NORA LEACH is one of three senior captains for the Warriors this year. Leach will be Wakefield’s ace as well as a key hitter in the heart of the lineup. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High softball team knows that if they want to experience some warm, high-stakes summer ball, they must put in the work during early spring’s rainy days.
“Our running motto is ‘Let’s do things that will allow us to play softball in June this year,’” said head coach Chris Tolios. “I think the goal every year is to compete in our league and division and make a run at the state tournament, which is the same this year.”
The Warriors started their more typical 20-game season schedule on Monday at their home Blatz Park, Meghan Burnett Field against Lexington, their first game against the D1 Minutemen since 2019. Lexington won it 12-4, but Wakefield is looking forward to the opportunities that games against bigger Liberty Division schools provide, which is the chance to improve each time out. Much different from last season’s shortened 10-game slate, this year will be full of those chances.
“The start of this season has been fun. It feels like a fresh start that has been a long time coming,” said Tolios. “The girls were as excited as they could be dating all the way back to the fall. They would keep popping into my classroom during the day and talk about how they couldn’t wait for the season.
“It’s a real privilege to have a group of girls, both varsity and JV, that want to be there and want to play softball. It makes this a really enjoyable job. I couldn’t ask for a better group.”
PAIGE BUTLAND steals third in the 1st inning as the throw gets away from Lexington allowing her to score. The junior, and last year’s Middlesex League Freedom Division MVP, started her season with two hits, two stolen bases and three RBI’s. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
That group will be led by senior captains Claire Donahue, Allida Kelliher and Nora Leach.
“They have been really great leaders,” said Tolios of the captains. “They led the charge this winter with captains practices and set the tone for the younger girls to put the work in and get themselves ready for the season. They’re also just three really great kids that want what is best for the team. They’ve been a huge help to me kicking this season off.”
The three captains have plenty of talent on the diamond as well and will team up with last year’s Freedom Division MVP, junior Paige Butland, to create one of the more dynamic groups in the league. Kelliher (first base) and Butland (center field) were both All-Stars last season.
“Allida and Paige have stood out and picked up right where they left off last year,” said Tolios. “Claire has also really shined in a position change, moving from shortstop to third base. She’s made some great plays in the scrimmages and (vs. Lexington), so we are looking to her to be another anchor on this team.
“Nora, our senior returning pitcher, has also had two really good scrimmages and pitched well (vs. Lexington). She is going to be at the center of everything we do this year and she has shown that she’s up for the challenge.”
Wakefield will also lean on seniors Olivia Johnsen, Emma Johnsen and Bridget Gmelch; juniors Emma Kane, Sara Nemec and Charlotte Rossicone along with freshman Jade Waterhouse.
The Warriors showed plenty of fight against Lexington on Monday, erasing two deficits, first a 2-0 Lexington lead to make it 2-2, then a 4-2 deficit that they tied at 4-4 in the 4th. The Minutemen came up with some clutch hits in the final three innings where they added eight runs to break the game open.
“I thought for the most part we played well,” said Tolios. “When we lost control of the game, those innings typically are a result of errors and poor defensive play, but in this case it was simply Lexington stringing together a bunch of solid hits.
“It was one of those games where we were one big hit away from shifting all the momentum to our side but it stayed out of our reach long enough for Lexington, a really good team, to do what they are known for doing and that’s spraying the ball all over the field. Kudos to them, they played really timely softball and never let us feel comfortable or confident.”
Butland led the charge from the leadoff spot, going 2-for-3 with 3 RBI’s, 2 stolen bases and 1 run scored. She created Wakefield’s first run in the bottom of the 1st with a walk and two stolen bases. The throw down to 3rd went into the outfield, allowing the speedy Butland to cruise home to make the score 2-1 after Lexington’s Izzy Baron hit her first of two 2-run home runs to give the visitors the early lead.
Leach picked up two of her four strikeouts in the 2nd inning, the second coming on a perfect off-speed pitch.
That allowed Wakefield to tie it in the bottom half on Butland’s clutch, two-out infield single.
Baron’s second dinger reclaimed the lead at 4-2 in the 3rd but the Warriors tied in the 4th on a 2-RBI rip by Butland, a laser that knocked the glove off a Lexington infielder that scored Sara Nemec who singled and Emma Kane who doubled. Mirroring the 2nd, the Warriors couldn’t take the lead as Lexington got out of trouble with a strikeout and a ground out.
“It was good to see us go down twice and battle back to tie it each time. Unfortunately, we just didn’t get those timely hits that could have broken it open for us,” said Tolios. “Lexington was able to come up with those big hits in the later innings that broke the game open and once that happened you could feel us deflate.”
Wakefield will quickly shift their focus to Arlington who they will meet on the road today at 4:15 p.m. They host Woburn on Friday at 4 p.m. The focus will be on solid, fundamental softball.
“Our biggest emphasis is around playing clean softball,” said Tolios. “We focus on not throwing the ball around and letting other teams score and advance on our wrong-doing. We are simplifying it as a team and our goal each game is to throw strikes and make plays behind our pitcher. It’s a big focus on the team aspect that we are all in this together and we aren’t going to win or lose by just one or two players.”
So long as the Warriors can focus on consistently improving in those areas, their coach believes that they can accomplish as much as they are willing to dream about those June games.
“On Day 1 of tryouts, I brought all of the girls into the Field House and pointed at the softball title banner which only has one year on it, 1983. I let them know that if they put in the work and come together, they can break the drought and add to that banner, but it’s one day at a time.”
