Mustangs Hold Off Natick, Hang On to Perfect Record

In baseball, pitching and defense build championships, any baseball general manager will tell you that.

It is also true for the Norwood girls softball team, as the Mustangs moved to 9-0 on the season and qualified for the MIAA EMass Tournament on Thursday afternoon with a 3-2 victory over a tough Natick Red and Blue team.

“Why we’re playing better than everybody else, is because we’re playing great D (defense),” said Norwood head coach Carol Savino.

The Mustangs fought off a late rally as well as a spring shower, to stay atop of the Herget Division in the Bay State League, thanks to star pitcher Ali Maloof, who went seven innings, scattering five hits and striking out 14 Red and Blue hitters.

“I was afraid of the rain, because when you are a finesse pitcher (Maloof) and you got movement on the ball, when it gets wet it's much harder,” said Savino.

The Red and Blue took advantage of that fact to score a run in the seventh on three passed balls, to cut the deficit to one run. Freshman Emily Kelly, who was behind the plate for the injured Nicole Casey, redeemed herself late when she made a “head-up” play to scorch a runner in a delayed-steal to preserve the Norwood lead.

“She did an awesome job,” commented Savino on Kelly’s play. “She is just an athlete.”

While the Mustangs relied heavily on Maloof to register early inning strikeouts, the real offensive blow came from the talented shortstop, Makenna Lane.

Lane, after fouling off several pitches, straightened one out and hit a tape measure home run that would have been out of many collegiate parks, giving the Mustangs a comfortable 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth.

“I was just waiting for my pitch,” said Lane, “Fouling them off until I got it. I had two strikes, I was just waiting.”

After a big double by Kelly later in the inning, Melissa Chisolm knocked her in with a single for what was the winning run.

“It doesn’t matter if we win by twenty or we win by one," said Savino, “If we are playing good softball, I am happy with that.”

The first goal of this year’s team was to qualify for the state tournament, next up for the team is to win the league before hopefully coming away with a state title this June.

“We work really hard at practice and everyone’s in it to win it,” said Lane.