Guanci grand slam, two Kelliher homers power Wakefield
By EMMA LAMBIASO
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield Memorial High School softball team did not have to travel far for a win last Wednesday, April 24, as they faced neighbor Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School, home of the Golden Knights.
As the visiting team, Wakefield started on offense, running up a lead of five runs before Northeast even stepped up to the plate.
Senior Juliette Guanci collected four RBIs off a grand slam, sending the ball sailing over the center field fence. This was of significant sentiment for her, as it was her first high school career home run. While giving her team an enormous advantage, Guanci’s slam also started a trend of excellent hitting for the Warriors.
Only two players later came freshman Allida Kelliher with another home run over the back fence, just out of reach of the opposing team’s gloves. Northeast was only able to emerge with one run at the end of the first inning, making the score 5-1.
“Obviously the home runs were big to start the game off on the right foot and hitting is contagious so when you do that in the first inning, that translates for the rest of the game,” commented Wakefield head coach Chris Tolios.
The Warriors did an excellent job of preventing Northeast players from crossing home plate in the second and third innings. Junior pitcher Sophia Tremblay played the entire game, besting many Knights with her exact pitches. The Warriors succeeded in getting three consecutive Northeast players out in the second, including a strikeout from Tremblay to end the frame. Tremblay also finished off the third inning with yet another strikeout, this time with the bases loaded.
Offensively, Wakefield continued to raise the bar with four more runs split between innings three and four. Leading off in the third, Sophia Gosselin-Smoske hit a bomb to centerfield which got caught up in the makeshift fence, giving her a ground rule double. Next up for her second at bat of the afternoon, Kelliher hit yet another homer, providing the two Warrior runs for that inning.
The visiting team created even more opportunities for themselves in the fourth inning, with five out of six players getting hits. Persistent stealing on the base paths caused panic in the Northeast infield. At the end of the fourth, the score was 9-2 with the Warriors expanding their lead.
Good communication and sharp, experienced softball skills helped WMHS keep their lead for the rest of the game.
“We definitely have a lot of chemistry, which I think translates onto the field, so that’s exciting,” said captain Juliette Guanci.
It was clear from the way they talked in the field and worked together on plays that the Wakefield softball team is becoming a well oiled machine.
The score remained the same in the fifth and sixth innings thanks to solid defense from both teams. Things changed in the seventh with the Warriors taking advantage of the Knights’ fatigue.
Wakefield booked it on the base paths, starting with Julia Difazio sliding home, just beating the throw in from right field. A passed ball allowed Taylor Owens to follow her, stealing home with ease. Next up, Gosselin-Smoske bunted to the third base side. The opposing team attempted to throw her out, but an overthrew to first, let Gosselin-Smoske take second base and Guanci take home.
While the Northeast players were able to match Wakefield’s three runs during their final at-bats, the Warriors stopped the comeback there with Kelliher throwing out a player at first to close the game.
“This was a big win for us. We are finally back in the W column. We’re 3-3 now so that’s huge,” said a happy Guanci. The Warriors are back at .500 and excited to use the energy for this win as they approach some formidable opponents in the coming week.
