No. 5 Peabody’s season came to an end on June 4 with a 5-0 loss to No. 21 King Philip Regional at home in the Division 1 softball tournament. It was only the second time all year that the Tanners were shut out, the first coming at the hands of cross-city rival Bishop Fenwick, 1-0, in a walk-off.
All you need to know is King Philip brought its “A” game – and then some. The Warriors lineup, from top to bottom, hit the ball hard, pounding out eight hits (four of them doubles).
Sophomore pitcher McCoy Walsh delivered a dominant performance, allowing only four hits (all singles). She struck out 11, walked two, and, at one point, retired 15 consecutive batters before being touched for back-to-back singles by Logan Lomasney (1-for-3) and Lizzy Bettencourt (2-for-3) in the bottom of the sixth.
But Peabody’s fate may have been determined right away in the first inning. The Tanners had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the inning on an Abby Bettencourt walk, a Lizzy Bettencourt single, and an Avery Grieco walk. But Walsh recovered with two strikeouts to escape. She went on to retire the next 13 Tanners in order.
“We had opportunities early and she (Walsh) made her pitches,” said Peabody coach Steve Lomasney. “We didn’t put the ball in play, but that’s just part of the game. We just didn’t execute in certain situations and they did. I tip my cap to them for that. They hit the ball hard and they didn’t miss too many pitches. We put ourselves in some difficult spots and they executed. They did what we didn’t do and that’s why they won.”
The good news was, the Tanners had a few defensive gems to write home about.
In the second, Abby Bettencourt snared a line-drive and, in a bang-bang play, fired to first to double up a baserunner. In the fourth, left fielder Alanna Sweeney chased down a long ball into the corner and hit the cutoff man, Abby Bettencourt, who went right to Kiley Doolin at third to cut down a runner trying to stretch a double into a triple.
In the sixth, the Tanners ended a threat to blow the game wide open when Grieco grabbed a liner to center and cut down a Warrior attempting to tag up from third.
“Great catch and throw by Avery and a great tag at the plate by Kaylee (DiNicola),” Lomasney said. “You don’t see plays like that in the big leagues too often.”
But make no mistake about it. You could say King Philip (13-9) wasn’t a No. 21 team, and the game should have been the stuff of a Final 4 or Elite 8 round, not the Round of 16.
The Warriors were forced to forfeit six wins after the MIAA determined the team had illegally used electronic communication devices to transmit information between players and coaches, without prior authorization as required under National High School Federation rules. In a press release issued by the MIAA in late May, the MIAA stated the device was used to send pitch calls from the dugout into the catcher’s helmet in direct violation of the rule due to the fact that “NFHS Softball did not approve the use of the device.”
Lomasney, however, made no excuses.
“Unfortunately, that’s the way tournament brackets work. You have one chance to get it done,” he said. “Kudos to them. They came into our field and they got it done after dropping to a 21 seed and going on the road every game, and now they are doing what they need to do. They did a great job.”
The Tanners finished the spring at 18-4. Despite the loss, Lomasney said he was “super, super proud” of his team.
For senior captains Abby Bettencourt, Logan Lomasney, and Grieco, as well as Sweeney, Payton Petrillo and Doolin, the game was the last time to don Peabody blue.
Steve Lomasney said he is deeply appreciative of the contributions the six seniors made to the program.
“I told the girls this game doesn’t dictate what those girls have done in this city,” he said. “They’ve carried on a tradition of excellence and to be at the top of the state every single year and doing what they’re done, over and over again, is incredible. The talent that’s coming back up through the younger ranks is there. Obviously, our seniors have been great across the board and have been some of the best softball players in the state. They’ve been that way for a few years now and they’ve cemented themselves as my future Peabody Athletic Hall of Famers.”
