ITEM PHOTO: KATIE MORRISON
Saugus pitcher Brooke Westmoreland notched another win for the Sachems on Wednesday after beating Peabody.
By KATIE MORRISON
PEABODY — The Saugus softball team is on a roll.
The Sachems slugged their way to their fifth straight win, beating Peabody, 13-5, on the road on a rainy Wednesday afternoon.
Saugus has beaten some of the most formidable teams in the Northeastern Conference over the past couple weeks, taking down Classical, Revere and Danvers.
Wednesday, it looked as if the Sachems’ winning streak might come to an end. But a huge 11-run sixth inning gave them a sizable lead.
Saugus couldn’t get much going offensively early. Peabody struck first as Alyssa Alperen hit a leadoff single off of Saugus pitcher Brooke Westmoreland. A bunt single moved her to second, and she came home on an error. The Sachems got the run back in the second, as Caity Sheehan drew a leadoff walk and scored on a three-base error.
Peabody scored three in the fourth without the benefit of a hit. Four walks and a sacrifice fly from Kaitlin Thibodeau-Corey gave the Tanners a 4-1 lead. Alperen drove in the fourth run with a bases-loaded walk that she had to battle for, fouling off several pitches before taking ball four.
The Sachems had something cooking in the fifth. A fielder’s choice with a runner on and singles from Emma Howard and Pauline Ascolese loaded the bases with two outs, but freshman pitcher Tianna Dawe got Westmoreland to ground out to escape the jam.
She wouldn’t be able to elude damage in the sixth, however.
A leadoff single from Sheehan set the wheels in motion for a Saugus eruption. With the rain starting to come down steadily and the temperature dropping, Dawe began to lose command. She got Alessia Salzillo to ground into a fielder’s choice for a quick out, but then the wheels fell off.
Jillian Cooper was hit with the bases loaded, and then Shannon Gayron drew a walk to push the runners along and bring Saugus within one. Howard smacked a bases-loaded single to bring across the tying run, and Ascolese’s single gave Saugus a 5-4 lead. Dawe walked Westmoreland before being lifted for Mallory LeBlanc.
“We made too many mistakes. Routine mistakes killed us,” said Peabody coach Butch Melanaphy. “Tianna had a tough outing, but the mistakes behind her hurt. She’s learning, it’s a learning curve. Saugus is a good team, no doubt about it. They’ve improved tremendously.”
LeBlanc also struggled to contain the Saugus offense. Sheehan drove in two with a booming double, Salzillo’s single scored two more, and Mikayla Niles narrowly missed a home run, instead settling for a RBI double. Cooper singled in a run before the Tanners could get out of the inning.
“I’ve never seen anything like that inning,” said Saugus coach Steve Almquist. “You tell the kids to keep fighting and hanging in there, they were hitting the ball hard all game, and you tell them eventually it’s going to fall. Luckily we got a couple breaks and were able to take advantage. I couldn’t be happier.”
Westmoreland settled down in the final two innings, allowing a run on Dawe’s single in the seventh, but otherwise kept the Peabody offense quiet. She also helped her cause with a solo home run, hit out of the park in dead center, in the seventh.
“She was getting a little frustrated, she was around the zone all game, and I told her to hang in there,” said Almquist. “She’s such a competitor. She does whatever I ask of her, she’s huge. A lot of games this year we haven’t given her any run support, so we finally broke out and gave her a little breathing room.”
The Sachems, who started the season 2-3, are now 7-3 at the halfway point in the season.
“We’re starting to figure some things out,” said Almquist. “We have a long ways to go, but this is a great win.”