Fueled by a complete game
pitched by Ravenne Nasser
’15, Andover Softball defeated Worcester 7-2 on Saturday.
Nasser came within two outs
of a perfect game, but ended
up surrendering two hits and
two runs in the seventh inning.
“It wasn’t a fluke that
Ravenne retired the first 19
batters in Saturday’s game.
She had good command of
her fastball and mixed in
enough other pitches to keep
Worcester guessing,” wrote
Head Coach Peter Drench in
an e-mail to The Phillipian.
Nasser finished the night
with six strikeouts, a 0.43
WHIP and her second win of
the season.
Andover’s offense was also
firing, with the team exploding for 13 hits and seven runs
at the plate. Co-Captain Kayla Maloney ’13 finished the
day a perfect 5-5 at the plate,
missing only a triple in her attempt to hit for the cycle.
“[Maloney] is a tremendous hitter; confident and
aggressive. She goes up to bat
expecting to hit, enjoying the
challenge of facing any pitcher. Kayla packs surprising
power into her swing, a result of her own strength and
bat speed. She’s not only our
leading run-preventer as a
pitcher, but our top run-producer too,” said Drench.
Andover’s highlight of
the afternoon came midway
through the game, when the
team broke out for five runs
in the fifth inning. Co-Captain Abby Chung ’13 began
the rally with a walk, and advanced to second base on a
wild pitch. Maloney then singled, moving Chung over to
third base. With runners on
the corners, Nikki Pelletier
’13 singled, driving in Chung
and moving Maloney over to
third base. Pelletier finished
the day 4-5 with two RBIs.
Erica Shin ’16 followed
with a carefully-placed bunt,
bringing home Maloney and
reaching base on a fielder’s choice error. Victoria
Bergeron ’16 then laid down
a sacrifice bunt, allowing Pelletier to score and Shin to enter scoring position.
Kayla Thompson ’15 then
roped a double into left field,
sending Shin home for the
fourth run of the inning.
With two outs, Kasey Hartung ’14 continued the rally,
driving in Thompson with a
single to left field. Andover
closed out its scoring in the
sixth inning off a homerun
from Maloney.
On Wednesday, Andover
Softball emerged victorious
again, beating BB&N 5-1.
From the mound, Maloney
limited BB&N to three hits
and one run en route to her
fourth win of the season.
BB&N took an early lead,
but Andover was quick to respond, scoring three runs off
a hit batter, three walks and
three wild pitches in the second inning.
In the fourth inning, Andover’s offense went back
to work, with Maloney hitting a lead-off single to left
field. Pelletier followed with
a double, sending Maloney
over to third and putting two
runners in scoring position.
Caitlin Clancy ’13 then
stepped up to plate and
knocked in Maloney and
Pelletier with a single. Andover had games scheduled
against Lawrence Academy
and Deerfield, but they were
cancelled due to rain.
The team will look to use
its momentum from Worcester and BB&N to step up into
the spotlight and capture
The Big East Tournament,
which begins on Saturday
