Captain Melissa Tetreau ’06 powered a line drive into left field last Saturday, going four for five and offensively leading the Andover Softball team to its crushing 13-1 victory over North Reading. Going into the game, North Reading held an impressive 8-1 record, and Head Coach Drench warned Andover that the Hornets might be its toughest opponent yet. By the end of the game, however, it was clear which rival was the stronger team. Pitcher Claire Fox ’06 started off in the pitching circle for Andover, contributing a solid five innings. Andover gave up only a single run in the first inning, retaliating by scoring 13 over the course of the game. Andover’s powerful play in the last three innings of the game exemplified the team’s strength and stamina. Andover held a significant 7-1 lead going into the fifth inning, when the bats really came alive, seeing big hits from Veda Eswarappa ’08, Captain Tetreau, shortstop Lindsay Maroney ’07, and Jamie Love ’06. The team went into the top of the sixth with a comfortable 10-1 lead. Said Maroney, “Going into the game, we knew that North Reading would be a tough opponent, but we didn’t let that affect our mindset. We came out with an optimistic attitude, and showed continuing improvement by playing in one of our best performances of the year. “ Sarah Boylan ’09 succeeded Fox in the circle, and with the help of an able infield, with Tetreau at third, shortstop Maroney, Love at second , and first baseman Arianna Wilkinson ’06, North Reading’s offense was quickly silenced. The bottom of the sixth saw Andover’s capitalization on defensive errors, earning two runs off Stephanie Clegg ’08 hit. Fox’s RBI would close the inning with Andover at 13-1. Andover’s game against Cushing saw the team defeating an overmatched team with much less experience. Right off the bat, Andover scored over ten runs in the first inning, beginning with Clegg’s big hit and from then on was unstoppable. Boylan started off pitching for Andover, pitching the first five innings before Eswarappa came in to clean up. Said Boylan of the easy win, “When I saw Cushing coming out for the game, I knew it was going to be a pretty easy win, and that meant time for me to work on my stuff and get more experience. Even though we came out on top, we still need to work hard for the rest of the season. There won’t be any more easy games.” Before Andover could absorb the awesome win, it played another game against a much abler Tabor team. . Pitcher Claire Fox ’06 started off pitching earning a fantastic 8 strikeouts, and was succeeded by Veda Eswarappa in the 6th inning. Said Eswarappa of the play that day, “I felt that the team did a good job executing defensively on Saturday. We were a little spoiled during our first game because the Cushing defense was pretty weak, and we could’ve dropped to their level and risked our level of play against Tabor. But, we were able to keep our heads in the second game and make some key defensive plays.”
