10U Girls Softball Makes Run to Hockomock League Semi-Finals!

10U Girls Softball Makes Run to Hockomock League Semi-Finals

The Dedham 10U Girls softball team finally reached the end of an amazing summer run this past week, losing to North Attleboro in the Hockomock League semi-finals.  The 10U squad competed in the A Division of the Hockomock Summer Softball League, which is the premier summer softball league in Eastern MA, against some very tough competition.  The 10U squad experienced much success this year in tournament and league play against perennial powerhouses and has more than held their own.  Here is a recap of their final three games.

In the last game of the regular season Dedham needed a win against Taunton to guarantee a spot in the payoffs.  On a hot evening at Sugrue Field, the Taunton contingent showed up in force ready to cheer on their squad.  The Dedham squad, and their fans, were more than up to the challenge.  After allowing one run in the top of the first inning Dedham got things going in their half of the inning.  Sydney Salemy drew a walk and was quickly driven home by Ciara Bolotte and the game was tied at 1.  After retiring the side in the second, Dedham got their chance at bat.  A single by Taylor Peckham, followed by smart base running, put her on third base ready to score.  She would not wait long as Rylee Keyes hit a single to drive in the run making it 2-1 Dedham.   The next 4 innings were a defensive battle.  With Kassidy Hickey on the mound, the Taunton batters weren’t able to get things going with only 2 batters reaching base.   Hickeys great pitching was backed up by some superb defense in the field.  The Dedham infield made play after play, including some highlights by Alyssa Eliot, Sydney Salemy, Julia Salemy and Hickey.   With Dedham still up 2-1 in the sixth, Taunton tried to get a rally started.  After a leadoff strikeout by Hickey, the next two batters were able to get the bat on the ball and hit line drives.  Not to worry, as Sydney Salemy made a nice grab for two outs and Caroline Coyle caught a fly ball to record the third out.  On to the playoffs!

Drawing a 4 seed, Dedham was slated to face a difficult Franklin team at a neutral location in Sharon.  Some early rain showers quickly faded and the game was on.  Coyle led the game off with a single and then quickly advanced to third on two steals.  Bolotte, batting second, drove her in to make it 1-0 Dedham.  Franklin struck in the first inning as well, scoring two runs to take a 2-1 advantage.  Dedham struck again in third with Coyle driving in Colleen Corsi and Rylee Keyes and then being driven in by Ally Flagg.  Franklin answered with one run making it 4-3 Dedham after three.  The Dedham defense was anchored in the middle innings with great plays by Brooke McMurtry, Maggie Delaney and Corsi.  In the fifth, Peckham and Eliot drew walks and were quickly driven in by an RBI single by Corsi and a sacrifice by Keyes.  Franklin answered with two runs of their own knotting the game at 6 going into the final inning.  Bolotte drew a leadoff walk and quickly stole second.  Flagg drove the next pitch into the outfield for a double scoring Bolotte.  Not be outdone, Julia Salemy then roped a double to center scoring Flagg.  Dedham headed into the bottom of the inning with an 8-6 lead needed some solid defense.  Not to worry as Sydney Salemy caught a line drive and Hickey overpowered the next two batters to retire the side and secure the win. 

In the semifinal round Dedham was pitted against #1 seed North Attleboro in Plainville.  After warm-ups, the skies opened up, the downpours arrived and the game was canceled.  With fields scarce it was decided the makeup game would be played the following day in North Attleboro.  This game was lining up to be a pitchers dual as Hickey was taking the mound and N Attleboro appeared to have an ace as well.  Dedham was swinging the bat from the start and not intimidated.  Bolotte got on base with a single and was eventually driven in by Hickey making it 1-0 Dedham.  A defensive battle ensued until the fourth inning, with Hickey mowing down the N Attleboro batters in the first three innings, aided by some solid defense from Coyle and Julia Salemy.  In the fourth Hickey hit a leadoff single.  After advancing to third on steals, she waited on third to be hit home.  Maggie Delaney laid down a perfect bunt not only scoring Hickey but safely making it to first.  Dedham had a 2-0 lead.  The bottom of the fourth saw the N Attleboro bats wake up.   With two runners on, an infield single scored both runners.   The game moved to sixth inning tied 2-2.  With two outs Dedham was able to load the bases but it was not to be as N Attleboro was able to record the final out.  Dedham needed to hold serve to force extra innings.  With two outs, N Attleboro got a runner on with a single and advanced the runner to third.  Another infield single and the run scored securing the victory for the home team.

Despite a tough loss the semi-finals this squad battled all summer long and made Dedham proud.  With early success in regional tournaments (finals in Abington, champs in Dighton) a lot was expected of this team and they delivered.   Coaches John Coyle, Matt Keyes, Dave Corsi , Steve Delaney and Director Frank Bolotte cannot not say enough about this great group of girls and they look forward to continuing to coach them in the years to come.  From top to bottom this team practices hard, shows up to play, keeps focused, and exhibits great sportsmanship.   Congratulations on a great season to the entire team;  Ciara Bolotte, Colleen Corsi, Caroline Coyle, Maggie Delaney, Alyssa Eliot, Ally Flagg, Lucia Florio, Kassidy Hickey, Rylee Keyes, Brooke McMurtry, Taylor Peckham, Julia Salemy and Sydney Salemy.