THE WARRIORS welcome home Paige Butland in the 4th after the senior captain hit a grand slam to centerfield in Wakefield’s 22-6 win over Belmont yesterday. Butland had 5 RBI and reached base in every at-bat. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High softball team picked up a signature win yesterday at Blatz Park’s Meghan Burnett Field as the bats broke out for a big, 22-6 win in five innings over Belmont.
The Warriors had nine different players collect an RBI in this one as they broke out for two runs in the 1st, eight in the 2nd and 12 in the 4th to put the game away.
Wakefield’s top two hitters set the tone, reaching base in every at-bat as senior captain Paige Butland went 2-for-2 with 5 RBI, 3 walks and a grand slam that rocked the scoreboard in centerfield in the 4th while sophomore Jade Waterhouse went 2-for-2 with 4 RBI and 2 walks.
JADE WATERHOUSE follows through on a 2-RBI single in the 2nd inning in Wakefield’s win over Belmont yesterday. Waterhouse had 4 RBI and reached base in every at-bat. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
The top seven hitters in the lineup all came through with runs batted in. Senior captain Sara Nemec led the team with three hits, going 3-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. Freshman Kathryn Sliski went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and senior captain Charlotte Rossicone went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. Senior captain Emma Kane, freshman Jackie Sullivan, junior Nicole Dowd and sophomore Giuliana O’Neill all added an RBI.
Senior starter Sophie Seidman had three strikeouts in 3.2 innings and Sliski shut out the Marauders for the remaining 1.1 innings while the offense went to work on ending the game with the mercy rule.
After two errors helped load the bases in the top of the 1st, Seidman got a huge third out on a groundout to second base.
Butland walked, stole second and scored on a Waterhouse single in the bottom of the 1st. Waterhouse stole second, moved to third on a groundout and came home on another groundout as Sliski picked up the RBI.
Belmont scored two to tie it in the 2nd but the Warriors led off their 2nd with two singles by Cassidy Silva and Kathleen Gmelch. Butland brought one in with a double to break the tie for good and Waterhouse scored two more with a base hit for a 5-2 advantage. Kane’s single scored Waterhouse and later with the bases loaded, Rossicone’s single scored two. An RBI base hit from Sullivan and a walk with the bases loaded again by Waterhouse made it 10-2 before the 2nd finally came to an end for Belmont.
SOPHIE SEIDMAN had three strikeouts in 3.2 innings and picked up the win over Belmont yesterday. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
After a quiet 3rd from both teams, the visitors made things interesting with four runs in the 4th.
Now in a 10-6 game, the Warriors decided to dig deep and end things once and for all in their half of the 4th.
Abbey Fitzpatrick led off with a double and came around to score on a wild pitch. O’Neill, Butland, Waterhouse and Kane all walked in a row to make it 13-6 and Sliski stepped up with a 2-RBI double to deep right-center for a 15-6 lead.
Nemec brought home Sliski on a single and later with the bases loaded again, an O’Neill walk made it 17-6.
That set up Butland, who stayed back on a looping pitch and hammered it to dead center, the crack of the bat quickly superseded by the sound of it crashing off the scoreboard and then by the Warrior fans and all of Butland’s teammates who met her at the plate to celebrate the grand slam.
ABBEY FITZPATRICK lines up a leadoff double in the bottom of the 4th, which sparked a 12-run inning in Wakefield’s 22-6 win over Belmont yesterday at home. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
Dowd’s sacrifice fly later put the finishing touches on Wakefield’s best inning of the season so far.
Sliski sat Belmont down in order in the 5th to officially end it.
The Warriors (3-6) will look to keep it going when they travel to Winchester (2-9) today at 4:15 p.m.
