Co-Captain Ravenne Nasser ’15 gave up no earned runs, and number one seed Nobles & Greenough’s only run came on an error in the seventh inning of the semifinal game of the Big East Championships on Sunday.
The tournament was changed to single elimination due to weather conditions.
Andover, the three-time defending champion, was the fifth seed out of eight teams this year.
Riding the momentum of a five-game winning streak which included a victory against BB&N, Andover defeated fourth-seeded BB&N 10-1 in the tournament’s first game.
“We came out in warmups with a lot of intensity and focus, and that really translated into a great game both defensively and offensively.” said shortstop Victoria Bergeron ’16. “We hit the ball well and all around just played like we wanted to win.”
Nasser toed the rubber for Andover with seven innings and five strikeouts. In the third inning, Nasser laced a home run over the left field wall to put Andover up 2-0. With momentum on its back, Andover unleashed its offensive prowess against BB&N.
Andover added a run in the fifth on a double steal from Sidney Holder ’16 to increase its lead to three. In the sixth, Andover racked up a five-run frame on just two hits. The team took advantage of numerous BB&N walks and errors.
With its win against BB&N, Andover moved on to its semifinal game against Nobles. Despite putting runners in scoring position for each of the first three innings, Andover was unable to produce runs.
“We played them really tough. It was probably one of our defensive games. They had a good pitcher and we didn’t make adjustments quick enough to score runs,” said Nasser.
Nasser continued to labor on the mound, allowing only two hits and striking out three in 6.1 innings. A single Nobles runner did not advance past first until the seventh inning.
In the seventh, back-to-back walks from Nasser put the winning run in scoring position.
A Nobles’ batter hit a weak grounder to second, but a high throw sailed into foul territory, allowing Nobles’ runner to score and give Nobles a 1-0 victory.
“Honestly I think [this game] shows that we have the ability to compete with every team in the league,” said Bergeron, “as long as we keep our focus for seven innings.”
Nobles, undefeated in the season to that point, ended up losing 4-1 in the championship to Tabor.
With only two graduating Seniors this year, expect Andover to return next year — with a vengeance.
Andover hopes to finish with a victory over archrival Exeter this Saturday.
