ITEM PHOTO: KATIE MORRISON
Swampscott’s Hannah Leahy was lights-out on the mound for the Big Blue against Saugus in the first round of the Division 2 North tournament on Thursday.
By KATIE MORRISON
SWAMPSCOTT — The Saugus softball team hoped that the third time would be the charm as it took on Northeastern Conference foe Swampscott in the first round of the Division 2 North tournament, after losing to the Big Blue twice in the regular season. But Swampscott still had Saugus’ number, and blew out the Sachems, 11-0, at home Thursday.
Hannah Leahy got the job done on both sides of the ball, allowing just two hits to a dangerous Saugus lineup and smacking a three-run homer that put the game out of reach in the fourth inning.
Leahy allowed a leadoff single to Saugus’ Emma Howard, but other than that, the Sachems had trouble making solid contact against the righty. She closed out the first inning with a strikeout, pop-up and weak ground out.
Swampscott threatened in the bottom of the frame, loading the bases with one out on hits from Katie Watts and Leahy and a walk from Olivia Cooke. Saugus pitcher Brooke Westmoreland worked out of the jam, getting a strikeout and an inning-ending groundout.
Swampscott squandered a chance to score in the second as well. Olivia Capone singled to lead off the inning, and was caught trying to take third on Maisie Vasquez’s single. As Capone was tagged out in a rundown, Westmoreland made a heads-up play. Seeing Vasquez on her way to second, she fired the ball to shortstop Pauline Ascolese, who tagged out Vasquez.
Sydney Cresta kept the inning alive for the Big Blue with a single, but was thrown out by Saugus catcher Mikayla Niles trying to steal second.
“We’ve been hitting the ball well, but we’ve got to work on baserunning,” said Swampscott coach Gary Moran. “We ran into a few outs and we were not running the bases well. Further down the line, that’s going to hurt us.”
In the top of the third, it looked like those missed opportunities might come back to haunt Swampscott. Leahy struggled with command, hitting Katie Italiano to start the inning. With two outs, she also hit Ascolese in the elbow, and she later left the game. A walk to Westmoreland loaded the bases, but Leahy fanned the next hitter to escape the jam.
“She’s just been great for us all year. She gets into situations and knows that she needs to step it up and put an end to that,” said Moran.
Swampscott scored twice in the bottom of the inning on Christina King’s two-run single.
The third inning was Saugus’ best chance to score. The Sachems managed only two more baserunners — Caity Sheehan with a single and Victoria Benoit on a walk — over the final four innings.
“(Leahy) throws hard, you can’t really get a good piece of the ball off of her,” said Saugus coach Steve Almquist. “She had a little control problem early and hit a couple of kids, but she’s almost always right around the strike zone. We hit her a little better today, we were putting the bat on the ball, but she’s just so dominant.”
Swampscott, on the other hand, came alive late in the game. Leahy, who Almquist called a “one-girl wrecking crew,” sent a shot over the fence in left to extend the Blue’s lead to 5-0 in the fourth.
Riley Lord went 1-for-2 with a double and two walks, Watts drove in two runs on three hits, and Leahy went 4-for-4. Cresta drove in two runs, Vasquez had three hits, Capone went 2-for-3 and Kasey Kennedy added two hits.
“They’ve got a murderer’s row lineup,” said Almquist. “They’re such a strong team.Our kids fought hard … they were excited and did our best, but (Swampscott is) just a better team. We’ve come a long way as a program this year, and I just feel bad that the seniors couldn’t have a couple of more years together.”
Swampscott will play the winner of No. 2 North Reading and No. 15 Hamilton-Wenham, which will be played today, on Tuesday in the quarterfinal.
