Walpole JV softball slaughtered Wellesley in a 15-0 victory on Wednesday, April 27. Freshman standout Stephanie Sem not only pitched a phenomenal no-hitter, but she also has been a offensive powerhouse at the plate too — a standout performance that has led to their now 9-2 record.
Wellesley started off the first inning looking for big hits, but Walpole got three quick outs. Freshman Lauren Regan lead off the game for Walpole by trying a slap bunt she had been working on. She made contact but was called out a first base. Freshman Stephanie Sem followed up with a base hit to left and then stole 2nd on the next pitch. With two outs, Freshman Mikayla Songin got a base hit to send Steph home putting Walpole up 1-0.
To start up the second inning, Wellesley came out with thier bats swinging looking to get that run back. Walpole stepped up and cut them off short with two strike outs and a pop up to third. When Walpole got their turn at the plate, the bats came up strong but only managed to get one run. Freshman Moira Crowley, Sophomore Andrea Lee and Freshman Casey Flinn got back to back to back base hits to load the bases. Head Coach Rachel Sprague looking for a big hit from Lauren Regan was disappointed when she fell short by striking out. Now with two outs, bases loaded the pressure was on for Steph. She came through with a big base hit to score Moira from third. Walpole now takes the lead 2-0.
In the third inning, Wellesley knew they had to get their bats going to get on the board with Walpole. With one out down, Steph walked the next two batters. The defense could not make an error if the ball was hit. The next two batters popped up to the infield , Walpole got out of the inning with a close call. Walpole’s bats came up huge in this inning to take another big lead over Wellesley. Mikayla started off the inning with a base hit and Sophomore Kelsey Flanagan followed with a double to score Mikayla. Sophomore Nicole Torigian reached second on an overthrow by the third basemen and allowed Kelsey to score. Lauren Regan was up with the bases loaded and ended up walking in a run. Steph Sem followed with a grounder and by fielder’s choice, Moira scored from third. With runners in scoring position Mikayla hit a double to score both runs increasing Walpole’s lead to 6-0.
In the fouth inning freshman pitcher Steph Sem came out firing, she dominated the last few games and it was no different for this game. She got all three outs in the fourth inning against Wellesley with two strike outs and a pop up right to her. Walpole was smashing balls left and right in this inning and just added more runs to their already substantial lead . Moira smashed a two run homer to left field increasing the girls enthusiasm to win the game. Mikayla Songin came up huge with a bases clearing triple to add three more runs to Walpole’s lead. It was going to be tough for Wellesley to catch up to Walpole’s 11-0 lead.
In the fifth inning, Steph shut out Wellesley once again and the Rebels went on to slaughter Wellesley 15-0. Steph pitched an outstanding came with 8 strike outs and no balls hit to the outfield. She pitched a very rare no hitter and laid out everything she had to prove she was the player of the game. The defense behind Steph held the no hitter for her when there were grounders and pop ups to the in field.
With the offensive and pitching talent of Sem, the JV Rebels are on a hot streak, and they will give their next opponents a run for their money.
