Warriors drop season finale to Marblehead, 8-4

Published in the May 24, 2017 edition

THIRD BASEMAN Vanessa Kaddaras (front) goes down to one knee while fielding the ball as shortstop Alexis Truesdale backs up the play. The Warriors softball team dropped an 8-4 game to Marblehead as its season came to an end. (Donna Larsson File Photo)

THIRD BASEMAN Vanessa Kaddaras (front) goes down to one knee while fielding the ball as shortstop Alexis Truesdale backs up the play. The Warriors softball team dropped an 8-4 game to Marblehead as its season came to an end. (Donna Larsson File Photo)

By DAN MARGARITA

WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield Memorial High softball team saw its season come to an end yesterday afternoon when they lost to Marblehead, 8-4, at Vet’s Field.

Wakefield came into the game needing to win to qualify for the state tournament and had the opportunity to win on a technicality.

Marblehead mistakenly thought the game was scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and not 3:45 p.m., the actual time. Arriving well after 4  p.m., Wakefield would have been within its rights to ask the umpires to declare a forfeit, which would have awarded it a win and a tournament berth.

Wakefield coach Rick “Coach Q.” Quattrochi chose to take the classy road and play the game and let his team take its chances.

“Who wants to win that way?” he asked when question about the decision.

Marblehead got on the scoreboard first with four runs in the second inning. Olivia Evsegni led off with a single to left, followed by a Montana Joyce single to left-center. Bel Sogoloff struck out on a pitch that was also a passed ball to put runners on second and third. A double to left by Hannah Garthe scored Evsegni and Sogoloff to give Marblehead a 2-0 lead.

Then Mercedes Pelletier dropped a single into right and then stole second to again put runners at second and third. Sophie Vener doubled in Garthe and Pelletier to make it 4-0. A line out to short and then a shoestring, “snow cone” catch in right by Katie Pearl ended the inning.

Wakefield came back with two runs in the fourth inning. Meghan Burnett led off with a single to left and moved to second on a single to left by Emma Hickey. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and then another wild pitch scored Burnett and put Hickey on third. Taylor Owen walked and then Nicole Catino bunted to Marblehead pitcher Charlotte Plakans, who threw to first for the out. Hickey then scored on the throw to first to make it 4-2 before a strikeout and a pop up to the mound ended the inning.

Marblehead got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth. Plakans led off with a single to center and moved to second on a ground out to third. After a fly out to left, Bel Sogoloff singled her in to put the Magicians up 5-2.

In the top of the sixth Marblehead was able to tack on another run. Ashley Stiles had a one-out single and then Sammy Treff doubled to center to put runners on second and third. A sacrifice fly by Plakans scored Stiles to make it 6-2.

Marblehead finished its scoring in the top of the seventh with one more run. Bel Segoloff led off with a ball off the glove of pitcher Julia Purcell that rolled to second baseman Meagan Gibbons, who made a nice diving stop. Unfortunately, her throw to first, which wouldn’t have got the runner, went wide of the bag for an error.  Garthe singled to right-center to plate Sogoloff. Garthe then moved to second on a wild pitch and tagged up and went to third on a fly out to right. Vener grounded out to score Garthe to make it 8-2 before another ground out ended the inning.

Wakefield clawed back with two more runs in the bottom of the seventh. Gibbons led off and reached on an error and was forced out at second on a botched pop up to first by Vanessa Kaddaras. Alexi Truesdale tripled to left to score Kaddaras and then scored on a sacrifice fly by MBurnett to make it 8-4. But that was all of the scoring Wakefield mustered.

“We’re all consumed about wins and losses but we don’t take these 15 kids that I have, they’re real special kids, for granted. We always want to win everything but sometimes we lose out. I’ve been very blessed for the 21 years I’ve been coaching in the town of Wakefield with great kids and these kids are no exception,” said “Coach Q.”

The coach also had praise for his coaching staff.

“I thought my coaches Tommy (Purcell) and Stephanie (Martin) did an awesome job. My JV coach Lisa Silva and Charlie Rollins, freshman coach, who’ve been with me for eight years, did a great job. I just told them, ‘When you lose the head coach takes it.’ They did nothing wrong. Maybe I could’ve done a better job and we could’ve been in there. It was on me.”

The Warriors wrapped up the season with a 9-11 overall record.