FILE PHOTO
Hannah Leahy struck out 17 batters and went 3-for-4 with 4 RBI at the plate in the win.
By SCOT COOPER
SWAMPSCOTT — It was a great afternoon for the Big Blue softball team.
With Pentucket in town for a Division 3 North Preliminary Round playoff game, senior pitcher Hannah Leahy made sure she and all of her fellow seniors on the squad could get to Thursday evening’s senior banquet with plenty of time to spare.
Leahy came out and was dominant on the mound for the Blue, whiffing 17 Sachems in a game that took a little over 70 minutes to complete. Swampscott got two runs in the second, three more in the fourth and added a single run in the sixth.
For Leahy, it was another in a long list of great pitching performances, as she went nine innings in a 2-0 win over Lynn Classical in the opener of the Holland Tournament. Then she pitched another complete game in a 3-0 loss to St. Mary’s in the Holland title game.
Big Blue coach Gary Moran said that there’s not much for him to do except root for the offense to put a few runs on the board when Leahy is as dominant as she was Thursday afternoon.
“Certainly the key to the game was great pitching, Hannah was certainly in control,” Moran said. “She was great this afternoon, she had a 16-strikeout game earlier this year against Somerville, and she was outstanding again today.
“It started and ended with Hannah. We had to only get four other outs, after her 17 strikeouts. At the plate she was 3-4, with four runs batted in,” the coach added. “When she is on, this team is on.”
Swampscott will head to North Reading on Saturday to take on the top-seeded Hornets (18-2).
“We beat North Reading my freshman year, and my junior year (in the playoffs), so hopefully, we can beat them this year,” Leahy said.
Swampscott has had magical runs in the playoffs the past two seasons, rolling to the title game in 2015 and 2016 before the curtain came down on them.
“Our team is built on pitching and defense, and certainly, when you’re in the playoffs you’re going to get the best of the best, with the focus on defense and pitching,” Moran said. “We feel that when we get the kind of pitching that we did today and play the defense that I know this team can play, we can compete with anybody.”
Leahy said that she really doesn’t think about strikeouts, she just tries to compete and work with her catcher Sarah Ryan to make good pitches and get hitters out.
“I just try to work with Sarah and throw strikes, my curve and my riser were working good today,” Leahy said. “We beat North Reading when I was a freshman and last year, so hopefully we’ll have some success against them this year.”
Sarah Ryan and Riley Lord each had a couple of hits for Swampscott.
