LYNN — The phrase “never say never” was ringing in Lynn Classical softball coach Joe Morin’s ears late Saturday afternoon, as his No. 31 Rams rallied from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning to take down No. 34 Medford by a score of 3-2 in a Division 1 tournament preliminary round game at Breed Middle School.
“I think the biggest thing is that it really hammers home to the girls that it’s never over until the very last out,” said Morin, who collected his first tournament win with the Rams in his first season at the helm. “Medford is a great team that deserved to be in the tournament, and they pushed us every step of the way. But it was great to see our girls step up when it mattered most to take home the win.”
Some of the biggest plays of the game came from Izzy Faessler, who both tied the game with an RBI double and then won the game with a walk-off steal of home on a passed ball. Faessler went 3-for-4 with one RBI in the win.
Reese Brinkler (2-for-3, double) had a multi-hit game in the win for the Rams, while Manuela Lizardo battled through a leg injury to go 1-for-2 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Amanda Tobin also had a double in the victory.
The win in the circle came from MeKayla Poisson, who went all seven innings and allowed two runs on six hits with 11 strikeouts. She also notched a triple and one RBI at the plate.
Lynn Classical (15-6) now moves on to the Div. 1 Round of 32, where the Rams will have to go on the road to face No. 2 King Philip Tuesday afternoon (4) in Plainville.
“We really don’t know much about them, but I’ll reach out to a couple of coaches I know who have played them so I can get some kind of an idea about what we’ll be up against,” said Morin. “I think the key for us is that we’ve played a lot of tough teams in our non-conference schedule — Peabody twice, Danvers, St. Mary’s and others — to prepare us for this kind of test. We knew we’d be facing top-notch opponents in the tournament, so this isn’t too much of a surprise. We’ve just got to come out with another great effort and remember that nothing is said and done until the final out.”
