Sports
Freshmen Lead TMHS Softball Team To Sixth Straight Win
Hardy hits and McLaughlin pitches Tewksbury to a 16-2 rout of Lawrence.
Keeping track of the score at a Tewksbury High softball game is starting to resemble a trip to the gas station.
The numbers climb faster than the naked eye can see.
Friday night it was a pair of and , who caused TMHS fans to reach for their calculators, as the Redmen romped to their sixth straight win, 16-2 over Lawrence.
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McLaughlin, making her first ever varsity start, held Lawrence to just three hits over seven innings, earning the complete game victory.
"This was a good low pressure team for her to get her feet wet against," Tewksbury said. "She can only get better from here. But a three-hitter out of a freshman, that's a great start."
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Hardy, who is hitting over .400 for the season, led yet another Tewksbury offensive outburst with a 4-for-4 night at the plate, collecting four singles, scoring four runs and adding two runs batted in on a night that had DiRocco, who is in his 21st year at the helm, searching his memory banks for a match.
"She's just amazing," DiRocco said of Hardy. "She gives us another dimension that we haven't had, maybe ever. She can drag, slap, bunt and then turn around for power on the other side.
"It's probably since maybe the Kelly Boyle era that a kid has come in here and been able to handle a bat like she can," added DiRocco. "Besides Kayla (Benvenuto) pitching so well this year, this was probably our greatest addition to the team. She's right up there with the best freshmen we've ever had."
Hardy wasn't the only Redman to tear the cover off the ball Friday night, however. Sophomore shortstop Tiffanie Marsh also collected four hits, including a double, knocked in a run and scored three times.
"Marsh and Hardy can both hit the ball, both of them can get on base and they can both field their position very well," DiRocco said. "That's a great combination we're going to have for years to come."
Senior continued her hot streak by pounding out three hits and scoring two runs, and senior right fielder Kayla Benvenuto had two hits (including a triple) and scored a run. Junior center fielder Sherri Liggiero had a hit and knocked in three runs, and McLaughlin helped her own cause with a hit and two runs scored.
The Redmen pounded out a season-high 17 hits, and have now scored in double digits in five of their last six games. Since being shut out at Chelmsford on April 25th, Tewksbury has won six straight games and outscored thier opponents by a cumulative score of 69-15.
"We're hitting the ball well and scoring a lot of runs," DiRocco said. "If we can keep it up against Wilmington tomorrow and go 4-0 this week, that'd be a heck of a week."
Tewksbury, now 11-2 overall and 7-2 in the Merrimack Valley Conference, plays at Wilmington Saturday afternoon at 4:30.
