LYNNFIELD — Through six innings, the host No. 15 Lynnfield softball team was on cruise control against No. 18 Millbury in its Round of 32 game in the Division 4 tournament.
While the Pioneers had just three base hits, they took advantage of what Millbury offered, manufacturing three runs to lead 3-1.
Down to its final three outs, Millbury had other ideas, scoring four runs in what turned out to be a wild seventh inning to take a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the inning, seemingly owning all of the momentum.
But the Pioneers didn’t go quietly. They countered with a two-out rally to tie the game, 5-5, the big hits being back-to-back singles from No. 8 hitter Lily Williams (1-for-1, 2 BB, 2 runs) and leadoff hitter Ava Gamache (2-for-4, run), plus a clutch two-run double from Morgan Hubbard (3-for-4, run, triple) to send the game into extra innings.
“All I could think of at that moment was, ‘Just get to Hubby. Just get to Hubby,’” said Lynnfield coach Hector Longo. “We grinded it out with Lily and Ava getting those hits to keep it going and then we get to Hubby. She’s had a monster year and it’s only fitting that she is a CAL (Cape Ann League) first-team All-Star.”
Unfortunately, the Pioneers’ luck ran out in the top of the eighth as Millbury came up with its own two-out rally to regain the lead at 6-5, the big hit an RBI single from No. 9 hitter Valerie Allain.
“The bottom of the order was nails for us,” Longo said. “They made us pay the whole game, but I have no regrets. The girls played hard.”
Needing a run to stay alive, the Pioneers went down quietly in order in the bottom half of the inning to bring their season to a close.
Lynnfield took a 1-0 lead in the first. Hubbard blasted a triple and scored on Kaila George’s grounder to short. Millbury scored an unearned run in the second to knot the game, 1-1.
The Pioneers regained the lead in the third inning. Williams led off with a walk. Gamache moved her over to second with a single to right, then Hubbard brought Williams home with a ground out to second.
In the sixth, George reached on a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Libby Considine hit a hard shot to third. An errant throw allowed George to score all the way from first to put the Pioneers on top, 3-1.
One of the highlights of the game was the Pioneers’ defense. With the exception of one error, almost every Pioneer stepped up with a must-make fielding play. Second baseman Olivia Kelter (4 putouts, 3 assists) especially shined, making several outstanding plays to snuff out Millbury rallies, including a 4-6-3, Kelter-to-Hubbard-to-Julia Corrente, double play in the fifth and a back-pedaling grab in short center field in the sixth that ended in a collision with Hubbard.
“Olivia was dynamite today,” Longo said. “We have struggled all year long there, but all of a sudden, she is the second coming out there. She is just so confident. That ball she caught up the middle – that nearly killed Hubby – was amazing, and the catch she made in short right? She was so good today and she’s only a sophomore.”
Sophia Brown took the loss in the circle.
“Sophia pitched her lungs out today,” Longo said. “She certainly pitched well enough to win.”
Brown said tying the game in the seventh was a morale boost.
“We needed to get the excitement back and we did,” she said. “That helped us get out of the eighth with just one run, but we just couldn’t put the ball in play.”
Gamache said she was happy to keep the line moving in the seventh.
“That was important to keep it going, so I was glad to do everything I could,” she said. “We played good but we obviously didn’t play good enough.”
“You could feel that we didn’t think we were going to come back,” Catie Kampersal said. “So that comeback definitely helped us, but we just couldn’t pull out the win.”
Longo said he will miss senior captains Brown, Kampersal and Gamache.
“Together, all three captains made the whole thing work,” Longo said. “And they did it with zero ego, just heart.”
