End Of The Road For Wildcat Softball Team

For a moment or two on Thursday afternoon, it looked as though the Wilmington High  girls softball team was going to overcome what seemed like insurmountable odds.

The Wildcats had drawn Tewksbury -- a team that had beat them twice by a combined score of 25-6 during the regular season -- in the first round of the MIAA state tournament. But when lead-off hitter Lauren Zaremba singled to open the top of the first, there was hope.

When Tori Lord sacrificed Zaremba to second and Emily Crannell singled into right field, there was even more hope. But as Zaremba rounded third with what might have been a tone-setting first run, the Tewksbury defense relayed the ball home in time to tag out Zaremba at the plate on a close play.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, that was as close as they would get to scoring for the next innings, and Tewksbury eliminated Wilmington, 8-1, in the first round of the MIAA Division 2 state tournament.

"Getting thrown out at the plate in the first inning against a team like this really takes the wind out of your sails," Wilmington coach Audrey Cabral-Pini said. "I tried to tell the girls that it's hard for any team to beat another team three times in a season, but you've got to take advantage of your opportunities and try to keep them off the bases, and we didn't do that."

The Wildcats simply could not solve Tewksbury pitcher Kayla Benvenuto, who struck out a career-high 11 Wilmington batters over seven innings. Benvenuto shut out Wilmington through six innings before Zaremba drove home Amanda Richards with the Wildcats' only run of the game in the seventh.

Tewksbury scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning to take control of the game in its early stages. The Redmen banged out three hits and Lord walked two in that inning.

"We helped them out with too many walks," Cabral-Pini said. "That's a team you have to keep off the bases, especially their first two hitters."

Tewksbury's lead-off duo of Ally Greene and Brooke Hardy combined to score four of the team's eight runs. Hardy stole a base and Greene stole two, including a steal of home in the first inning.

"They can really run," Cabral-Pini said. "I said at the beginning of the season that the only team on our schedule that I didn't think we matched up well against was Tewksbury, and we ended up playing them three times."

Lord, the Wildcat's senior ace, settled down in the middle innings and held Tewksbury scoreless in the second, third and fourth. She pitched a complete game in her final outing as a Wildcat, allowing eight runs on 10 hits.

Offensively, Zaremba had two hits and a run batted in, and Crannell singled twice and reached base three straight times in the game. Catcher Chelsey Westerling also had a hit and a walk.

Wilmington finishes the season 13-8 overall, having taken third place in Division 1 of the Cape Ann League.

"We'll take it," Cabral-Pini said. "From losing six starters last year and the pitcher and the catcher having no varsity experience prior to this year, we did well. To still qualify for the state championship, I'll take that. We did well."

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