SAUGUS — The Swampscott softball team plated three runs in the first inning and never looked back, riding that momentum to a 7-1 win over Northeastern Conference foe Saugus Monday at Breakheart Reservation. The win, Swampscott’s first of the season, was a long time coming for the Big Blue.
“The top of the order played really well (Monday) and that really helped our offense go,” said Swampscott coach Gary Moran. “But this was a pitching and defense game. We talk all the time about playing a full seven innings, and this is the first time all year we’ve actually done it. It was a real team win.”
Swampscott was led offensively by catcher Chloe Rakauskas, who went 4-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI. Nicolette Fraser (2-for-4), Katie Watts (2-for-4) and Riley Scanlon (0-for-4) had one RBI each, while Sydney Cresta (1-for-4) also had a hit.
In the circle, Caleigh Hopkins went the distance and earned the win, giving up one run on seven hits with three strikeouts.
For Saugus, Caitlyn Wood went 2-for-4 with a RBI. Alexa Ferraro went 2-for-4 with a triple, while DJ Munafo, Emma Howard and Nystasia Rowe each had one hit.
Wood pitched the whole game in the circle for the Sachems, allowing seven runs on nine hits with 10 strikeouts.
The downfall for the Sachems was leaving runners on base. Saugus left a runner stranded in scoring position four times, including leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth.
“We just couldn’t do anything when we had runners on base,” said Saugus coach Steve Almquist. “We made it too easy on them. We knew coming in that Swampscott was a good team and it was only a matter of time before they broke out, but when they did we just couldn’t match them with our offense.”
The Big Blue got things going right away in the top of the first. A pair of singles and a stolen base put runners at second and third for Watts, who beat out an infield single to bring home a run and make it 1-0. Next up was Rakauskas, who cleared the bases with a two-run double to put the Big Blue up 3-0.
Saugus answered right back in the bottom of the first, and it looked like this might be a back-and-forth game. Ferraro smacked a one-out triple to get into scoring position for Wood, who knocked a RBI single up the middle to make it 3-1.
But that was as close as the Sachems would get, as Swampscott snatched that run right back in the top of the second on a RBI double from Fraser to make it 4-1. From there, Hopkins did a great job of pitching to contact and allowing the Big Blue defense to do the work behind her. Hopkins pitched out of jams in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to keep her team in the lead.
Swampscott grabbed a few insurance runs in the top of the seventh, starting with a RBI single from Rakauskas to make it 5-1. The Big Blue got another run on a passed ball before Scanlon notched a RBI groundout to round out the scoring at 7-1.
Saugus (3-3) is hoping to play a make-up game against Winthrop Tuesday afternoon, but if not the Sachems will be back in action Wednesday (4) against Peabody.
Swampscott (1-5) hopes to continue its winning ways Wednesday (4) against Gloucester.
“We just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” said Moran. “It’s a learning process, as we’re a really young team but we’ve got some great senior leadership and we’ve just got to keep putting together a full performance.”