Westford Softball Capitalizes In Rematch

Good fielding, smart base running and some timely hitting proved key for Westford Academy softball on Thursday in their 6-1 victory over Lincoln-Sudbury.

Scoring a pair of runs in the first thanks to key contributions from Ali DiFonzo and Katie Lowe, the Grey Ghosts added another rally in the fourth to build a 4-0 lead, which was ultimately all that they would need.

While a pair of singles by Lincoln-Sudbury sophomore Becca Ryan and freshman Gill Vesely set up the Warriors' first run in the sixth inning, but the Grey Ghosts quickly responded in the next inning with a pair of insurance runs.

Those runs came following a single, a walk and a pair steals that put Westford teammates Bianca Tardi and Amanda Szidat on second and third, as Lowe managed to get the ball stuck along the outfield wall long enough to bring home her two teammates.

“We felt we could get some hits this time, but it was a matter of putting the hits together to produce runs,” said Burr. “We talked about that before the game. We were trying to do it and we were successful on most occasions.”

The result proved to be a satisfying win in their home rematch against the Warriors following a 7-6 defeat to Lincoln-Sudbury in April, although the scoreboard proved to not tell the whole story about how tight the contest was.

“It was a typical Lincoln-Sudbury game for us where we never seemed able to quite put them away,” said Westford manager Pete Burr. “We had to play competitively for all seven innings.”

On the other side of things, Lincoln-Sudbury put runners on in all innings, stranding nine.

“Base running is always critical,” said Burr. “We wanted make sure we could steal and get in a position to score. If you can get the extra base, it sets up a different set of dynamics and forces the defense to change.”

However, some of the Warriors' base running woes came from stellar defensive moments, such as fourth inning Westford first to third double play on a well read hit from Shannon Donahue to Szidat.

“(Our players) are pretty well disciplined from the travel program in town on making sure no base is left empty,” said Burr. “Our left fielder (Donahue) made a real nice effort coming in and our second baseman (Szidat), who was covering first, rotated to make a good throw.”

“The unfortunate thing is we had hits, but we could not string them together,” said Lincoln-Sudbury manager Nancy Childress. “A lot of times we hit where (their players) were.”

Westford starter Kayleigh Culhane went five scoreless innings off six hits, two walks, and three strikeouts. Teammate Christine Raymond relieved two innings giving up one run off four hits, one walk and a strikeout.

“(Culhane) had a good command of the strike zone,” said Burr. “She had thrown 75 pitches which is part of the reason we made the change with two innings to go.

Meanwhile, Ryan pitched a complete game for the Warriors with six runs off twelve hits, five walks and three strikeouts in the loss.

Szidat had four hits and three runs for the Grey Ghosts, while Lowe had one walk, one run and three RBIs ,all coming on sacrifice hits. Lincoln-Sudbury junior Erin Deneen led the way at the plate for the Warriors with two singles.

Westford needs two more wins in its next three games to advance to postseason. The Grey Ghosts will try to do so when they travel to Acton-Boxborough (9-4, 9-2 DCL) 4 p.m. tomorrow.

“The team itself is on a good roll,” said Burr. “We are moving forward and in the right direction.”