U12 Magicians Suffer First Defeat

It was a battle for Middle-Essex League supremacy, as the U12 Marblehead Magicians faced off against the Malden Hurricanes on Thursday at Salemwood School in Malden. A late rally from the Hurricanes propelled them to a 9-7 victory over the Magicians, whose record now stands at 8-1-1.

Marblehead took an early lead in the game, as Lindsey Rae, Kaylyn Countie, and Alexa Brown all scored in the first inning. The Magicians went on to extend their lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning, but Malden responded in a big way.

The Hurricanes broke out of their scoreless rut, plating three runs in the fourth inning and six more in the sixth to take the lead from the local girls.

Marblehead tried to regain the lead in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two times and getting a runner onto third base, but they were stopped short by the very skilled Malden team.

Sara Bornstein and Taylor Bouchard both played excellent games in left-field for the Magicians. Coach George Shapiro called his team's defense "rock solid" and "flawless" despite the tough loss.

Julia Stockwell led all Marblehead hitters, accounting for three of the team's nine hits in the game. Rae had two hits while Bouchard, Toni Vinciarelli, and Sarah Cuffe each contributed one.

Countie pitched a very strong game for the Magicians, striking out eight batters in five innings of work from the circle.

The Magicians hope to rebound from their first loss when they take on the Gloucester Nor'easters on August 4 at Burnham Field in Gloucester and the North Andover Scarlet Knights on August 5 at Veterans School. Both games start at 6:15 p.m.