Sports
Rebuilding Year? Maybe Not
Tewksbury High softball team improves to 2-1 with a 10-6 win over Lowell.
They are young, inexperienced and fresh out of proven superstars, but that hasn't stopped the Tewksbury High girls softball team from jumping out to a fast start against a monster of an early schedule this year.
Coach Leo "Doc" DiRocco's softballers have been starting three freshmen, two sophomores and only two seniors after graduating 10 seniors from the program last year. But they've already notched wins over Cambridge Rindge & Latin and Lowell High in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year.
The Redmen sandwiched a tough loss to Central Catholic in between their two wins, but that was all but forgotten on Thursday afternoon when TMHS came back from an early 4-0 deficit and pounded Lowell, 10-6, at James S. Martin Field in Lowell.
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"It's a real big win for us because Lowell is a good team," DiRocco said. "After the Central game, I had my doubts, but the thing about this program is that we always have kids waiting in the wings."
Senior right hander Kayla Benvenuto is one of those kids. Benevenuto was making just her third varsity start Thursday, after playing junior varsity ball in 2010 while TMHS pitching legend Lauren DiCredico wrapped up a stellar four-year career.
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DiCredico, who pitches and plays field hockey at Salem State University this year, led Tewksbury to four straight 15-plus win seasons and three Merrimack Valley Conference Division 1 titles in her career, and Benvenuto did not get a varsity start in her first three years in the program.
But on Thursday, Benvenuto performed like a battle tested veteran, shaking off some early troubles and earning her second victory in three tries. Benvenuto held Lowell to just two hits over the final six innings, and retired 10 out of the last 11 batters she faced.
Benvenuto got touched up for four runs in the first inning as Lowell parlayed three ringing line drive hits, a walk and an error into an early 4-0 lead.
But the Redmen battled back immediately, scoring two runs in the top of the second, and scored two more in the fifth to stay within striking distance. Tewksbury's resilience paid off in the sixth as the Redmen batted around, pounding out five hits and scoring five runs to come from behind and take the win.
Benvenuto faced only 10 batters over the last three innings, and did not allow a hit after the fourth inning in picking up her second win.
"I wasn't really in that good of a groove in the beginning of the game, " Benvenuto said. "We were trying to figure out some pitcher-catcher relationships at first and that was throwing me off. But we figured it out and I'm happy with the way we finished the game."
It didn't hurt that Benvenuto's teammates played some spectacular defense behind her. Junior third baseman Katie Doherty was stellar at the hot corner, recording five assists and three put outs on the day. Freshman second baseman Brooke Hardy also had a standout day in the field and at the plate, banging out four singles in five at-bats.
"They (her teammates) played great defense," Benvenuto said. "I just had to shake off the bad pitches and realize I had a team behind me to help me out in the field and at bat. When I realized that, it helped my confidence a lot."
"Katie Doherty had a great day in the field and the Hardy kid is a real find," DiRocco said. "She really knows how to get on base. I had heard about her coming up, but the first day I saw her in the gym I was like 'Holy God, we may have something here.' She gives us a dimension we haven't had in five or six years."
Junior catcher Lauren Texeira and junior center fielder Sherri Liggiero had the big hits in Tewksbury's five-run sixth, as Texeira drove in two runs with a bases loaded single and Liggiero drove in a pair with a hard triple down the left field line.
Liggiero reached base four straight times in the game and drove in three runs, while making several strong plays in the outfield. Senior center fielder Ally Greene had a pair of hits, scored twice and reached base three times.
""I'll match those two outfielders (Liggiero and Greene ) with any two in the state," DiRocco said. "They can really track a ball and go and get it."
Sophomore shortstop Tiffany Marsh also had an impressive day, banging out three hits, scoring twice and driving in a run. Marsh is the ony Tewksbury infielder with any varsity experience to speak of, having started at first base last season.
"Tiff is our veteran out there, and she's only a sophomore," said DiRocco with a laugh.
Freshman Shannon McLaughlin started at first base Thursday as sophomore Missy Cordwell, who started the first two games, was out sick. Sophomore Sam Laferriere starts in right field and freshman Chelsee Porcaro was the designated hitter Thursday. Freshman Nicole DePierro, sophomore Meaghan McLaughlin, junior Maggie Middleton and senior Caitlin Tarentino round out the varsity roster.
With the likes of Allie Frazier (Southern New Hampshire Univ.), Danielle DiPierro (UMass-Lowell) and Jess Sullivan (Westfield State) having graduated and gone on to college careers, DiRocco is not setting high expectations for this team. But this is still the program that won nine MVC divisional titles between 1999 and 2009, and was bumped up to Division 1 five years ago.
"The thing is, we've got pride and we've got a tradition, and the kids really subscribe to what we're talking about," DiRocco added. "We really are in a rebuilding year, but when you've got a great group of kids like this, you have to think we're going to develop over time. I told the kids we'll sit in the middle of the wood pile and nobody will know we're there, but at the end of the year we'll see who comes out of the wood pile."
