s fielder?s choice for a 7-5 Swampscott lead.
Leahy closed the door on Classical in the bottom of the ninth, with three strikeouts around a single by Adams.
?We told the girls that five runs wasn’t going to be enough to win the game and that Classical was going to try and comeback,” Kowalski said. “But we kept plugging and got the job done.”
In the consolation game, St. Mary’s Michaela Hamill struck out 10 and scattered four hits as the Spartans jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then held on for a 4-2 win over Lynn English.
The Spartans (16-3) scored single runs in the first and third innings along with two in the second against English (0-18) starter Shanna Zeramby, who was hurt by four Bulldog errors that led to three unearned runs.
English got two runs in the top of the fourth on a single and three stolen bases by Sarah Tobin along with an RBI single by Lindsey Lannon. The Bulldogs had the tying run at the plate in the final two innings but Hamill was able to escape unscathed.
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Swampscott beat the Bulldogs, 10-6, in the first round on Saturday. English outhit the Big Blue but eight errors resulted in nine unearned runs for Swampscott.
The teams traded the lead three times in the first four innings before Swampscott broke a 6-6 tie in the top of the sixth on Rikki Rooklin’s RBI single with two outs.In the other first-round game on Saturday, Classical beat St. Mary’s, 11-3. The Rams took advantage of four St. Mary’s errors to scored five unearned runs in the fourth inning.
The Rams took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on a bases-loaded double by Martin. St. Mary’s got runs in the second and third innings before Classical’s explosion in the fourth. The Rams added runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to put the game out of reach.
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Scholarships were awarded to a graduating senior from each of the four teams. The recipients were St. Mary?s Molly Doyle, English?s Zeramby, Classical?s Martin and Swampscott?s Rizzo.
?The all-tournament team was comprised of English’s Zeramby and Tobin, St. Mary?s Cassandra LaFauci and Hamill, Classical?s Martin and Alaina Gridley, and Swampscott?s Leahy and King.