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Ipswich softball earns super win over Amesbury

Wednesday, May, 14 By Evan Mugford
Correspondent

AMESBURY | It was the showdown both teams had marked on their respective calendars all season long.

When the game finally came to fruition yesterday, the Chris Perry-driven Amesbury Indians, led by the pitcher-catcher tandem of captains Jordan Oliva and Kate Hathaway, sat tied with North Andover atop the Cape Ann League Division 1 standings.

In Division 2 of the CAL, Doug Woodworth's Ipswich squad posed the threat of a slugging machine, averaging 9<1/2> runs a game.

The game lived up to the billing with the Tigers staving off a late Indians' rally in a 5-4 victory at Amesbury Middle School.

Amesbury (12-4) has appeared mortal of late, losing three out of its last six. The other two losses during that stretch came against North Andover (10-3) and North Reading (13-3). The stretch of .500 ball is a far cry from the winning consistency Perry has established since he took over in 1986. Since that time, the Indians have captured four state titles and compiled a record of 454-82.

Ipswich (13-1), on the other hand, maintained its one-game lead over North Reading with the victory. The Hornets kept pace yesterday with an upset of North Andover.

In yesterday's Ipswich victory, the Tigers mounted a 4-0 lead through five innings and a 5-2 lead through six. Tigers ace Kerry Desmond (8 strike outs, 7 hits, 2 walks) appeared to tire late but escaped a dramatic Amesbury comeback in the bottom of the seventh that saw two runners stranded in scoring position.

"This is what we needed," said Woodworth. "The pressure is new for us, and we didn't handle it as well as should have. But this is why the game was so important. We needed to defend the lead against a great team who has had our number for a while."

Ipswich shortstop Emma Docking (1 for 3, 2 RBIs), was exhausted by game's end.

"My goodness. They're a really good team, but we pulled off some great plays to get the win," stated Docking. "Offensively and defensively it's been a really good day. We struggled a bit, but we managed to battle back.

"We have a very talented team," said Docking. "But the way we hung in there was spectacular."

After a Desmond home run put Ipswich on the board in the second, the Tigers stretched the lead to 4-0 in the fifth. Tiffany DeFrancesco, Jackie Hulbert and Docking had RBIs in the inning.

"We didn't make the big plays soon enough," said Perry. "The girls played hard and fought back, but we need to be more focused on the defensive end."

Amesbury plated two in the sixth to make it 4-2 | the first coming on Gabby Magnifico's RBI triple and the second coming on Katelyn Bartley's RBI single.

Desmond continued to labor in the seventh, placing herself in a bases-loaded, no-outs predicament. The Tigers senior recorded two outs without allowing a run before Magnifico had a two-run single. Desmond retired the final Amesbury batter on a popup to end it.

Amesbury junior Jackie Webber (3 for 3, triple, run scored) felt the late-inning rally showed her team's perseverance.

"It was definitely a tough loss," said Webber. "To lose the way we did, just when we thought we had them, that was hard. We're a really competitive team right now. We work hard and this loss isn't going to keep us down."