Two of the area’s top pitchers toed the circle in Gloucester on Friday afternoon — and both delivered with equally masterful performances.
Fishermen sophomore ace Abby Noble went the distance, fanning 11 batters and allowing just two hits. Senior star Tessa Francis of visiting Marblehead was just as impressive, tossing a no-hitter while striking out eight on 90 pitches.
But in improbable fashion, it was Noble who secured the win.
No, Gloucester wasn’t able to register a single base knock, but it executed its small ball game plan to a T to come out with a narrow 1-0 decision.
The game’s lone run came in the third inning as Samantha Tucker (hit by pitch) scored from third base on a textbook suicide squeeze from Mackayla Allen. Allen reached first base on the play, but because it was a fielder’s choice with the frantic throw to home plate to try and stop the run from crossing, it didn’t go down as a hit.
“We knew this was going to be a tough pitcher and we might not be hitting as well as we might want to, so we worked on the suicide squeeze all week,” said GHS coach Bryan Aiello, his team now 12-2.
“It was good to see them execute something in the game that we had worked so hard on. Sometimes when you’re being dominated by a pitcher like (Francis), you have to find a way to win. And we just found a way to manufacture a run — and our defense locked it down.”
Leading off in the bottom of the third, Tucker got on base after being plunked and proceeded to swiftly steal second. She then took third on a passed ball, Allen laid down a perfect bunt, and Tucker just beat the tag at home for the decisive score.
Gloucester then hit into a double play and the very next batter grounded out to end the frame, but the damage was done.
“It’s tough to lose a game like that, but I told the kids to hold their heads up high,” said Marblehead (9-6) coach Johnny Gold. “Tessa pitched a great game, Abby was great, too … it was a great softball game. We’ll be fine.”
Outside of that one inning, Francis was virtually perfect. Gloucester did make its share of contact, but most were either foul balls, easily fielded grounders or the occasional pop-up.
“She’s a very smart pitcher; she locates inside and outside, she changes eye level and she changes speed,” Aiello said of Francis. “So it keeps the hitters off balance and kind of guessing at the plate.”
“We threw a lot of junk at them,” added Gold. “We didn’t throw a change-up, but we threw a lot of rise balls and screws just to keep them off balance. Nobody really hit the ball into the outfield all day.”
The low-scoring pitcher’s duel was reminiscent of last year’s battle, where Noble and Francis went toe-to-toe before Gloucester escaped with a 2-0 victory.
“It was honestly the exact same game last year in Marblehead,” said Aiello. “So I think just two evenly matched teams, two great pitchers, and we just found a way to make one more play than they did.”
As good as Francis was all afternoon, Noble seemed to match her pitch-for-pitch. The sophomore standout walked just three batters, and it wasn’t until the sixth inning that Marblehead finally got to her with a hit.
Ashley Mortenson broke up the no-no bid with a hard grounder to shortstop that GHS couldn’t handle, but Noble got out of the inning with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts.
The last out was a bit too close for comfort; Marblehead captain Kate Andriano had popped up a blooper in the infield that fell between the cracks and landed in the dirt. But Noble calmly fielded it and made the throw just in time for the force out to end the frame. Had the throw been late, Marblehead would have tied the game as they had a runner on third base.
It was one of many defensive plays throughout the contest that Gloucester made, and that, said Aiello, is what helped his team come out on top.
“They made every play; a couple of big plays on the bunts, Samantha (Tucker) made a great play in the outfield, Janelle (Brancaleone) had a nice stop (at second base) on a line drive. So they did what they had to do to win,” said Aiello.
“In a close game where the teams are evenly matched it’s usually the team that makes the least amount of mistakes,” he continued. “We made zero mistakes in the field, so I was very, very happy with that.”
Marblehead’s Haley Schmitt added another base hit for her team in the seventh, mashing a line drive to shallow center. But Noble retired the side with her final strikeout of the day, followed by inducing a fly out to right to seal the deal.
It was a big win for Gloucester, which has just two blemishes on its schedule so far (tight losses to Georgetown and North Reading). The Fishermen now have five regular season clashes remaining, including rematches against those aforementioned two squads who topped them the first time around.