MARBLEHEAD — Wednesday’s game between the Peabody and Marblehead softball teams was as tight as they come, but in the end the Tanners scored the lone run to earn the 1-0 road victory and stay unbeaten on the year.
“It definitely could have gone either way (Wednesday),” Peabody coach Tawny Palmieri said. “We always know that Marblehead gives us a good game every time. These two teams are always putting together that type of game. We had to be ready and we had to be the team that came out getting that one run.”
That run came early in the second, when a Marblehead error put Logan Lomasney at first base. Lomasney stole a pair of bases and Michaela Bonfanti laced a single up the middle to earn the game’s only RBI.
“The bottom of the order did really well,” Palmieri said. “They executed when they needed to and manufactured things when we needed to and that was great to see.”
Emma Bloom and Penny Spack each went 2-for-4 at the plate, while Kiley Doolin was 1-for-2 with a walk.
But the real star was Peabody’s defense. Abby Bettencourt pitched well once again with nine strikeouts. Between her and a solid Peabody defense, the Tanners got out of any jams Marblehead forced them into.
“Abby’s pitching is unbelievable because when you need her to get that third out, she gets it done,” Palmieri said. “You couldn’t ask for anything more. The defense behind her was solid though. Everybody was picking each other up and it was an all-around solid performance by both teams.”
Marblehead also had plenty of defensive highlights, but stranded a few too many baserunners to even the score throughout the day. Pitcher Lauren Donovan had eight strikeouts, with Peabody’s only run going unearned.
“(Peabody) made no mistakes defensively,” Marblehead coach Johnny Gold said. “We made a few. We have some young kids in new places, but no excuses. (Donovan) has done unbelievable all year. She did what she does and she got us out of trouble. We left eight runners on and that hurts. We have to learn to produce.”
But the Magicians didn’t have many chances to produce anything in the early going. Bettencourt struck out a pair of batters in two of the first three innings to help silence the Marblehead bats.
After Lomasney and Bonfanti put the Tanners on top, Marblehead had multiple runners on base in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but struggled to slip that extra hit through Peabody’s defense.
In the seventh, Leila Walton reached on a single and moved to second after a sac bunt from Dylan Kerble. But Peabody shut the door with a strikeout from Bettencourt and a forced fly ball putout to secure the win.
Peabody (5-0) hosts Winthrop Friday (4).
Marblehead (2-2) hosts Swampscott Friday (4).
“I’m proud of the kids,” Gold said. “You hate to lose but I told the kids, ‘you played one of the top teams (Wednesday) and you battled.’ It was a great game. I was proud. All and all you take it and you get back to it.”
