King Philip Softball Defeats Norwood For Division 1 South Championship

Norwood (21-0) was able to get to King Philip's Meg Rico for two runs in the MIAA Division 1 South Softball Championship game; more runs than the junior right-hander gave up all season long.

In the long run, though, it was the bats of the Warriors that got to the Mustang pitcher Ali Maloof as KP grabbed a 4-2 win and its second title in as many years.

Friday night, the music stopped on Alyssa Siegmann. The junior center-fielder pounded out three hits, all singles; chased Jenn Robillard home for the game's first run and scored twice. Siegmann had a hand in three of KP's four runs and was locked in.

"Before the game I was really focused, had the adrenaline going, but stayed within myself," she said. "I knew that I had to get the job done whenever Coach asked me to and that's what I did tonight."

Robillard opened the game with a triple down the third base line and would score on Siegmann's single down the first base line. Mega Carnase was hit by a pitch and, following a double steal, KP had runners on second and third with no one out. Unfortunately, the Warrior's couldn't capitalize and Norwood hurler Ali Maloof set down the four, five and six hitters via the strikeout to escape any further damage.

The Warriors upped its lead to two with an RBI double off the bat of Anna Kelley in the third. Kelley would move up a base on a passed ball, but again KP stranded her there as Maloof fanned the next two batters.           

On the mound, Rico was breezing through the Mustang lineup like a knife through butter. The junior sent 8 of the first 9 Norwood batters back to the dugout via the strikeout. Only Makenna Lane was able to put the bat on the ball, popping up to Robillard at short.

The fourth inning was a different story.  After walking Maloof, Sarah Eckhardt beat out a bunt leaving runners on first and second. For the next batter, Coach Carol Savino had Maloff going for the steal at third. When catcher Olivia Godin's throw got by Anna Kelley, the Mustang pitcher scampered home to cut the KP lead in half.

"They're a great team, but they have weakness just like the rest of us. We stole twice off Godin and she's a great catcher," Savino said. "We caught them off-balance and it only proves — and I tell the kids this all the time — that if you make things happen, they'll happen."

Rico got out of the inning with three pop-ups, but not before Norwood cleanup hitter Lauren Duggan battled her for 20 pitches. Rico would get her revenge in the seventh when she threw three straight pitches past Duggan.

"Duggan's a real good hitter, and we knew that," KP coach Jim Leonard said. "That at-bat was just a war."

The teams would trade runs, bringing the score to 3-2 going into the bottom of the sixth. Carnase would triple home Siegmann in the bottom of the fifth, while Norwood would use a double off the bat of sophomore Kayla Garczynski to score on a ground out by Eckhardt in the top of the sixth.

Holding onto a slim one run lead going into what they had hoped would be their final at bat, Cayleigh McCarthy came through once again in the clutch.

With one out, the junior first baseman blasted a shot some 230 feet down the left-field line, over the fence and deep into the trees to give KP some breathing room.

That's all Rico would need, as  she shut the door in the seventh with two strikeouts. Jillian Shepherd ended the game as strikeout victim number 11.

"The second I saw it, I wasn't actually sure if it would get out. I thought that I got a little under it, so I put my head down and hoped that it went out," McCarthy said. "I heard one of my coaches say, 'Don't think about it, just swing,' right before I got the pitch, and that's exactly what I did."

Savino praised the Warriors for their win, but vowed to see them next year.

"They have the whole package simply because they have 15 players that play summer ball, that makes a big difference," the Norwood Coach said. "But we're a young team, and we'll be back here next year, there's no doubt in my mind."

That may be true, but for now the Mustangs go home, while the Warriors will be back in Taunton on Tuesday night at 7pm to take on the Division 1 North winner (Central Catholic and Acton Boxboro meet Saturday) in the State Semi-Finals.