Michelle Hollebeke ’08 blasted two homeruns in the opening game of the annual Big East Tournament, as the Andover softball team dominated B B & N in a 10-0 romp last Saturday. Andover rode the momentum throughout the rest of the tournament, tallying two more wins before falling to Lawrence Academy in the finals. In the second game of the day on Saturday, Andover lacked offensive power. The pitching, however, was still dominant; as Hollebeke tossed a complete game as Andover slipped by Worcester Academy, 2-1. The next day, Andover played its best to beat out the top seed of the tournament, Tabor Academy, by a score of 3-2 in the semi-finals. Andover, with a 11-3 record entering Saturday’s competition, was seeded second. The ranking earned them a spot against seventh- seeded Buckingham Browne & Nichols, and Andover controlled the game easily. Veda Eswarappa ’08 made the opening game start and was fantastic, striking out three in six innings of work, while walking none and allowing just 5 singles. Andover had all of the offense it would need between Hollebeke and captain Stephanie Clegg ’08, who combined for three home runs and seven runs batted in on the game. Saturday’s second game wasn’t as lopsided, as Andover relied on the arm of Hollebeke against Worcester Academy in a game decided on a wild pitch. The winning run was scored by Caroline Kaufman ’10, who dashed home in the fourth inning after two wild pitches. With the two wins, Andover qualified for the semi-final match- up against top- seeded Tabor Academy early Sunday morning. Andover stayed poised and played well, as Hollebeke started again in Andover’s 3-2 victory. The win gave Andover an automatic birth to the tournament championship game against Lawrence Academy. In the finals, Andover suffered when ace Hollebeke was forced to leave the game in the second inning due to an injury. Lawrence Academy pounced on the opportunity, scoring 14 runs in the next three innings to beat out Andover.
