ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Peabody right fielder Penelope Spack tries to hold onto a fly ball.
By ANNE MARIE TOBIN
WOBURN — It was mission accomplished for the Jesse Burkett Major League division softball all-stars last night at Gonsalves Field.
Burkett rolled to a 12-4 victory over Peabody, completing a two-game sweep.
Burkett took the lead in the first inning and kept its foot on the gas the rest of the way to close out the Tanners.
“We have nothing to hang our heads about, to finish as the second best team in Massachusetts is something to be proud of and these memories will stay with them the rest of their lives,” said Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt. “It was very, very emotional at the end, but the bottom line was we lost to a better team. That’s about all you can say, we just were beaten by a very good, very talented and well-coached AAU team.”
Burkett jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning on RBI singles by Ava Bogosian and Elle Murray, and a dropped fly ball in the outfield.
After allowing another unearned run in the second, the wheels came off for the Tanners in the third inning when Burkett sent 10 batters to the plate, the first four of whom scored to stretch Burkett’s lead to 8-0.
Burkett starter Hailey Hill retired the first nine batters in a row before counterpart Abby Bettencourt reached on an infield error in the top of the fourth. She was erased on a grounder off the bat of Emma Bloom. Next up was Isabel Bettencourt, who smashed a long triple to the center field fence to get Peabody on the board. Sarah Broughton followed with a sharp grounder to third to Lily Johnson, who faked the throw to first and flipped to shortstop Nora Murphy to catch Bettencourt as she was scrambling back to the third base bag.
“That play showed how disciplined they are and how they really know the game,” said Mark Bettencourt. “Their third baseman pump fakes and gets Bo off third, who is one of our better baserunners, then goes right to the shortstop and picks Bo off. It was a great play on her (Johnson’s) part. Honestly, she faked me out, I never saw it coming.”
Burkett padded the lead with a solo run in the fifth and three more (all unearned) in the top of the sixth.
Peabody showed some fight in its half of the final inning, taking advantage of a couple of rare mistakes by Burkett to put three runs on the board. Hailey Roach led off with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball and third when Abby Bettencourt’s grounder to short was booted. Bloom doubled Roach home, then Abby Bettencourt scored when Isabel Bettencourt’s grounder to short was booted with Bloom taking third. Two pitches later, Bloom scored on a passed ball to make it 12-4.
Sarah Broughton looked to keep the rally going only to be robbed by first baseman Emma Gniadek, who snared a line drive to rob Broughton of extra bases. Hill got the last two Tanners on strikes to seal the title.
“It’s been five years since the 12-year-old team won in 2012 and this was definitely a goal for all the girls on this team to get back to that point to bring the banner home and go to Bristol,” said Burkett coach Sean Murray. “I said this after the last game, and I say it again, we beat a very talented and well-coached team in Peabody. We needed all of our girls to contribute to beat them, and as coaches we were very happy to see them all make this happen.”
After receiving their finalist medals, the Tanners’ tears were turned into cheers when Bettencourt received word that the Tanners’ 10-year-old all stars had defeated Saugus 14-1 at Cy Tenney Field to capture the District 16 championship.
“They are running around the field with the banner,” Bettencourt said much to the delight of the Peabody crowd. “It’s tough when it ends, as you start out as an all-star team, then it’s your all-star team, and then it’s family. I have two daughters on this team, but it feels like I have 12, so it’s sad when it ends.
“Now that the 10s are still in it, I think we all feel a little bit better now that we are on to another roller-coaster ride for Peabody Tanners softball.”