LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield softball team ran into the Cape Ann League’s best in undefeated Amesbury Wednesday, and despite hanging around for a few innings, the Pioneers couldn’t slow down the Indians in a 12-0 loss.
“You just have to go out and do what you can do,” Lynnfield coach Peter Marinelli said. “That’s all we ever ask of the kids. Give it 100 percent and then go from there. I think we got a little intimidated in the middle of the game. Amesbury is a better team, you can recognize that, we just want (our team) to go get it.”
At the plate, Ava Gamache, Ava Marotta, Celia Carbone and Chloe Shapleigh each had one of Lynnfield’s four hits in the loss. Those were the only blemishes on a dominant performance by Amesbury’s pitcher Alana Delisle, who struckout 11 in the win.
“It’s tough when you have real young kids facing a pitcher like that,” Marinelli said. “I put a challenge to every kid to get up to the plate and take your swings. In the seventh inning there, Ava Gamache got up and I told her, ‘Look, she’s a good pitcher and this is a good experience for you. Get up there and get the ball.’ She got up and got a base hit. But overall, we just weren’t aggressive enough.”
Reilly Ganter pitched all seven innings for the Pioneers, walking a pair of batters and striking out four while giving up 16 hits and 12 runs.
Amesbury jumped right out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a first-inning triple from Olivia DeLong.
Lynnfield put the bat on the ball early, with Marotta lacing a leadoff single. Shapleigh also made some nice contact on a line drive to center, but Ella Bezanson played it perfectly on a run and doubled up Marotta at first.
Ganter got out of a jam in the second inning thanks to a pair of strikeouts and a putout from Shapleigh at shortstop, but things started to go downhill for Lynnfield on both sides of the game from there.
The Pioneers couldn’t touch Delisle, and after going ahead 5-0, Amesbury finally broke it open in the fifth. A three-run inside the park home run from Ella Delisle and another solo homer from Bezanson helped Amesbury cruise to a comfortable 10-0 lead.
Gamache and Shapleigh started off the seventh with hits for Lynnfield but Alana Delisle shut the door with three strikeouts to end the game.
Lynnfield (7-2) will hope to get back to its winning ways at Ipswich Friday (3:45).
