THE 18U CHAMPIONSHIP game of the 7th Annual Meghan Burnett “Fly High” Softball Tournament featured the New Hampshire Lightning against the Rage. The Rage won in a 4-3 walk-off to lift the trophy. (Courtesy Photo)
WAKEFIELD — It took her three-and-a-half hours but Baylee Yandow made it to the field in Reading in plenty of time for her 6 p.m. game. She was the leadoff hitter for the 18U VT Storm. The smallest player on the team but also the fastest, Yandow is a master of small ball — she can beat out a bunt or slap hit with impunity. If she got to first base it was hard to keep her from getting to third. Slap hits are usually singles but Yandow slapped an RBI double on July 5.
This is just one story of many that combined to create an amazing weekend of fast pitch softball.
July 5-7 was the weekend for this year’s 7th annual Meghan Burnett “Fly High” fast pitch softball tournament. The weather was great, dry fields receiving just enough precipitation during the week to provide an excellent surface when it came time for the tournament. Sixteen teams from around New England came to Wakefield (and Reading) to compete in this annual event to benefit the Meghan Burnett Foundation.
A new twist in this year’s tournament planning came as a result of the ongoing construction for the new Wakefield Memorial High School. Meghan Burnett Field would not be available but with the help of Dan McGrath at Wakefield Recreation the tournament was introduced to Jim Sullivan at Reading Recreation who was able to secure fields in Reading for Friday and Saturday.
The foundation was also fortunate to be working with local long-time softball coach Dom Gasdia, who after years of supporting youth softball in Wakefield and also serving as head coach for Danvers High, is currently the Reading High varsity coach. The Reading connection is a good one and will continue to be an asset for the tournament going forward. The only issue with this plan was that Reading does not allow games to be played on town fields on Sundays before noon, which is when the Elimination round typically takes place. So Sunday could’ve been a problem if it weren’t for the help of Wakefield High head coach Chris Tolios and Saugus High coach Steve Almquist. With their involvement, the tournament was able to secure Parcher Field in Saugus for the Sunday morning 18U elimination round.
14U Division
Last year’s 14U championship was a close game between the Northeast Hurricanes and the Vermont Storm with the Hurricanes coming out on top. Both teams were in it again and both had a strong showing in the pool round.
The standings after pool play were as follows: Vermont Storm, Northeast Hurricanes, RES Angels-Newbury, Extra innings 14U Prospects, Rage 14U, Northeast Reign, New England Storm and New England Huskies.
The Vermont Storm 14U had the strongest showing of the weekend, scoring a total of 62 runs and winning all six games they played. A close second was the Hurricanes with 57 runs and a record of 4–1 going into the championship game. The seeding after pool play was pretty consistent with the way the teams finished at the end of the weekend with the exception being the Northeast Reign, which finished noticeably better in the standings than their seeding predicted.
The Northeast Reign had a strong weekend which included a game where a grand slam over the fence at Mapleway was mysteriously ruled a ground rule double. Even the other team confirmed that it was a homerun, but to no avail. Unflustered by this setback, the Reign got busy and still came out on top 9-3.
The RES Angels, under coach Colleen Newbury, also had a great weekend and showed that even though they are a young team they could hold their own with the best of them.
The 14U Championship game once again pitted the Northeast Hurricanes against the Vermont Storm. Both teams looked good and showed strong offense, each of them winning several games by run-rule along the way. While both teams were clearly the best and had earned their place in the final game, only one can be the champion and this year it was the Vermont Storm’s turn.
18U Division
The 18U Rage had made it to the championship game three years in a row but had yet to win it. Would this be their year?
In the 18U Division after pool play was complete, all eight teams were tied for the top four seeding spots. Ties are resolved first by which team was better in head to head competition, if that’s not an option, the team with the least runs against is the main determinant but if there is still a tie, it goes to the team with most runs scored. So using the aforementioned methods, the seeding was determined as follows: Rage 18U, South Shore Chaos, New Hampshire Lightning, Vermont Storm, Northeast Hurricanes, New England Storm, Extra Innings 18U and RES Angels.
On Elimination Sunday, after the first round of games, the top four still remained, which led to a very tight semifinal round with both games being decided by only one run.
Veterans Field saw the New Hampshire Lightning hang on for a surprise victory over the higher-ranked South Shore Chaos. After the game, Chaos coach Jeff Gauthier credited the Lightning’s excellent defensive play with the win.
Meanwhile, at Parcher Field in Saugus, the crowd was treated to a barnburner of a performance in the Vermont Storm vs. Rage contest. The Storm came out strong from the start with two runs in the 1st, to which the Rage responded with 3. Both teams held the other scoreless until the 3rd inning when the Vermont bats came alive adding three more runs. Rage plated another run but at the end of the 3rd, Vermont still maintained their lead, 5-4. About this time, the sun burned through and things were about to heat up in more ways than one.
The 4th inning saw the VT bats stifled in a short, 1-2-3 inning. Rage seized this opportunity and went to work manufacturing another run. After the leadoff batter lined out to third, the next batter walked and through a combination of smart baserunning and small ball, scored the tying run, making it 5-5 after four innings.
With time running out, Vermont was on track to finish strong as they scored the go-ahead run and still had the bases loaded with only one out. Somehow, Rage managed to dig deep and come up with the final two outs without allowing another run to score. With time expired and down by one run, the bottom of the inning belonged to the Rage. Five consecutive singles gave them the two additional runs they needed to secure the win and move on to the championship game.
Emma Penniman scored the tying run in the 4th and drove in the winning run in the 5th.
The 18U Championship game pitted the New Hampshire Lightning against the Rage. The Lightning were first to get on the board in the 1st inning when Anna Stanley scored after tagging up on a fly. In the bottom half of the inning on the 13th pitch of her at-bat, Ella DeLisle singled, driving in a run that tied the score at 1-1. Both teams battled back-and- forth with no runs until the fifth inning. Shyanne Glenncross and Rya Wykes each drove in a run for New Hampshire giving them a 3-1 lead.
In the 6th inning, Rage held New Hampshire scoreless and added two of their own when Izzy Levasseur doubled, driving in two runs that tied the game at 3-3. Again in the 7th inning, New Hampshire was held scoreless then as they had done in the semifinals, Rage once again utilized smart baserunning and small ball, setting up Halisa Carter to drive in the winning run with a walk-off single. Halisa was 4-for-4 on the day.
In addition to softball this weekend, there were two recipients of the Annual Tournament Scholarship Award. All graduating seniors who participate in the Tournament are invited to apply for this award whether they played in the tournament, in a band at the tournament or volunteered to help. The award is presented to the applicant who has consistently demonstrated the highest levels of commitment, leadership, enthusiasm and love for the game. This year’s recipients were both players on the South Shore Chaos team: Alyssa Edwards (University of Hartford) and Abby Greene (Curry College).
In cornhole news, the Butland Family of Partridge Lane was the winner of the raffle of a custom cornhole set provided by Bob’s Cornhole Co./Sardella Sign and Graphics.
The Foundation would like to extend their thanks to Dan McGrath, Brendan Kent, Chis Tolios, Steve Almquist, Jim Sullivan, Kevin MacTaggart, Wakefield Youth Softball and all the fantastic volunteers, young and less-young, who stepped up to make this year’s tournament the best one yet. Without all of your help, this wouldn’t have been possible.
The Foundation would especially like to thank Dennis Fazio and the DPW grounds crew for all their efforts cleaning up after the Fourth of July and then prepping the fields for the tournament the same day and continuing to work throughout the Holiday weekend. You all do a great job and we’re always hearing the appreciation from the coaches who come here to play.
The Meghan Burnett “Fly High” Tournament was initially established in 2018, just two months after Meghan had passed away due to complications during surgery. Meghan was a softball player, loved the game and always wanted to have a tournament in Wakefield. After she passed, friends got together and immediately started planning the first tournament. The success of the first tournament enabled the establishment of the Meghan Burnett Foundation, which is now a recognized charity in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Foundation has the goal of enriching the high school experience through sports, music and travel while helping local students discover their own personal potential.
