LYNN — This was one of those games where the winner was almost immaterial. The game itself was enough.
“What a great game,” said Austin Prep coach Frank Sorrenti after his team defeated Classical, 2-1, in a classic pitcher’s duel. “And I’d have said that even if we were on the wrong end of it.”
“I’ll take a game like this,” said coach Erica Richard of Classical. “That was two good teams out there. A hard-fought battle.”
“We haven’t been pushed a lot,” said Sorrenti, who team upped its record to 13-0, remaining undefeated. “We needed a game like this. It was a test for them, but was a test for us, too. It was good to be pushed.”
“This,” said Richard, “was a tournament game.”
The assignment for Classical pitcher Tori Adams was clear — if difficult. She had to match Austin Prep all-star Logan MacDonald pitch-for-pitch. She did. The Cougars did outhit the Rams, 8-3. And while MacDonald struck out 13, Adams pitched to contact a bit more, fanning only four. But for five innings, the only statistic that really counted was the pair of zeros on the scoreboard.
“Tori pitched her heart out,” Richard said. “And we made some great plays behind her.”
Classical’s defense bailed the Rams out of sticky wickets in every inning until the sixth.
The Cougars’ Caroline Sablone doubled to lead off the second, and took third on a sacrifice. However, when Rachel Harvey grounded to short, Rebecca Walker alertly came home with the ball, and Sablone ran right into Meghan Leavitt’s tag.
In the third, Austin Prep played small ball, bunting safely back-to back to lead off the inning.
MacDonald fanned for the first out, Frankie Frelich grounded back to the mound, and Maura Joyce popped to second to end that threat. In the fourth, a line drive to Walker resulted in a double play; and in the fifth, Austin Prep had two on and one out, but Adams pitched out of it.
Meanwhile, MacDonald was breezing with a no-hitter until the fifth, when Madison Dana finally broke through with a base hit.
Austin Prep got its first run in the sixth when Frelich lined one over the left-fielder’s head that rolled to the fence. Frelich kept running, and the throw to nail her at third went wide, and she ended up scoring. The Cougars scored what would prove to be an important insurance run in the top of the seventh. Ella Saracco led the inning off by blooping a base hit just behind first base that either Amanda Wilkins (first), Kayla Morrill (second) and Ciara Collins (right) could reach. Lauren Sablone sacrificed her to second and MacDonald, in a classic case of helping her own cause, singled her in.
With two out in the bottom of the seventh, Adams was hit off the helmet with a pitch. After appearing dazed, Adams stayed in the game, and sprinted around from first when Dana lined a double just inside the right-field foul line. However, MacDonald — who entered the game with a 0.58 earned run average — got the third out and sealed Austin Prep’s win.
