Mustangs Start the Season Off Right

The Norwood High School softball team makes winning look easy and Monday afternoon was no exception.

The No. 2 ranked Mustangs took to the home field on a picturesque spring day, to defeat the No. 16 ranked Newton North Tigers 5-0.

The defending league champion Mustangs relied on senior ace Ali Maloof to take the mound and she responded by recording 13 strikeouts in holding the Tiger bats silent.

“She can do it all,” said Norwood head coach Carol Savino.

The Mustangs return five seniors and both all-state pitchers Maloof and Laura Duggan from last year’s undefeated team, which fell just short in the semi-finals in the state tournament to Bishop Feehan.

“We lost some power from last year. We did gain some speed this year, so our thought process with that is if we can teach every kid to be able to put the ball in play, whether that be small ball or not, you can make some things happen,” said Savino.

The Mustangs utilized that “small ball” game plan to perfection in the second inning.

First, the Mustangs turned a 1-3-6 double play, by throwing behind the runner in a play that the Mustangs work on in practice. While in the bottom half of the inning, Jess Gorman bunted over Sarah Eckhardt, who led off with a single, to second base.

Eckhardt scored on a Meg O’Connor triple to the right-center field gap, and O’Connor later scored on a sacrifice fly by Kayla Garczynski, to put the Mustangs up 2-0 after two innings.

The rest was left up to Maloof who scattered four hits in securing the second win of the season for the Mustangs.

After the game Maloof credited her teammates and the “small ball” approach they had against the Tigers.

“The bunts are very key, and Makenna (Lane) made a lot of great plays behind me,” said Maloof.

The Mustangs know that with a lineup featuring the nifty shortstop Makenna Lane, Eckhardt, O’Connor, and Duggan, not to mention Maloof, this year’s squad has the potential to be something special.

“Trying to get the kids to understand if they work hard enough, and work on all parts of the game,” said Savino, then there is no doubt this team could be a title contender.

The girls also know that with a previous undefeated record and two all-state pitchers in their arsenal that everyone will be gunning for them.

“The kids have a target on their back," said Savino, “every team in the league is out to beat Norwood.”

Despite loads of talent and coming off a stellar year, this is a young team with only three senior starters and a plethora of sophomores.

“The kids, all in all, are young,” said Savino, referring to freshman Emily Kelly who Savino said is a “great athlete” as well as sophomore Kelly Duggan who plays behind the plate and can really run.

The focus at this point is only at the game at hand, as the Mustangs will face Milton next.

“Keeping good team chemistry and winning every game, and just thinking about the next game,” said Maloof.