For a second straight year, the Peabody softball team has advanced to the Final Four in the Division 1 softball tournament. The No. 5 Tanners did it in dramatic fashion in Sunday’s 3-1 victory, walking off in the bottom of the eighth inning on a two-run home run by senior Isabel Bettencourt (1-for 3, 2 RBI) to set up a date with top-seeded Central Catholic on Tuesday at UMass Lowell (4). Central Catholic is the only team to have beaten Peabody this season.
Junior Abby Bettencourt (1-for-4, double) tossed a one-hitter. She struck out 12, walked four and allowed one unearned run in eight innings.
Peabody took a 1-0 lead in the third when Kiley Doolin (1-for-3) smacked a leadoff double and scored on a Scarlet Knights infield error. The Tanners had a chance to break the game wide open in the bottom of the sixth inning with the bases loaded and no outs, but couldn’t push a run across the plate.
The Tanners were one strike away from closing out the win in the top of the seventh inning, but the Knights tied the game, thanks to a flukey infield error on a hard grounder.
Peabody threatened again in the bottom of the frame when, after Caitlin Burke worked a walk, North Andover right fielder Lauren Lynch robbed Abby of a walkoff home run with a leaping catch at the fence.
Junior Logan Lomasney led off the eighth with an infield single. Isabel then followed with a pair of missed sacrifice bunt attempts to fall behind in the count 0-2, but finally got her pitch and, three pitches later, she blasted it over the fence in right field to seal the victory.
After the missed bunt attempts, Isabel said she knew she had to hit the ball to the right side of the field to move Lomasney into scoring position.
“I was just trying to do my job and it worked out,” Isabel said. “We never really get down on ourselves on this team. We knew our bats would come alive so we weren’t really worried when they scored and when we had the bases loaded and didn’t score.”
Anery Grieco, Penny Spack and Lizzie Bettencourt also had hits.
BOYS LACROSSE
St. John’s Prep 13
North Andover 2
So far in this Division 1 boys lacrosse tournament, St. John’s Prep is 3-0 with a 43-6 goal differential — not too shabby behind coach John Pynchon.
Sunday was another chapter of the same dominant book. The No. 1 Eagles flew over No. 8 North Andover 13-2 to advance to the Final Four – to be played Tuesday against Hingham at 4:30 p.m. (Weston High).
Jimmy Ayers and Harlan Graber led the charge with two goals apiece, continuing their, well, season-long hot streaks. Gavin Kornitsky made 12 saves between the pipes, while Chris Esposito won 11 of 14 faceoffs.
Matt Morrow, Jake Vana, Rowan Mondello, Will Sawyer, and Luke Kelly all went home with a goal and an assist. Jack Doherty also impressed on draws, going 4-for-4 in the victory – one in which 12 Eagles registered points.
GIRLS TENNIS
Lynnfield 4
Mt. Greylock Regional 1
A year ago, Lynnfield’s girls tennis team graduated half its team. This year, it’s moving on to the Final Four against Manchester-Essex in Division 4 (TBD at neutral site).
“We graduated four seniors and now we’re in the Final Four, so that’s quite the achievement,” Lynnfield coach Craig Stone said. “I give credit to all the players.”
After Paige Martino (6-4, 6-3) and the doubles team of Leticia Marafon and Lily Alves (6-4, 6-1) earned Lynnfield’s first two points, it needed just one more.
Spoiler alert, it got two more. Despite Genna Gioioso losing her singles match, Maddie Sieve won a long one with Stone calling her “our marathon woman.”
From there, Ella Hayman and Vicky McCrann secured a doubles win, and the Pioneers were Final Four bound.
“I probably won’t get any sleep tonight because of all the excitement,” Stone said.
