Dedham Girls Softball rolling along heading into Memorial Day!

Dedham Girls Softball Having Fun Heading Into Memorial Day!

                The weather may have been up and down recently, but there has only been exciting play on the field as DGS Spring 2012 entered the 2nd half of the season with plenty of great games against both their rivals in Dedham and our neighboring towns of Westwood and Needham. Just like the majors, DGS is playing some “interleague” games against nearby towns to fill out the schedule, and Attorney Chris Cawley travelled over to Westwood to get their first taste of it last Wednesday in a game that saw them get light up the scoreboard early and often. Paced by a multi-faceted attack, early base hits from Maya Acosta and Jocelyn Spitz led to a 10 run first inning. More than anything the on-base success from the Shufflers was a thing of beauty with Nicole Crisafulli, Kayla Spitz and Charlene Kelly teaming up to get on base 8 out of 9 at-bats. Things would continue on in the second as Ashley Gilarde showed her sweet stroke and running prowess as part of another multi run inning for the Shufflers. Keep in mind that it wasn’t all offense as Corinne Downey and Hannah Piccone flashed the leather around the diamond to keep Westwood at bay. Elizabeth Wade would finish the hit parade with a hard shot that plated the last few runs for the visitors, and with Sophie Boudette dealing on the hill the Cawley Crew finished up the win with some great hustle and play that bode them well as The teams would meet 2 days later in a closer game that had both teams using some help from every ready “call-ups” from TGIFriday’s. While the offense was not as dominant as the first game, the girls had their share of great rips and at-bats. A Shannon Kirshy rope in the first inning was followed by a textbook bunt by TGIFriday’s teammate Maeve Bolotte as the hosts battled back from an early deficit. Things quieted down in the early innings for both teams as Boudette and Gilarde both spun some nice yarn from the mound, but then the Dedham bats were reawakened in the late innings. Molly Egan, Friday’s cohort Julia Holton, and Acosta set the table for a bases clearing rip by Roisin Glynn. Egan would be heard from again the very next inning with a base knock that sent home Gilarde and Alyssa Wisniewski. Wisniewski would be a 2-way threat as she teamed with Acosta to man the dish and call a great game. Back in the lead late, Shannon Kirshy would enter and shut Westwood down “like Paplebon” to secure the great W.

                Monday night saw a return for the Attorney Cawley Shufflers to Leowen field and a matchup with TGIFriday’s.  Friday’s avoided an early jam when Julia Holton and Meg Coulter teamed up to gun down not one but two Cawley runners at the plate to preserve an early lead that Holton’s pitching help provide.. The lead was the result of solid hitting up and down the Friday’s lineup as every batter had at least one hit. Solid defense up the middle also kept the Cawley gang at bay, including a couple of quick and talented flips and turns between Maggie Doldt and Sarah Perno. That lead took a hit when in the next inning Charlene Kelly hit her first career home run to spark the offense from Cawley’s nine. Kelly would add 2 RBI’s with a base hit in the next inning as the Shufflers stayed within striking distance and for an “encore” she would later “take 2 for the team” and fight off 2 “hbps” (but it was her best friend Molly Egan pitching so it was ok) to sprint and steal her way around the bases for 2 more runs. This entire series of events still found Friday’s up a bunch heading into the last inning as the hit parade from Friday’s was impressive itself. Julia Holton would augment her stint on the hill by getting on base 5 times, while a triple and single was part of a great Egan night, and not be outdone, Madeline Chmielesk was “ready for Vegas” by “doubling down” a handful of runs in 3 different at bats. Shannon Kirshy and Emily Thorton’s timely hits helped the lead expand in the middle innings and a rip from hot Vanessa Tanetta made the lead feel insurmountable. Facing this deficit entering the last inning did not dissuade the Shufflers as a with a double from Corinne Downey (after a single brought Hannah Piccone home the inning before) and singles from Maya Acosta and Roisin Glynn  sliced the lead down and gave hope. Still plugging away with 2 outs another run scored by Piccone was from the bat of one of 2 bookend singles and runs scored from Ashley Gilarde that helped cap the comeback that tied the score and, despite “kissing their sister” allowed for both teams to leave the field feeling great about a well-played game.