GROVELAND — It’s always fun to see a heavyweight matchup right out of the gate.
Then again, with how strong softball projects to be in the CAL this spring, you don’t get very many easy nights. Pentucket and Newburyport were right up there challenging with Triton and North Reading for the Kinney championship last year, and the two rivals got to start off their 2024 campaigns going face-to-face on a beautiful Monday afternoon at Groveland Pines.
And the game lived up to the early-season hype.
Trailing by four runs in the top of the seventh, Newburyport fought back and had the tying run at the plate with only one out. But with nerves of steel, flamethrower Molly LeBel struck out the final two batters of the game with some serious heat, leading Pentucket to a hard-fought win over the Clippers, 8-6. Now a junior, LeBel posted an even 200 Ks a season ago and was named a Daily News All-Star, and started off the new year with just seven scattered hits and 14 punchouts to navigate a tough Clippers lineup.
“It’s a battle every time we play them,” said Pentucket coach Deb Smith, who coaches a few of the Newburyport athletes on her Rage Softball AAU team. “I know a lot of those (Newburyport) girls. We love to beat them, but we want to see them have success, too. We got the hits today when the runners were on base, that was the difference.”
The majority of those clutch hits came in the fourth inning.
Newburyport struck quickly with a run in the top of the first, then opened up a 4-0 lead in the third when All-Star catcher Grace Habib launched a three-run home run over the fence in center. Pentucket responded with RBI-singles from Sarah Freitas and Izzy Hackett in the bottom half, but for the most part, Clippers’ senior pitcher Emily Meleedy was dialed in through the first three innings.
Which, was to be expected.
A three-time Daily News All-Star, Meleedy is entering her fourth season as the team’s starting pitcher. And for her entire career, she’s had Habib helping her out behind the plate, as the two have developed a chemistry that not a lot of teams can say they have.
“It’s awesome,” said Newburyport coach Bob Gillespie. “They’re both very reliable, and you can see that they don’t try to run on Grace. And I thought Emily pitched well today.”
But some timely hits, and some costly miscues, changed the game.
The Panthers exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, jumping out to an 8-4 lead that they wouldn’t give up. Some errors helped, but Hackett and Michaela Gabardi each had two-run singles in the frame, and both Emma Burkinshaw and Kayla Murphy had big hits. The Panthers lost five starters from a season ago, but appear to have the youth movement available to keep them contenders in the Kinney.
Just look at this.
Freitas (4-for-4) is a sophomore who was batting third, coupled with a pair of freshmen in Gabardi (2-for-3) and Burkinshaw (1-for-4). Then of course you have the “old heads” with the strong junior class of LeBel, Murphy, Jocelyn Bickford (3 walks), and Mia Bartholomew, along with Hackett who is a senior. If those young athletes had nerves, though, they didn’t show them.
“We lost five starters, so we have four freshmen starters out there,” said Smith. “That’s not easy to do, and they all did an amazing job. That’s a lot of pressure against a really good team, so I thought they did really well. And then our seasoned girls really crushed it today. Everyone played their part.”
But Newburyport wasn’t about to leave before making it a little interesting.
Cassidy Bolcome drew a leadoff walk in the seventh, stole second and scored on a single by Emma Keefe (3-for-4). LeBel got a groundout before an error plated another, but with the tying run at the plate, the junior took a deep breath and got her 13th and 14th strikeouts of the day to end the game.
“(Pentucket) played a really good game,” said Gillespie. “They made less errors than us, less mistakes, and we’ve got some young kids out there. Today we had three freshmen starting, and it takes a little while. But we’ll work at it and be alright.”
Pentucket 8, Newburyport 6
Newburyport (6): Cassidy Bolcome cf 3-1-0, Emma Keefe ss 4-3-3, Emily Meleedy p 2-1-0, Grace Habib c 4-1-2, Sophie Lavelle 2b 3-0-1, Clara Thompson 1b 4-0-0, Keira Dowell rf 3-0-1, Lyla Thompson 3b 3-0-0, Riley Merty lf 3-0-0. Totals 29-6-7
Pentucket (8): Jocelyn Bickford 3b 1-2-0, Kayla Murphy ss 3-2-1, Sarah Freitas 2b 4-1-4, Caitlin McCoy cf 4-0-0, Izzy Hacket dp 4-1-1, Keira Pennie c 4-0-1, Mia Bartholomew lf 4-0-1, Michaela Gabardi 1b 3-1-2, Emma Burkinshaw rf 4-1-1. Totals 31-8-11.
RBI: P — Freitas 2, Hackett 2, Gabardi 2, Murphy, Burkinshaw; N — Habib 4, Keefe
HR: N — Habib
WP: LeBel (7 IP, 14 Ks); LP: Meleedy
Newburyport (0-1): 1 0 3 0 0 0 2 — 6
Pentucket (1-0): 0 0 2 6 0 0 x — 8