PEABODY — Johnny Gold has coached the Marblehead High softball team for 375 games over 21 seasons … and he’d never seen a play quite like this one.
His Magicians cut a three-run Peabody lead to one and were threatening for more in the fifth inning Friday with two on and nobody out. Nora Mahan smoked a ball towards the hot corner that Tanner third baseman Claire Welton got a glove under, flicking it up towards herself.
Welton, a freshman, caught the ball in midair for the out. In the confusion about whether the ball touched the ground, Marblehead’s runners tried to advance and the host Tanners tossed it around the horn for a rare — and rally-killing — triple play.
“That was one of the craziest plays I’ve ever seen,” said Gold, whose team appeared to have Peabody on the ropes but didn’t score the rest of the way.
The Tanners tacked on an insurance run and played elite level defense to upset the defending Northeastern Conference Lynch champion, and previously unbeaten, Magicians, 4-2.
“Would you believe that’s only Claire’s second game playing softball? She’s always been a baseball player,” said Peabody head coach Steve Lomasney, whose team improved to 3-1. “She’s got a really bright future in this sport.”
Another Tanner with a seemingly bright future is eighth grade pitcher Olivia Palmieri. She went the distance in the best start of her young career, holding Marblehead (4-1) off the scoreboard for the first four innings and allowing just three total hits.
“Olivia threw a bullpen (the day before) and I had her throw everything right down the middle so she could find her release point,” Lomasney said. “From that bullpen through today she filled up the strike zone. She did a great job and gave us a chance to win … Marblehead put together some great at-bats and when they put good swings on the ball, we defended well.”
Outdueling Marblehead’s ace (and the reigning Salem News Player of the Year) Tessa Francis took a clutch first inning from the hosts. Francis walked the first two batters and Peabody jumped on the rare free passes with two stolen bases, an RBI from Lizzy Bettencourt, and RBI doubles by captain JJ Emerson and Olivia Guarino to lead 3-0 after one.
“That first inning wasn’t good,” said Gold. “Tessa threw way too many pitches. She settled in after that and battled against a very good lineup.”
It was the first time all season Peabody didn’t allow a run in the opening inning, and that took Palmieri working around two walks of her own. Captain and catcher Kaylee DiNicola threw out of the first two runners she caught stealing, and left fielder Gabby Gosselin made a nice running catch to end the inning.
Marblehead also couldn’t capitalize on an Avery Sheridan double in the third or an Ashley Mortensen double in the sixth. Kate Andriano’s leadoff double in the sixth was followed by two hit batsmen and an RBI fielder’s choice from Isabel Mortensen that made it a 3-2 game.
That’s when the triple play changed momentum and Peabody got outstanding infield defense from Welton, shortstop Taylor King and Bettencourt at first in a 1-2-3 seventh.
“We hit the ball right at ’em. It was one of those games … sometimes they drop in and sometimes they don’t,” Gold said.
“I’m OK with how we played. Peabody earned this one and it was a great competitive game. That’s the way softball should be played.”
The Tanners were patient at the plate and had six hits. Francis struck out half a dozen batters, but the hosts made her work for everything and worked deep into a lot of counts; Peabody spoiled a lot of potential out pitches with foul tips on 2-stirke counts 11 different times.
“Tessa’s the best pitcher in our league, and our offense had to buy into the approach we wanted. I won’t say what it was, but we piled up at-bats and we put a lot of pressure on them,” said Lomasney. “The way our team is, I feel we’ll always hit. We’ll always find a way to score some runs.”
Half of Peabody’s hits came immediately after Marblehead made it 3-2. King beat out an infield single, leading to a single by Gosselin and an RBI single by Bettencourt, who finished 2-for-3 and wasn’t walked for the first time in four games.
“Lizzy’s Lizzy. She’s always going to drive the ball,” said Lomasney. “The one she hit in the sixth? That ball was destroyed.”
Deploying Francis and her near-600 career strikeouts has to make Marblehead the favorite in the Northeastern Conference. But Gloucester remains unbeaten, Masconomet just beat Peabody despite losing to Marblehead, and Beverly can never be counted out. Thus with Friday’s upset win by the Tanners, the league title chase is wide open.
“I think it’s going to be a really fun season,” said Lomasney. “There are a lot of good teams and most times they matchup, it’ll come down to who makes fewer mistakes that day.”