LYNN — Despite the sunny weather, Lynn English’s softball team (7-11) couldn’t make it a picture-perfect day against the Medford Mustangs (13-4) Tuesday afternoon. The Bulldogs lost 15-0 and with two games left, postseason hopes ended.
The game started well for the Bulldogs as they had their ace, Arianna Laboy, wheeling-and-dealing in the circle. In the bottom of the second inning, English had its bases loaded, but ended the frame with an outfield pop-up.
An inning later, English had runners on second and third, but, again, couldn’t finish the job, leaving more runners stranded.
“You can’t win if you don’t score. We have left a lot of people on base this year,” said English coach Ashley Aldred. “Our timely hitting hasn’t been as strong as I would have liked this year.”
Without taking advantage of runners in scoring position, Medford made them pay.
The Mustangs struck first in the top of the fourth, followed by four runs more to make it 5-0. From there, the hole just got deeper and deeper for the hosts.
For Laboy, she pitched well, going five innings and finishing with nine strikeouts.
“I feel like Ari pitched well today. She’s been battling allergies. She had trouble breathing though, so we decided to make the change,” Aldred said. “We brought Kate (Johansson) in at a difficult scenario and I felt she handled it well. It’s not an easy situation to come into.”
Regarding Laboy, Aldred was full of praise for her senior.
“I’ve never coached anyone like her. Her demeanor is always the same. It’s always, ‘Yes, Coach’ and she’s always confident in herself,” Aldred said. “Even when she’s in a situation, she fires back and gets out of it.”
Johansson came in to pitch the final two innings, punching out two batters. While Aldred admitted Laboy has an “array of pitches,” she also enjoyed Johansson’s ability to “attack the zone.”
“She lets her defense work, but she’s comfortable going at batters,” Aldred said. “She isn’t afraid of the other team hitting the ball.”
The Bulldogs had to win out to qualify for the state tournament, since they only have seven wins entering Tuesday’s task
That said, Aldred would love nothing more than to take down traditional archrival Lynn Classical come Saturday at 6 p.m.
“I’m looking for them to put it all together and score when runners are on base – and things of that nature,” she said. “We want them to play a total team effort. To go in on Saturday and beat Classical would be a great way to end the season, splitting the season series with them.”
