Dedham Girls Softball at the Mid-Point of a Great Spring Season!

Dedham Girls Softball in Mid-Season Form!

                While dodging raindrops seems to be becoming a constant battle, the play on the field has been nothing but bright and beautiful for the girls playing Spring Softball for Dedham Girls Softball as they just about reach the midseason point of the spring. Be it the 6 & 8U’s down at Capen under the great tutelage of Joe Shirley and Doreen LaBrecque, or the various 10 and 14U teams at Sugrue, Leowen,and Memorial Fields, there are smiles, laughs, friendships, and great softball going around the diamond!

                10U found the Roche Brothers squad taking on Tretheway Brothers in a continuation of their historic and heated rivalry. Roche Brothers was paced by a couple of outstanding defensive plays in the field from Lucia Floria and Julia Salemy. Saoirse Glenn and Sydney Salemy led the hit parade with solid “base knocks” that led to lighting up the scoreboard during the game and Hailey Lennon brought memories of a healthy Jacoby Ellsbury with some great base running. Marissa Repetto and Jacquelyn Grandy also represented the Roche’s uniform to its fullest with some great at bats against the tough Tretheway pitching, constantly running up pitch counts and getting successful at-bats regardless of the outcome.  On the mound the tone was set by the dealings of Jessica Andrews as she threw four solid innings that found Maya Black-Finn behind the dish making all the right calls for her. Not to be forgotten and always ready to help, Fiona Glenn was out with an injury but still contributed in a pinch as the first base coach as she made great calls all game to advance runners. The final score of 9-1 was not indicative of how tough Trethewey Bros Blue Diamonds played and continue to shine as the season progresses.  Indicative of tonight’s game, the squad continues to show marked improvement that makes the coaches cherish the time on the field.   Fresh off a recent Friday night working with the pitching machine, the Blue Diamonds came to this game ready to swing the bats.  Great hitting performances were turned it by Kassidy Hickey, Ally Flagg, Kayla Romig, Kira Pinet, Rylee Keyes and Kate Saleda along with strong plate appearances by Megan Collins, Casey Corrado and Colleen Corsi.  On the mound, TBros has received several strong outings from Hickey and Caroline Coyle. Coyle in particular had a highlight moment when she struck out the side in the game against Roche Bros.  Kassidy also helped her own cause by multi-tasking with some solid fielding including a nice throw-out at first to Alyssa Eliot. In taking a little tour around the horn beyond the mound, Eliot played several error-free innings at first in addition to drawing some tough walks at the plate including two hit-by-pitches while  has been anchored behind the plate by the combination of Romig and Flagg.  Flagg has shown great arm strength in throwing out base stealers, while Romig has shown some great offensive skills with some timely hitting.  The Blue Diamonds defense has been a strength this year with several game changing plays turned in by Collins, Corsi, Pinet, and Corrado.  The Roche’s score and the rainy weather that caused a few cancellations this week may have “dampened” the spirits of the gritty TBros squad, but hasn’t squelched their energy and fun!

                “Stepping Up” to the older girls of 14U found Needham Bank meeting TGI Fridays on a muddy Loewen field. Both teams were short players but due to the family atmosphere and the more we play the more fun for all, a couple of call-ups from 10U and other 14U’s would “save the day” and, not surprisingly, didn’t take away from the quality play and excitement on the field. Emma Egan played great as she patrolled right center field the last 3 innings for TGI Fridays. Shannon Kirshey shone on the mound pitching for TGI Fridays as she had 3 strikeouts in two innings. She was followed to the hill by Julia Holton in a relief role in the 3rd and had a 1-2-3 inning with help of Maggie Doldt with two great plays at second base. The Gold Glove style defense would continue into the 4th as Julia Holton and Alyssa Wisniewski connected twice with put-outs at home to save a couple of runs. Rounding out the defensive highlights was Madeline Chmielewski making a couple of good plays at third, firsfielding a hard hit grounder and then a well-played bunt she gobbled both up and turned them into outs.

                On the offensive side of the ledger, TGI Fridays started off strong with hits from Vanessa Tannetta and Alyssa Wisniewski as appetizer s that were followed by a home run by Julia Holton that would be the main entrée. The good times at the plate would take a breather though as Needham Bank's Megan Peckham brought out the gas and shut them down in the final 3 innings with 8 strikeouts and only letting one base runner, Sarah Perno, who was able to deftly draw a walk with two strikes to show great plate discipline and development. 

                In the other dugout, Needham Bank was hot with their bats scoring 13 runs with an attack paced by Emma Francis and Jillian Girard basehits in the early going.  In addition there as a trio of hitters who thought “once is okay but twice is nice” for hits as D-Mac McMurtry (single and home run), Julia Ritcey (single and triple), and Megan Peckham (single and double) all took multiple turns on the base paths and in scoring. Other great contributions were from the “Bolotte Sisters Softball LLC” as Maeve Bolotte gave Peckham a run for the “K Club” title with a handful of strikeouts on the hill and great base running off of it while Ciara Bolotte highlighted her call up from 10Us with a stolen base of her own and strong bunting. Combining these solid efforts against TGiFridays with some other top-notch performances against Westwood earlier in the week made for a successful week for Needham Bank. In the Westwood game Julia Ritcey and Ali Dugan would put 4 for 4 games in the book while Emma Francis did her best to “copy” them with a 3 for 3 night of her own. Rounding out their stabs at “perfection” was Megan Peckham’s 2 for 2 to go along with 12 strikeouts in the 16-11 win.

                All in all great stuff from the girls that can take DGS into the second half of the season, so make sure follow us at all of our fields and on the website www.dedhamgs.com. On the site you will find info regarding all the great stuff in DGS, including the upcoming summer and tourney seasons, as well as even more of our great sponsors who help make this league the best in the area!