ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Kelsie Blake makes solid contact, but she and the other Peabody hitters couldn’t get any hits to fall Wednesday.
By KATIE MORRISON
WORCESTER — After racking up 53 runs over the course of four games during the New England portion of the Little League Senior Softball East Regional, the Peabody bats were stymied by Pennsylvania pitcher Courtney Hess, who tossed a no-hitter as Pennsylvania rolled to a 5-0 win in the semifinals, ending Peabody’s dominant run.
“(Pennsylvania) was the best team we’ve faced,” said Peabody coach Keith LeBlanc. “We knew we’d face them at some point. (Hess) pitched outstanding.”
Peabody’s Mallory LeBlanc didn’t pitch poorly either, but ran into a powerful Pennsylvania lineup. LeBlanc rolled through the first inning, allowing just a two-out bloop hit before getting the cleanup hitter, Brienna Carter, to pop up to the catcher.
In the second, LeBlanc avoided trouble as she pitched around two walks and an error. Janine Goggin snagged a hot shot to center for the first out. A pop-up to Alyssa Alperen at second and a strikeout allowed Peabody to escape the inning unscathed.
Peabody’s luck would run out in the third inning. A leadoff walk and hit batter put two on with nobody out, followed by a single to load the bases. Carter knocked in the first run for Pennsylvania with a long sacrifice fly to center. Goggin’s throw missed the cut-off, which brought in another run, making it 2-0. Selaina Dragosavac drove in the third run with a two-out single.
That’d be all the offense Pennsylvania would need with Hess shutting down the Tanners’ offense. The second time through the order, Peabody hitters made better contact (Caroline Kukas was the first to reach the outfield with a fly to right) but they couldn’t get hits to drop in.
In the fourth, another leadoff walk led to trouble for LeBlanc. A double from Pennsylvania’s Haley Hess brought in its fourth run, and LeBlanc fanned Carter to end the threat.
The story was similar in the fifth. Again, a leadoff walk led to a run for Pennsylvania, as Dragosavac singled in the run.
“Mallory wasn’t getting the low strikes, but she has to adjust,” said Keith LeBlanc. “But that’s a very good-hitting team, and they battled in every at-bat.”
The Tanners battled to the final out, and sparked their only rally of the game in the seventh. Amanda Crawford was down to her last strike, but fouled off a couple of pitches and managed to work a walk, breaking up the perfect game. Alperen followed suit, taking four straight balls as Hess began to struggle with command.
But after a meeting in the circle, Hess settled down to strike out Kristina Rossignoll for the final out.
“They made every play, and we didn’t make a lot of contact,” said Keith LeBlanc, who said that Hess’ riseball and high velocity was what threw off Peabody hitters. “Everything was hit right to them.”
Regardless of the result of the final game, the Tanners had a season to remember. They went undefeated in their first 11 games, and made it further in the tournament than ever before.
“I’m so proud of them,” said Keith LeBlanc. “This is the best Peabody Little League softball team we’ve ever had. We got some new players and got better, and had a great run.”