WESTFIELD – District 4 Champion Jack Barry Little League of Worcester emerged victorious Thursday evening, defeating District 2 host Westfield 26-2 in 11-12 year old softball majors action at Sadie Knox Field.
What began with hot and muggy conditions ended in the middle of the fourth inning with storm clouds hanging ominously overhead.
Jack Barry came out strong in the first inning, scoring 11 runs in the opening frame to give pitcher Olivia Valery ample run support going forward.
Westfield hitters had a difficult time with the visiting starter, who rang up three strikeouts in the bottom of the first and never looked back, as the Jack Barry All-Stars picked up right where they left off in the top of the second, working the count, earning walks and making contact with a stream of singles to bring the score up to 24-0.
The Westfield girls kept their heads up, though, and the top of the second saw them begin to chip away at the Worcester lead, with Catcher Hannah Baker poking a single off of Valery, and then promptly stealing second.
Second Baseman Taryn Queenin was up next and advanced to first before Valery regained her footing and struck out the next two Westfield batters.
A wild pitch from Valery to pitcher Madi Harmon in Westfield’s next at-bat was all Baker needed though, and the catcher streaked past Jack Barry catcher Gianna Simone from third to score for the home team.
The top of the third saw Harmon begin to show more confidence on the mound for Westfield, as she would surrender only two runs in the frame and induce two forceouts and a pop-up.
The bottom of the fourth would see Westfield notch one more run on a single by outfielder Leilani Marsh, who would drive in Baker, who registered her second single and second stolen base of the day minutes prior.
After the game, Westfield coach Jeff Gelinas was optimistic about his team’s performance.
“Our girls got together only a week ago,” he said. “Madi Harmon did a good job, she threw a lot of strikes. We put up two runs against an outstanding Jack Barry team.”
Westfield’s next contest will be Saturday evening with the location yet to be determined.
