MARBLEHEAD — Marblehead pitcher Charlotte Plakans had herself quite a game Tuesday afternoon, tossing a no-hitter against Winthrop in a 12-0 five-inning win at Marblehead Middle School. Plakans went all five innings for the Magicians, allowing no walks and striking out eight.
“She was in full control today,” said Marblehead coach Johnny Gold. “She’s a great player and she works awfully hard every day, so it’s good to see her have a performance like this.”
Plakans also went 1-for-1 at the plate with two walks and a RBI, while Mercedes Pelletier (1-for-3, triple) and Jolie Quintana (1-for-2, double) and Rachel Saulnier (1-for-2) led the way with two RBI apiece. Megan Monahan, Emma Ferrante and Abby Schwartz each had one RBI in the victory.
Marblehead only had six hits, but all of them came when the bases were packed with runners. The Magicians also took advantage of miscues by Winthrop, using the Vikings’ wild pitching (six walks, three hit batters) and inconsistent fielding (four errors) to their advantage.
“It’s tough to judge how well we’re hitting just because we benefited from some errors and all the walks,” said Gold. “But what I can say I’m happy with is the way that we took advantage of our opportunities when we had them. When there were multiple runners on base, we knocked them in. So that was good to see.”
The Magicians got things going in the bottom of the first after Plakans singled. Next up was Quintana, who roped a RBI double to left field to make it 1-0 Marblehead.
The score remained there until the bottom of the third inning, which is when the Magicians made did their heavy lifting. Marblehead quickly loaded up the bases with no one out after a single and two errors, then got one run home when Plakans drew a RBI walk. Quintana then got hit by a pitch to bring home another run before Monahan walked as well. Ferrante and Schwartz added RBI as well before Saulnier stepped in and cleared the bases with a 2-RBI double. When the dust cleared, Marblehead held a 8-0 lead.
Marblehead grabbed two more runs in the bottom of the fourth, one on a passed ball and one on a throwing error, to make it 10-0.
Meanwhile, Plakans was shutting the door on Winthrop’s hitters. With a mix of fastballs and offspeed pitches, Plakans was able to keep the Vikings off balance at all times and only allowed contact against a couple of hitters. Winthrop’s lone base runner reached via error in the top of the first inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, with only two more runs needed to reach the mercy rule limit, Pelletier stepped in with runners on second and third and laced a 2-RBI triple to bring the game to a close.
Winthrop (1-2) will host Beverly Wednesday morning (10).
Next up for Marblehead (1-1) is a Northeastern Conference battle against rival Swampscott.
“Those games against Swampscott are always tough every year,” Gold said. “I don’t know what they have for pitching this year, but I do know that they have a couple of players who are very good. So I’m expecting a very good, hard-fought game.”
Marblehead and Swampscott will play Wednesday afternoon (4).