LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield softball team had to come back three times, but in the end it survived to close the regular season with a 10-9 win over visiting Pentucket on Senior Night.
“It’s a nice way to end the season with a win, especially for the seniors,” Lynnfield coach Peter Marinelli said.
The Pioneers got the bats going in this one with 13 hits and shut down Pentucket when it needed to after taking a slim lead in the last three innings.
“We hadn’t (been hitting) for a few games and when we did we were also giving up a lot of runs,” Marinelli said. “We had opportunities and you’ve got to take advantage of them when you can.
“The last three innings, we were playing our best defense,” Marinelli said, “Which obviously always makes a difference. If you’re playing good defense it picks everybody up.”
Before the game Lynnfield honored its pair of seniors — shortstop Chloe Shapleigh and pitcher Reilly Ganter — for their contributions to the program.
“I couldn’t be prouder of them,” Marinelli said. “They’ve given 100 percent every day from day one. If we had played last year, Chloe would’ve been in the program for five years. And Reilly played her freshman year as a first baseman before starting to pitch two years ago.”
Both put on a great performance Wednesday. Ganter pitched all seven innings and gave up 12 hits (none coming in the last three innings with a lead) while walking two and striking out seven. At the plate, Ganter also had a pair of RBI. Shapleigh went 3-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored and, on the defensive side, made a crucial leaping grab on a line drive in the fifth inning.
Celia Carbone drove in a team-high three runs. Laruen Amico had an RBI and two runs scored. Ava Gamache scored two runs.
Pentucket jumped right on Lynnfield with three runs in the first inning but the Pioneers started just as hot.
Ava Gamache and Shapleigh rattled off hits in the first and Ganter brought them both home with a two-run single. Lauren Amico singled next and Carbone laced a two-run single to put Lynnfield up 4-3.
But Pentucket didn’t slow down, tacking on another four runs in the second to go back ahead 7-3.
Lynnfield responded in the third. Shapleigh, Ganter and Carbone all singled to bring across one run and the Pioneers scored two more runs to tie the game at 7-7.
Pentucket went ahead 8-7 in the fourth, but it was all Pioneers from there.
Gamache singled and Shapleigh plated her on a single to tie things up. From there, Amico singled to bring home Shapleigh and scored herself thanks to some smart baserunning on a rundown after a walk from Carbone to put Lynnfield ahead 10-8.
From there, Ganter cruised through two straight innings and although Pentucket pushed across one run in the seventh, a nice catch by Ava Marotta in left field sealed the game.
Lynnfield finishes the season at 8-5 and waits for state tournament seeding.
