Led by an outstanding three-hit performance from Sarah Onorato ’11 and six innings of two-hit softball from pitcher Caroline Gattuso ’09, Andover was able to crush its opponent, The Nobles & Greenough School, with a score of 7-2. Andover got on the board first by taking advantage of crucial mistakes by Nobles. With two runners on base and two outs, Captain Sarah Boylan ’09 hit a one-hopper to the shortstop. The Nobles shortstop then proceeded to throw the ball away to give Andover its first run. Another run was scored when Gattuso hit a single to right that skipped by the right fielder. Riley Gardner ’10 then knocked in Gattuso with a single to left. Nobles answered by scoring two unearned runs in the next inning, but Andover rebuilt its lead by putting a four spot on the board in the fourth inning. Onorato drove home Alayna Garbarino ’10 with a single to center, and Gardner singled home another run. Andover then tacked on two more runs to pull ahead 7-2 and put Nobles away for good. Gattuso pitched lights out in the fifth and sixth innings. Jackie Higgins ’12 then came in for relief to finish off Nobles. Andover’s offense was a team effort in this game, as everyone contributed in some way to help the team score seven runs. “We were able to pull away from Nobles because everyone contributed at the plate,” said Garbarino. The team was led by multi-hit games from Onorato, Gardner, and Shannon McSweeney ’11. Onorato is now a superb six for seven in the team’s two games. “Sarah has picked up where she left off in ’08 and has been our early hitting star,” said Coach Peter Drench. Gattuso backed up her stellar Andover debut with another strong outing, notching six strikeouts over her six innings of work. Higgins made her regular season debut and was sharp in her one inning. “Caroline pitched well, as she kept Nobles off the scoreboard and kept us in the game,” said Garbarino. The pitchers were backed up by a rock solid defense that made almost every play. In particular, Boylan was like a vacuum at shortstop, as she turned every groundball into an out. Coach Drench considers his captain a defensive star. This week, Andover has two consecutive games on Friday and Saturday. The team first travels to Middlesex and then hosts Choate the next day. If Andover can continue its solid play, it could come out of the weekend with a 4-0 record heading into the bulk of its schedule.
