THE NRHS softball team defeated Cardinal Spellman in the first round of the Div. 3 State Tournament 10-7 on Tuesday at home. The 7th-ranked Hornets hosted No. 23 Essex Tech on Wednesday after press time in the Round of 16. (Courtesy Photo)

 

 

After press time:
North Reading falls to Apponequet Regional 11-4 in the Elite 8 (June 8)
North Reading defeats Essex Tech 16-5 in the Sweet 16 (June 5)
For the latest state tournament updates, click here.

 

Published June 6, 2024

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

NORTH READING — In their playoff opener on Tuesday afternoon, the North Reading High softball team defeated guest Cardinal Spellman, 10-7, on a sunny, warm day in the MIAA Division 3 Round of 32.

With that victory, the 7th-seeded Hornets improved to 16-5 while the 26th-seeded Cardinals ended up at 9-14.

“They have a good team and a good pitcher,” said Hornets head coach Nicole Zimmerman. “We were able to get the timely hits we needed.”

North Reading scored one run in the first, two in the fourth, two in the fifth and five more in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Cardinals scored two runs in the first and third innings. They then scored once in the fifth and two more in the top of the sixth.

Three Hornets had multiple hits as the team had eight overall. Senior captain Olivia Reilly was 2 for 4 with a key, two-run homer to left-center field in the bottom of the fifth. Senior captain Kristen Galvin was also 2 for 4 with two runs batted in. She also scored twice including a steal of home in the fourth inning as she had two steals overall.

Senior captain Maggie Schulz went 2 for 3.

Freshman Alivia Heck had a bases-clearing double to center field in the sixth inning.

“We had very timely hitting all day,” said Zimmerman. “We dug down when we got behind early on.”

Senior captain Keely Hannon was the winning pitcher going all eight innings to improve to 12-3. She gave up seven runs (five earned), nine hits, one walk, one hit by pitch and she struck out four.

“They did a good job bunting and we had three errors that led to two unearned runs,” pointed out Zimmerman.

The Hornets hosted Essex Tech in the Round of 16 on Wednesday (results not available at press time).

If North Reading wins that game, they will face the winner of the Gloucester-Apponequet winner in the state quarterfinals (date, time and location unknown as of press time).