Billerica’s magical run continues, hands Peabody first loss in Div. 1 North final

PEABODY — The Billerica High formula for softball success was a familiar one. Analise Grady simply saved her very best for the grandest of stages.

With the Indians trailing 1-0 in the second inning and unbeaten Peabody threatening for more, the junior lefty Grady came on to squelch the rally, spinning 5 2/3 innings of no-hit, shutout relief and allowing Billerica to power past the Tanners, 3-1, to claim the Div. 1 North softball title.

“That’s what we’ve been doing all season basically, starting with Jordan (Murch) and coming in with Ana. Today it was a little early, Jordan had a little arm issue,” said Indians’ coach Patty Higgins. “Ana just came in and did a nice job keeping us within reach.”

Grady just embraced the spotlight and took over the afternoon, mixing the nastiest of changeups in with her power pitches and keeping the powerhouse Tanners off-balance.

“I trust my changeup with my entire heart. That is why I throw it so well, every time,” said Grady, who fanned eight and walked just two, retiring 17 of the 20 batters she faced. “Even if the changeup doesn’t work. For the next pitch, they are going to be either in front of it, or behind it. It messes them up somehow. It works regardless of where it goes.”

Peabody (17-1) punched through first, earlier in the second when Logan Lomasney drew a walk and raced all the way around to score when Penny Spack’s base hit was misplayed in left. But Grady came on for a strikeout and a groundout to limit the damage.

“It’s stressful, but you know you can do it, and you know your team is behind you,” said Grady of walking into that potential maelstrom in the second. “You just get in there and do your best every pitch.”

Higgins knew that could be a turning point, even that early.

“When we were able to shut them down early in the game, and they had that runner on (second with one out) … and we were able to keep them from scoring,” she said. “Two-zip is a heck of a lot harder a hill to climb, especially with such a good team that they are.”

The Indians (12-7) finally solved Peabody’s Abby Bettencourt in the top of the fifth. It wasn’t pretty, but it was all about pressure.

Kaley Roche blooped a single to left to open the frame and moved up on a wild pitch. Emily Burdick bunted Roche to third.

Peabody looked to catch Roche off third on Zaria Jean-Pierre’s ground ball, but the Tanners were late with the throw back and instead of two outs, there were runners on second and third with one out.

If Roche’s base-running nearly caused a disaster the play before, she more than made up for it on Samantha Gaona’s dribbler in front of the plate. The junior got a massive jump and beat the throw home to tie it on a bang-bang play.

Jessica Maillet then looped in the Indians’ second hit of the inning (third in the game) to score what proved to be the game-winner.

Leading 2-1, Billerica would add insurance in the top of the seventh albeit under a shroud of controversy. Oh, there was no doubt when Jean-Pierre laced a towering bomb over the fence in left to make it 3-1.

However, the Tanners’ coaching staff claimed that after being run for in the fifth, Jean-Pierre was never officially re-entered into the lineup. The clout stood, and Grady finished things off with two strikeouts and a weak groundout to end it in the Peabody seventh.

Seeded 17th out of 28 teams in Div. 1 North, Billerica continues to play to the highest of levels, and Higgins credits the grind of the Merrimack Valley Conference for prepping the Indians for battle.

“Peabody is a phenomenal team. To beat them means so much. We have really good senior leaders. The captains have been really great. And the young kids just believe. It’s just, OK, we play here now,” said Higgins. “I can’t say enough about the MVC. The MVC is such a great league, and they had beaten a bunch of MVC teams (Haverhill, Methuen and Andover) to get here. We felt like not only were we playing for Billerica today, but we were playing for the MVC, because our league gets us ready. We play games like this often … We just keep playing.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3di1T7w