Exactly one year ago to the day, the Gloucester High softball team upended Medfield to begin their run to the Division 3 state quarterfinals.
Monday afternoon back in Gloucester, the Fishermen welcomed that very same opponent for the very same playoff round — and thanks to one explosive inning, they yielded the same positive result.
Locked in a scoreless battle heading into the bottom of the fifth, Gloucester broke through for five runs to blow things open. Sophomore ace Abby Noble then shut the door from there, putting the stamp on a complete game effort to help Gloucester walk away with a 5-0 victory in the Round of 32 clash.
With the win, the Fishermen advance to the Sweet 16 where they’ll host No. 10 Cardinal Spellman on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
“(Medfield pitcher Sophie Baker) was throwing pretty well, she threw with a little bit of velocity and it took the girls a few innings to start to time her up,” said Aiello. “I felt like they were hitting her hard early as well, but they were right at people; we kind of got unlucky. But they hung in there, kept at it and finally broke through and that was that. Game over.”
Angela Russo opened the decisive fifth frame with a single before Laila Ciaramitaro drew a walk. Medfield’s Baker then retired the next two batters in order, Mackayla Allen was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Emma Carrapichosa delivered with a two-out single to drive in a pair and open the scoring.
Carrapichosa’s clutch knock started a snowball effect, as another run crossed the plate on a Medfield error before Aleena Brown added to the damage with a big, two-RBI double to left. Gloucester finished with five total hits on the day, with Brown leading the charge with two.
Noble, meanwhile, was cruising in the circle en route to a 12 strikeout outing. She allowed just two hits and one walk all afternoon and sealed the deal with just 80 pitches in seven innings of work.
“She pitched very well,” said Aiello. “And the defense was perfect today; they made every single play, no errors. That was big.”
Now it’s on to Cardinal Spellman, a 16-win team who easily handled Blackstone Valley, 13-0, in their playoff opener.
“They’re a solid team all the way around. Good offense and defense, good pitching, very similar to a team like St. Mary’s,” Aiello said of Cardinal Spellman. “We’re gonna have our work cut out for us but we’ll prepare (Tuesday) at practice and get right back to work.”