We continue to be in a tremendous era of softball when it comes to our five Daily News area CAL teams.
For the second year in a row, three league MVPs were named between the Kinney and Baker Divisions, and all three of them came from our area. Triton star Emma Penniman ends her career a remarkable three-time Kinney MVP (two-time co-MVP), and this year shared the honor with Pentucket senior ace Molly LeBel. Then down in the Baker, it was junior Maddie Grant earning MVP honors after leading Georgetown to the most wins in the league, as well as to the program’s first league title since 2010.
But LeBel and Pentucket topped that by a couple of decades.
Behind LeBel in the circle, the Panthers (19-3) were able to claim their first league championship since 1990. The senior four-year starter threw basically every pitch for the team this season, and finished with a microscopic 0.81 ERA and 193 strikeouts in 139.0 innings pitched. She was one of a league-high four Panthers named to the 15-person All-CAL First Team, and was joined by teammates Kayla Murphy, Sarah Freitas and Kam Bonneau.
For the past four years, Murphy has been both one of the best hitters and defensive shortstops in the CAL. The UMass Boston commit went out a three-time All-CAL selection and one-time CAL All-Star, and this spring hit .451 (37-for-82) with 29 RBI and 3 home runs. Meanwhile, the junior Freitas makes the jump up after making the CAL All-Star team a year ago, and for the season hit .395 (32-for-81) out of the leadoff spot. Then Bonneau broke out for what was an unbelievable freshman year, finishing hitting .581 (36-for-62) with 36 RBI and 10 home runs. Finally, the Panthers also saw Kallie White be named a CAL All-Star, after the sophomore hit .342 (25-for-73) with 28 RBI and 2 home runs.
Meanwhile for Grant, she led Georgetown (20-4) to what might be the best season in program history. The junior had a 1.24 ERA and 257 strikeouts (135.2 IP) in the circle in helping the team reach the Division 5 Final Four, then at the plate hit .554 (46-for-83) with 51 runs scored, 20 RBI and 5 home runs. Then for the third year in a row, Ellie Barbarick earned a spot on the All-CAL First Team for the Royals. The sophomore somehow just continues to get better, and finished the season hitting .557 (34-for-61) with 43 RBI and a truly ridiculous 17 home runs.
But the Royals weren’t done there, as Gillien Figueroa, Ava Fair and Talya Mariani were all named CAL All-Stars. Fair hit .470 (31-for-66) with 27 RBI and 3 home runs, while the fellow junior Figueroa slashed .380 (30-for-79) while playing a strong third base. Then for the sophomore shortstop Mariani, she would finish the year batting .492 (31-for-63) with 29 RBI and 6 homers.
And for her final high school season, Penniman went out with arguably her best work yet. Her area-high 273 strikeouts in just 139.2 innings pitched was backed up by a 1.70 ERA, and at the plate she hit .571 (40-for-70) with 43 RBI and 3 home runs. Triton then also got to celebrate both senior Jillian Giusto and junior Ava Johnson making the CAL All-Star team. Giusto slashed .385 with 3 home runs, while Johnson was a steady bat who more importantly took over as the team’s starting catcher.
Of course, both Amesbury and Newburyport had league honorees as well.
For the Redhawks, it was Alex Donnell earning a spot on the All-CAL First Team. The senior did a bit of everything, hitting .369 (24-for-65) with a team-high 21 RBI while also serving as the primary pitcher and striking out 67 over the course of the year. But the future certainly looks bright for the Redhawks, with a trio of sophomores in Hope Shanahan (.452), Celia Tavares (.322, 2 HRs) and Ana Gordon (.318) all making the CAL All-Star team.
Finally, for the Clippers, senior middle infielder Sophie Lavallee earned a spot on the 15-person All-CAL team after hitting a team-best .444 (23-for-54) with a home run. Junior outfielder Cassidy Bolcome was also selected as a CAL All-Star, finishing the spring slashing .421 (24-for-57) with 23 runs scored and 3 home runs.
Here are the complete CAL All-Star teams.
All CAL
Amesbury: Alex Donnell, Sr., P; Essex Tech: Eve Sexton, Jr., OF; Georgetown: Maddie Grant, Jr., P; Ellie Barbarick, Soph., C; Hamilton-Wenham: Ava Day, Sr., P; Ipswich: Elin Roberts, Sr., CF/C; Lynnfield: Morgan Hubbard, Sr., SS; Manchester Essex: Anna Gardner, Jr., P/SS; Newburyport: Sophie Lavallee, Sr., 2B; North Reading: Jillian Corbett, Jr., C; Pentucket: Molly LeBel, Sr., P; Kayla Murphy, Sr., SS; Sarah Freitas, Jr., 2B; Kam Bonneau, Frosh., CF; Triton: Emma Penniman, Sr., P
CAL All-Stars
Amesbury: Celia Tavares, Soph., SS; Ana Gordon, Soph., 2B; Hope Shanahan, Soph., CF; Essex Tech: Gigi Barrows, Jr., C; Georgetown: Ava Fair, Jr., 1B; Gillien Figueroa, Jr., 3B; Talya Mariani, Soph., SS; Hamilton-Wenham: Bianca Fredrickson, Frosh., 1B; Ipswich: Cairo Teheen, Sr., 1B; Lynnfield: Kaila George, Sr., CF; Manchester Essex: Penelope Riggs, Jr., 1B; Abby Aiello, Jr., SS/P; Cordelia Riggs, Frosh., CF; Newburyport: Cassidy Bolcome, Jr., CF; North Reading: Naomi Barber, Jr., 2B; Emily Cassarino, Soph., SS; Alivia Heck, Soph., 1B; Pentucket: Kallie White, Soph., 3B; Rockport: Addie Gardner, Sr., SS; Gretel Marshall, Soph., CF/P; Triton: Jillian Giusto, Sr., 1B; Ava Johnson, Jr., C
Miscellaneous Awards
Kinney MVP: Molly LeBel, Pentucket; Emma Penniman, Triton.
Baker MVP: Maddie Grant, Georgetown.
Coach of the Year (Kinney): Deb Smith, Pentucket.
Coach of the Year (Baker): Jay Santimassino, Georgetown; Frank Sarro, Manchester Essex.
Sportsmanship (Kinney): Newburyport.
Sportsmanship (Baker): Ipswich.
Champion (Kinney): Pentucket.
Champion (Baker): Georgetown.