Mustangs Fight for Title, Knocked Out in the End

In the battle of the South Sectional Division 1 softball titans Friday night in Taunton, only one team would remain undefeated and move on to the Eastern Mass. sectional finals on Tuesday.

That team would be no other than the reigning champion King Phillip who only surrendered three runs all year to opponents before their 4-2 win over the Mustangs.

“KP is a great team, with great pitching," said Norwood coach Carol Savino.

That pitching was key against the Mustang hitters, as KP’s junior sensation Meghan Rico, held Norwood to two hits and two runs for their 24th victory of the season.

“We came out here trying our best," said Norwood’s All-State player Ali Maloof. “They are a very good team, you just have to give it to them.”

With both Maloof and Rico in the circle, there was no doubt that runs would be hard to come by in this game, yet KP scored one in the bottom of the first.

Senior Jenn Robillard opened the inning with a triple down the left field line off Maloof. Alyssa Siegmann then added a perfectly executed push bunt to the right side that made it through the Norwood infield for the crucial first run.

Savino referred to the play after the game, saying, “The difference in the game was the run they scored on the push bunt.” 

The momentum from the opening pitch seem to be on the side of KP, as Rico struck out eight of the first nine Mustang batters she faced against a Norwood team which hasn’t seen a pitcher of Rico’s caliber all year.

“She has a lot of movement on the ball,” said Maloof. "And in our league there is not a lot of pitchers with that so we weren’t really ready for that.”

KP added a run in the third when Anna Kelly doubled in Siegmann to give what seem to be an insurmountable lead for the Warriors, but Norwood battled back.

Norwood’s Maloof led off with a walk in the top of the fourth and proceeded to steal second to put herself in scoring position with no outs. Savino decided to be aggressive and had Maloof steal third as well.

“If you make things happen, they will happen,” said Savino.

And they did for the Mustangs as the Warriors threw the ball away on the Maloof steal which allowed her to score the first Norwood run and shift the momentum to the Mustangs.

In the fifth the Warriors answered with a triple by standout Meg Carnese to score Siegmann - who had reached base on an error by the Norwood defense.

But once again Norwood countered, when center fielder, sophomore Kayla Garczynski laced a double down the left field line for the only mistake Rico made all night. Savino stayed aggressive and had Garczynski steal third before scoring on a push bunt by Sarah Eckhardt, to make the score 3-2.

KP’s head coach Jim Leonard said, “It was a kind of punch, counter punch.”

The final punch was landed by KP’s Caitlyn McCarthy who smacked a Maloof rising fastball that was left letter high, over the 220 foot fence in left for the 4-2 final score.

“I would love to be going on,” said Savino. "But we will be back here next year, there is no doubt in my mind.”