Softball Sweeps Wentworth, 4-2 And 11-0 (5 Inn.)

BEVERLY, Mass. — The Endicott softball team swept Wentworth, 4-2 and 11-0 (5 Inn.), in Friday afternoon's Conference of New England (CNE) doubleheader.

GAME ONE: ENDICOTT 4, WENTWORTH 2

WP (5-3): Analise Grady (Reading, Mass.) — 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
LP (4-8): Julia Malowitz (Methuen, Mass.) — 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

The Leopards jumped out to a quick 2-0 start in the first inning after smashing a two-run homer to right center field.

However, Grady recovered from the early blow, and stymied the Leopards throughout the remainder of the matchup.

The Blue and Green cut their deficit in half in the second, as Abby McClaflin (Easthampton, Mass.) doubled home Elyse Saccoccio (Coventry, R.I.) for the first Endicott run of the afternoon.

It remained a 2-1 contest until the bottom of the sixth, when the Gulls' bats came to life. 

With two away in the frame, Chloe Shapleigh (Lynnfield, Mass.) drilled a double into the left center field gap to score Mia Mitchell (Medford, Mass.) from first, evening the game at two apiece. Then, Saccoccio doubled down the left field line to give the Gulls their first lead of the day at 3-2. Paige Berdos (Plainville, Mass.) tacked on another Endicott run with her RBI single into right, scoring Saccoccio from second to provide some insurance.

In the top of the seventh, Grady retired the Leopards in order (groundout, popout, lineout) to lock up the game one win.

GAME TWO: ENDICOTT 11, WENTWORTH 0 (5 INN.)

WP (3-4): Jaylin Couto (Taunton, Mass.) — 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
LP (6-5): Julie Schriver (Moscow, Pa.) — 0.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

After the tight game one, the Gulls' bats exploded early and often to down the Leopards by mercy-rule in game two.

The Gulls scored six runs in the first inning alone to take a commanding hold on the contest right out of the gate.

Christina Nowicki (Chelsea, Mass.), Mitchell, Saccoccio, Berdos, and Ella Tower (Windham, N.H.) all picked up base hits in the productive first inning.

The Blue and Green went on to add another run in the second (Berdos RBI single), three more in the third (Nowicki RBI double; Mitchell and Shapleigh both had RBI groundouts), and another run in the fourth (Nowicki sac fly).

Meanwhile, Couto picked up where Grady left off, as she too befuddled the Wentworth offense in her four innings of work.

Hadley Marchand (Andover, Conn.) came on to close out game two in the top of the fifth, and did so successfully after inducing a groundout, lineout, and fielder's choice to seal the sweep.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Gulls advance to 49-2-1 all-time against the Leopards.
• Nowicki, Mitchell, Berdos, and Tower all logged multi-RBI performances in game two.
• Couto (45 career wins) is just two wins shy of third most in program history (47).
• Kyla Story (Salisbury, Mass.) made a pinch-hit appearance in the bottom of the fourth inning of game two. She picked up the second hit of her career with a clean single into center field.
• Grady pitched seven innings for the fourth time in her career.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (14-9, 8-1 CNE) hosts Nichols tomorrow afternoon in another CNE doubleheader (12/2 PM). Senior Day festivities will take place prior to game one. Wentworth (11-17, 1-7 CNE) hosts UNE tomorrow in a CNE doubleheader (12/2 PM). 

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(Photo Credit - Charlie Jaferian '28)