PEABODY — It’s hard to tell where to start telling the story of the Tanners’ 19-0 mercy-rule win over visiting Masconomet Saturday at the Kiley School.
Eighteen at-bats and 15 runs in the first inning. Four home runs in a span of 10 at-bats. Two grand slams.
But enough about the offense.
Three-time Northeastern Conference Player of the Year, Brown University-bound Abby Bettencourt stole the show in the circle, tossing another perfect game. 15 up and 15 down.
But the highlights didn’t stop there; she helped her own cause with two home runs – a grand slam in the first and a solo shot in the second. Unfortunately, she didn’t get the chance to make it three straight after she drew an intentional walk in her next at-bat.
Bettencourt (2-for-2, 5 RBI, 3 runs) wasn’t the only Tanner to go yard in the inning. Fellow senior captain Logan Lomasney (1-for-2, 2 RBI, 3 runs) also hit one, blasting the first pitch she saw in her second at-bat in the first inning into right center. Five batters later, with the bases loaded on consecutive singles by senior captain Avery Grieco (1-for-3, 2 runs), Lizzy Bettencourt (1-for-1, 2 runs, 2 RBI) and Kiley Doolin (1-for-1, 2 runs, 2 RBI), No. 8 hitter Caitlyn Burke (2-for-3, 6 RBI, 2 runs), who had already laced a two-run double in the inning, cleared the bases with a bomb to right. Peabody batted through the order twice in the inning, building a 15-0 lead. Jess Steed (1-for-2, 2 runs, RBI) and JJ Emerson (run, RBI) also contributed to the fireworks.
Head coach Steve Lomasney said he’s “never seen anything like this at the softball level.
“We’ve had a lot of down time because of all the weather,” he said. “But we continue to work on hitting and the depth of this lineup will show you. I mean, we got a grand slam coming out of the eight hole. The kids deserve it, as all that work is paying off for them. They are buying in and, collectively, are all hitting and having good at-bats, which is huge.”
Abby Bettencourt struck out only seven, but threw strikes from start to finish, seemingly daring the Chieftains to put the ball in play. When they did, the Tanners’ infield took care of business. Not a single Chieftains’ batter managed to get a ball into the outfield.
“I don’t think she missed a spot,” Steve Lomasney said. “When you have her stuff, you’re going to walk out not having given up too many hits, so, credit to her.”
While the pitching and offense was on fire, it was a defensive play on the part of third baseman Payton Petrillo that was the talk of the town – or, city.
Petrillo had just checked into the game in the top of the third inning. With two down, Masco’s No. 9 batter chopped a hard grounder to third that threatened to get through. In a bang-bang play, Petrillo stabbed the ball just inside the bag and fired a strike across the diamond to Doolin at first to get the out and keep the perfect game alive.
“That saved the perfect game. The ball was hard down the line, She goes one drop-step, backhands it, and makes a perfect throw and Kiley makes a perfect stretch,” Steve Lomasney said. “For a bench kid to do that is just tremendous. That was a really big play as, obviously, Abby’s trying to accomplish something. Those types of plays are what makes it happen.”
Nobody appreciated Petrillo more than Abby Bettencourt.
“That was just incredible,” she said. “She’s been working really hard at practice. Today, she got a chance to go out there and she just made a stellar play. That’s at least a double because it was going to hit the bag and go into the outfield corner who knows where.”
Steve Lomasney held high praise for freshman catcher Kaylee DiNicola (1-for-3, 2 runs, double).
“She’s doing a great job,” he said. “Lizzy, with that bum knee, is going to stay at first base for a while, so Kaylee has been thrown into the fire and she’s stepped up to it.”
Abby Bettencourt said she was very pleased with the Tanners’ performance and gave her teammates credit for “making all the plays.”
“I couldn’t have done it without them,” she said. “The big thing was our fielding was great today. In our first game against St. Paul’s last week, we made a few errors, but today we really showed up.”
The 2-0 Tanners’ next game is Wednesday against Danvers at the Great Oak School. First pitch is at 4 p.m.
