Medford Softball Tops Lexington

Making its first trip to Lexington in what both sides agreed was a long time, Medford High School’s softball team stunned the Minutemen in what was also a homecoming of sorts for Mustangs’ coach Jack Dempsey and his assistant and daughter Jackie.

The Dempseys live in Lexington, and Jackie graduated from LHS in 2004, having played for the Minutemen before attending the University of Villanova.

“There’s a lot of history there,” Dempsey said. “It was fun, (Lexington) is great. It’s a friendly type of thing.”

On the field, the game was everything a fan on either side could ask for – exciting and filled with drama. There were 27 combined runs, 31 hits and five lead changes. In all, the Mustangs’ 14-13 victory took a total of 2 hours, 45 minutes to complete.

There was only one 1-2-3 inning (Medford’s top of the second) and at least two baserunners reached for each team in all but one of the remaining frames. In fact, only in the seventh did Lexington fail to put more than one baserunner on, which may have been the difference, because it also scored in every inning but the seventh.

In that inning, after Medford took its one-run, 14-13 lead in the top half, Lexington junior Christine Barons reached with a single. She advanced all the way to third on freshman Katie Goodwin’s sacrifice.

But Barons would be stranded just one base from tying the game, as Medford pitcher Rayann Staude beared down to get the final two outs. She struck out LHS sophomore Abbey Brainerd and junior Laura Whiteley (two walks, a single and two runs scored) to end it.

“It was a crazy game – we got up five, we got down four, they scored nine runs in an inning and we came back,” Lexington coach Frank Pagliuca said. “It was a seesaw battle, but you can’t afford to give teams opportunities. We left some runners in scoring position. We didn’t get the hit that we needed.”

That didn’t seem to be a problem during the first four innings, when the Minutemen jumped out to a 6-1 lead with a run in the first, three in the second and another in the fourth.

Freshman Erin Hanson drove in two with a single (one of four base hits for her) down the third-base line in the second and Jackie Oram (reached four times, scored four runs with three RBIs) threw the crowd and LHS bench into a frenzy with an inside-the-park home run in the fourth. Oram hit the ball deep into left field and out ran the Medford defense, sliding around the tag at home plate.

“These girls are never out of the game, offensively I was very impressed,” Pagliuca said. “Although we left some runners in scoring position, we have the ability to stay aggressive and keep battling back.”

But it all fell apart for the Minutemen the following inning, when Medford sent 11 batters into the box and scored nine runs on just four hits. Five walks issued by Lexington pitching in the inning certainly helped.

Pagliuca pulled starter Danielle DelGreco, a junior captain, after a rough start to the inning. She was replaced by Hanson, who didn’t fair much better. She walked four out of the first five batters she faced, also getting an out by way of the rare 9-3 putout, in which the runner was gunned down on a throw from right field.

After entering the fifth down five, the Mustangs went back out to the field in the bottom of the inning with a 10-6 lead. Victoria Luongo had two singles and scored twice and drove in to in the inning, while Samantha Lopilato had an RBI triple to highlight the explosion.

Though LHS quickly got back three runs (Oram and Hanson had RBI singles and DelGreco scored on an error), it was clear Medford had earned all the momentum.

“I loved it,” Dempsey said, of the game’s back-and-forth nature. “The more the game stays like that, with all the runs scoring, the better I feel because we can score some runs.”

The offensive outburst was welcomed after the Mustangs had been shutout and won 1-0 on a walkoff hit in their previous two games, Dempsey said.

But even entering the sixth inning, the game was far from over. Medford continued beating up Hanson by starting the inning with a single, double and a single from Jackie Pellecchia, Sarah Donnelly and Sarah Moulton. That prompted Pagliuca to re-insert DelGreco for Hanson, and though she got out of the inning, the Mustangs still added a pair of runs to go up 12-9.

The drama continued in the bottom of the sixth and into the top of the seventh when the lead changed two final times.

In the sixth, Lexington scored four runs to take a 13-12 lead. Three of them came on DelGreco’s double to center field, which followed Oram’s bases loaded walk.

As with others in the game, that lead didn’t last long and was erased with two more Medford runs in the top of the seventh. Kristina Bove walked to start the inning and advanced to second on an error by LHS that put Pellecchia (reached four times, scored three runs) on first. They both came home on a double by Donnelly (four RBIs) that ultimately decided the game.

“We have to have all three phases – pitching, defense and offense – to be successful and we’ve been having some issues with that recently,” Pagliuca said.

Added Dempsey, “You know what? I’d say the game was even, about even. We just happened to get those two runs in the last inning and that’s what did it.”

The Mustangs, after going nearly a month without a game due to washouts, continues its stretch of seven games in seven days tomorrow against Winchester High School at home. They’ll then host Cambridge High on Friday afternoon.