Sports
U12 Magicians Rally Over Swampscott
In a game that ended early due to time restrictions, the girls scored nine runs in the final two innings to cruise past Swampscott 14-4.
The U12 Magicians Softball team had to pull out some late game heroics to secure their victory over the Swampscott Blue on Wednesday at Veterans Middle School. In a game where the score was only 5-4 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, the Magicians exploded for nine runs between the fifth and sixth innings to take a 14-4 victory.
Sarah Cuffe pitched a complete game for the local girls, striking out four batters in six innings of work from the circle. Coach George Shapiro lauds Cuffe as "One of the hardest working girls on the team."
Also playing solid defense for the Magicians were Caroline Tucker at third base and Kaylyn Countie at shortstop.
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The scoring for both teams was slow during the first portion of the game. Swampscott earned their runs by plating two in the second inning and two more in the fifth.
Marblehead started their scoring in the first inning, as Alexa Brown hit an RBI-single into left-field which brought Lindsey Rae across home plate.
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The Magicians scored two more runs in the second, as Toni Vinciarelli started off the inning by hitting a double into right-field. Alexa Shapiro followed Vinciarelli with a hard hit RBI-single. Later in the inning, with Shapiro perched on third base, Meghan Tierney connected for an RBI-single, bringing the score to 3-2.
In the third, the local girls were able to add another run to their lead by way of a Rae single and an RBI-single into right-field from Countie, which scored Rae from second base.
The Magicians scored one more in the fourth to make the score 5-2. Vinciarelli reached base with a single, and proceeded to steal second before being advanced to third by a Julia Stockwell grounder. Vinciarelli seized the scoring opportunity and stole home on a Swampscott passed-ball.
Though the Blue brought the game back within one run in the top of the fifth, the Marblehead girls found their scoring touch and put the game out of reach for good.
Heather Purchase started off the fifth inning with a single that she turned into a double on an over-throw at first base. Alyssa Nye, who has been working on overcoming a tumbling-injury that kept her out for most of the spring season, followed Purchase with a well placed ball into center-field, which she turned into an RBI-double. After Nye, Rae singled and Countie hit a sacrifice fly into center-field which brought home Nye. Next to the plate was Brown, and she also reached base on a Swampscott over throw.
With Rae and Brown on base for Marblehead, Taylor Bouchard crushed a ball into deep center-field for a two-RBI triple. Tucker quickly brought Bouchard home with a sacrifice grounder to first base, making the score 10-4.
After Cuffe put down the Swampscott girls 1-2-3 in the top of the sixth, the Marblehead girls went right back to scoring runs.
Cuffe started the sixth inning by hitting a single and stealing second. Stockwell brought her right home with an RBI-double into left-field. Tierney returned the favor, as she brought Stockwell home by way of an RBI-single.
Ending the game on the highest note was Alyssa Nye, as she drove a ball deep into right-field. The hit brought Tierney home and Nye legged out an in-the-park homerun to make the score 14-4. Rae followed with a single, but the game was stopped since league rules require games to end by 8 p.m. for safety reasons.
The Magicians are right back in action Thursday night, when they face-off against a very tough Malden Hurricanes squad at Salemwood School in Malden. The game starts at 6:15 p.m.
