PEABODY — The No. 2 Peabody softball team got on the board early and outlasted visiting No. 10 Methuen to hold on to a 6-3 win in a Division 2 North quarterfinal Wednesday.
Peabody went up 4-0 in the third inning but the Rangers had no interest in going out quietly, rattling off nine hits to make things interesting down the stretch.
“We did jump on them early, but we went into a little lull for a couple innings,” Tanners Coach Tawny Palmieri said. “In a tournament you have to expect that a team is going to come back every inning. I don’t think we ever let up, and they obviously didn’t let up, so it was a great game all around. It wasn’t over until it was over (Wednesday).”
A few days after Abby Bettencourt tossed a perfect game in a 6-0, first-round win over Haverhill, it was Avery Grieco’s turn to get the win for Peabody in the circle. Grieco tossed all seven innings, allowing three runs on nine hits, a walk, a hit batter and three strikeouts.
“I’ve said it before, Abby and Avery are both great,” Palmieri said of her two pitchers, each earning a tournament win this week. “The coaching staff feels confident going with either one at any time. And the other one is there to pick each other up. It’s perfect for us to have those two as our pitchers.”
Things went well at the plate for the Tanners as well. Kiley Doolin (2-for-3) led the way with a pair of hits, including a two-run double. Emma Bloom (1-for-3, double) added an RBI and two runs while Isabelle Bettencourt (1-for-2, sacrifice fly) had an RBI and scored a run. Abby Bettencourt (1-for-2, walk) added a pair of runs and Grieco (1-for-3) scored one as well.
“Kiley had a huge double,” Palmieri said. “She’s been great for us all season and you can’t ask for anything more than that as a freshman.”
After a clean top of the first, Abby Bettencourt got the Tanners started with a single and a stolen base before Bloom followed with a double to put Peabody ahead in a flash. Bloom later scored on Isabelle Bettencourt’s sacrifice fly to put Peabody up 2-0.
In the third, the Tanners added another pair of runs. Grieco and Isabelle Bettencourt started a two-out rally with a pair of infield singles and Doolin laced her two-run double to left field to stretch the lead to 4-0.
Grieco didn’t let up a hit for three and 2/3 innings before Methuen started to chip away with runs in the fourth and fifth innings, cutting the Tanners lead in half to 4-2.
Peabody got some more run support thanks to a single and a walk from Michaela Bonfanti and Abby Bettencourt to start the fifth. A few batters later, Isabelle Bettencourt laced a ground ball back to the pitcher and an errant throw scored both runners to give the Tanners some much-needed insurance runs and a 6-2 lead.
Methuen added a run in the sixth but Doolin flashed her arm in center field to throw a key runner at second in the seventh to help close out the win for Peabody.
The Tanners (16-0) won’t have any time to rest with No. 14 Andover visiting for a semifinal game Thursday (4:30).
“When they changed (Friday’s semifinal to Thursday), it was even more important to us to have Avery and Abby both,” Palmieri said. “When we found it out, it definitely worked to our benefit with this team.”
