Burlington Softball Defeats North Reading, Moves Into MIAA Div. 2 Finals on Monday

Combine near-perfect pitching, bunts and base hits, and controlled defense and you have a winning team. The No. 2 Burlington High School softball squad had those elements on Sunday and ultimately beat No. 11 North Reading High School, 5-2, in the MIAA North Division 2 Semifinals.

The Red Devils move forward to face No. 4 Reading High School for a Middlesex matchup on Monday at 5 p.m. at Martin Field in Lowell.

“Courtney (Lanfranchi) had a no-hitter going into, I think, the sixth inning, so she pitched great for us,” said Burlington coach Kristen Mahoney. “And our bats were alive, we put the ball in play with big hits at key moments, we had nice bunts to get people on base. They did everything right today.”

In Sunday’s victory, eight different Burlington players had hits: senior captain Stacey Bezreh, seniors Amber Eisenhauer and Jillian Mazure, junior Christina Raso, sophomores Haley Currie, Kelly McCarthy and Amy Hunter, and freshman Kayla Sheldon.

“Just like all year, everybody’s been doing something,” Mahoney said, “everyone’s been contributing. We never rely on just one big player, which is great.

"They did an awesome job," coach continued, "I’m so proud of them.”

Burlington blasted to a 3-run lead in the bottom of the first inning against North Reading sophomore pitcher Terri Ferrazzani. Currie earned Burlington’s first run on two outs from second base off of McCarthy’s double into left field. Then McCarthy and sophomore Danielle Coveno followed with two more runs when Sheldon singled into right field.   

“(It was) huge because I could just see it take the pressure off them,” Mahoney said of the 3-run advantage. “It made it a lot easier to play with a little bit of a lead.”

Burlington added to its score in the bottom of the fourth, earning two more runs from a Bezreh triple into left field. With two outs and a full three balls, two strikes count, Bezreh slammed her hit deep into the outfield and Hunter and Eisenhauer scored from third and second, respectively.

“Our batters did nice jobs of making adjustments to this pitcher,” Mahoney said. “I mean (Ferrazzani) pitched very well. She got off on that inside fastball quite a bit, but we made adjustments and we picked out our pitch and drove it, so we did a good job with that.”

Not only was Burlington reaching the bases, but senior captain and pitcher Lanfranchi was throwing fast strikes, keeping North Reading off the bases -- until the top of the sixth.

Shelby Carney singled up to short shop, and then, with the Hornets having two outs and a full three balls, two strikes count, Ferrazzani doubled into right center field, scoring Carney from first, making it a 5-1 ball game.

Then in the top of the seventh the Hornets earned their second run when Alicia McCauley’s double into left field brought home Dana Amirault from first base. With freshman Tarah Reilly at-bat, McCauley attempted to steal third on a pitch, but she was tagged out at the base when Mazure threw from home plate to Currie at third.

“I think we were always strong defensively and nothing different today,” Mahoney said.

“The last out’s always the toughest. But we knew that that runner on second really didn’t mean much, so we were going to go to one anyways, but when she took off – I mean the arms that some of our girls have and we’ve been so strong defensively all year and it was a nice way to end the game.”