Despite the rainy weather, on Wednesday April, 28, the Walpole Rebels faced the perviously undefeated Newton Noth Tigers at Jean Hayes Cole Field in Newton. Although the weather proved to be difficult the Rebels had a great game, and the surehanded defense backed up Senior Captain Sam Cametti’s strong pitching throughout the seven innings. Junior Victoria Richardson made an unbelievable catch in left field in the first inning, preventing Newton North runners from advancing into scoring position. Although Richardson made a great catch, the Tigers scored early on in the bottom of the first, gaining a one run lead over Walpole. The Rebels shook off the run and showed resiliency holding the Tigers for the rest of the game.
In the top of the third, with Senior Captain Stephanie Frye on first base, Sophomore Katie Cavaca stepped into the box and delivered an RBI triple. Cavaca’s headsup base running enabled her to steal home on a past ball, giving the Rebels a 2-1 lead. Cavaca and Frye both had a great game getting out five Newton runners attempting to steal. The Rebels maintained their lead for the remainder of the game, despite allowing the Tigers to have runners in scoring position in each of the final four innings.
The highlight of the game came in the sixth inning when the Tigers had bases loaded two outs. North player, Katie Caruso was on third and went for the delayed steal; however, the Rebels stopped another run when Cavaca threw to Frye who threw back to Cavaca to get Caruso at home and end the inning.
The Tigers proved to be inconsistent at the plate the rest of the game and were not able to take advantage of the opportunities they had to get runners across. The tigers weren’t getting the hits they needed in key situations. They ended up waiting until the final innings to try and make something happen but came up short. The Tigers proved to be inconsistent at the plate the rest of the game and were not able to take advantage of the opportunities they had to get runners across.
Coach Jim Duffy said,”The girls really did a great job today. They were able to overcome mistakes they made earlier in the season and really put a complete game together.” Coach Duffy put it perfectly. The Rebels were able to learn from and push past the mistakes they made earlier in the season. By playing solid defense and staying strong in tough situations the girls were able to come out victorious.
The Rebels played with more intensity in the long run and handed Newton North their first loss of the season. The Rebels competitive attitudes are going to help them out next week when they face their two toughest competitors, Milton and Norwood.
