ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Christina King led the Big Blue on senior night with five RBI.
By MIKE ALONGI
SWAMPSCOTT — Swampscott senior centerfielder Christina King made her final home softball game Thursday a memorable one, knocking in more than half her team’s runs to help propel the Big Blue to a win on Senior Night at the Forest Avenue complex.
Before the game, King was honored along with teammates and fellow co-captains Olivia Cooke and Olivia Capone as a part of the Senior Night festivities.
“The seniors were awesome tonight, and they’ve been awesome all year,” said Swampscott coach Gary Moran. “She’s missed most of the year, I think this is her fifth game, so this was great to see tonight.”
Moran said that King missed most of the year with an elbow injury, but by the looks of it she seems to have recovered nicely.
King went 2-for-3 with a home run and five RBI to lead Swampscott (14-6) to a 9-4 win over the Magicians.
Hannah Leahy got the win for the Big Blue, giving up four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in throwing a complete game. She also helped her own cause at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored.
“I thought we hit the ball really well, and we also played well defensively,” said Moran. “They (Marblehead) are a very good team, and we needed to play well to beat them tonight.”
For Marblehead (15-4), Sarah Bornstein was 1-for-4 with two RBI and Emily Trasher knocked in one run. Madi Ernst took the loss, giving up nine runs on nine hits with two strikeouts in 4 ⅓ innings.
“We hit the ball right at them most of the night, and we got beat by a better team in this one,” said Marblehead coach Johnny Gold. “In the end, this is a game you learn from and then you put behind you.”
Marblehead struck first in the top of the first inning. After a strikeout to start the game, the Magicians got two straight singles and a stolen base to put runners on second and third with one out. Bornstein was up next and grounded out, but knocked home the run from third give Marblehead a 1-0 lead.
It didn’t take long for the Big Blue to respond. In the bottom of the first, Swampscott put runners on first and third. With two outs, King knocked the first of her two big hits — a line-drive double down the left field line to clear the bases and give Swampscott the lead.
The Big Blue tacked on another run in the fourth inning thanks to some heads-up baserunning by Cooke. She led off the inning with a single and advanced to third after a groundout and a passed ball. Then, on a ground ball in the infield, Cooke broke for home. The Magicians appeared to see it in time and made the throw to home, catching Cooke in a rundown. After a few tosses back and forth, Cooke slid into the plate, and got in under the tag to score the run.
But the fifth inning is where Swampscott did most of its damage. Leahy and Riley Lord each knocked RBI doubles in the inning and King added an inside-the-park three-run home run to make the score 9-1 and put the game out of reach.
Marblehead made one final push in the top of the seventh. Behind back-to-back RBI singles from Bornstein and Trasher, the Magicians made the score 9-4, but that was as close as they would come.
