001Welcome Clockers sports fans to a beautiful day here at Ashland Middle School for today's non-league softball contest between the Ashland varsity Clockers and Algonquin Regional High School representing the towns of Northborough and Southborough. I am Michael Kyra here once again to host a game at the lovely Hunt Field on the campus of Ashland Middle School. And today I am joined by long-time WACA broadcaster and tremendous all-around human being Josh Abrams. >> [laughter] >> Well, Mike, that's quite an intro. Thank you. It's good to be here. And I think we can refer to both of us as long-time WACA announcers. I It's interesting. I feel like between the two of us, we've probably announced about 100 games, but never together. This is our first time announcing a game together. You You probably have the majority of
002those games in that 100. Uh and I have to tell you while I'm thrilled to be able to do this game with you, Josh, my first choice was your son Chase, who who we know he's is a just fantastic broadcaster pursuing a a career and he's got quite the summer coming up for him. We'll talk about that throughout the broadcast, I think, because we're also very proud of the great things that Chase is doing. So, I think it's more important though right now we talk about this amazing Clockers softball team coming off uh the biggest win of the year yesterday against Keefe Tech. The The bats came alive for a 25-0 victory. But today they have their sights set on defeating non-league opponent Algonquin who comes into the game with a 5 and 3 record.
003And Algonquin is going to prove to be a tough competitor today, I think. Absolutely. And you know, you mentioned Clockers coming in hot. They've got They've got a nice uh six-game win streak going. The Titans with a three-game win streak of their own, although that might have gotten snapped yesterday. Um my news might be a little bit out of date. I had them at at 5 and 2, but you mentioned they're 5 and 3 now. So, um yeah, should be a good good game. Both teams coming in hot on a 50° 50° day here at Hunt Field. Yeah, it's a it's a little chilly. It's been chilly throughout the season, but hopefully the bats stay hot for Ashland. They have certainly done a great job up at the plate so far. The The Clockers today,
004I think the key to their victory is to be able to keep the bats going. One of the things about Algonquin is they don't score a lot of runs, but they also do not let up many runs. Uh the Titans are only allowing uh four runs per game and the Clockers typically average about 12 and 1/2 runs per game. So, we'll see if the Clockers offense can outshine the great defense of the Titans today. Absolutely. It looks like it it's a strong offensive team the Clockers are. They uh they've won a couple of close games, but most of their wins have been decisive. In fact, two of them, including yesterday's, by mercy rule. Yeah, they they really have gotten the bats going and and I would say that they have been led by four tremendous
005hitters at the top of the order. Um mainly Nico Eustaris, who will lead off today and play center field. Uh Nico is a returning Tri-Valley League All-Star who is probably right now a top candidate for Tri-Valley League Player of the Year. Uh beyond that, you have uh some tremendous freshmen, two fabulous freshmen. Uh Ava Vendetti and Bella Domestico have been hitting hot bats. And a real versatile veteran, Caroline Kyra, uh is second on the team with 16 hits hitting .571 right now. So, she brings a nice consistent approach to the plate. Absolutely. Yeah, I was doing a little research on Nico as well and uh a MetroWest Daily News player to watch. Threw a no-hitter earlier this year. And uh you mentioned today's starting pitcher, Bella Domestico, uh their best pitcher with a 2.50 ERA.
006Yeah, Bella's been a a welcome addition to this team. As a freshman, she has shown great poise in the circle. It looks like she's going to get the start today. So, why don't we go through the defensive lineup for the Clockers if you want to do that and I'll take care of the offense for for the Titans. Okay, sounds good. So, the uh Ashland defense, again, we mentioned Bella Domestico pitching. Uh catching Ava Vendetti. At first base, Caroline Kyra. Near and dear to our hearts. Second base, Haley Bennerman. Buterman. Haley Buterman is playing second. Buterman. I can't read my own handwriting. At shortstop, Maddie Sanders. At third base, Sophie Connors. And then in the outfield, we have Rebecca Kriegsman, Nico Eustaris, and Taylor Kotch. Yeah, we got that great offense that we talk about, but
007their defense has been pretty solid. We need them to step up today. We've got a couple newcomers in the lineup. Um Getting called up from the junior varsity squad today, Sophie Connors is making her varsity debut over at uh third base. And Maddie Sanders is getting the start. Maddie is a is a uh freshman who is starting at shortstop today. Uh in the outfield, you've got your captains, Taylor Kotch and Rebecca Kriegsman. Lineup for the Algonquin Titans, they're going to lead off with Valerie Lamont. She plays shortstop. Hannah Dunleavy bats second. The third baseman, Julia Davie, is behind the dish and she's batting third. Emily Ruiz is pitching today for the Titans and she bats cleanup. Ruiz comes in uh with a .360 batting average, second on the team for Algonquin. Chelsea Saints uh is
008the second baseman. Annika Macherla is the first baseman. And Isabella Dallas and Delaney Walker are the 8-9 hitters for the Titans. It looks like the umpires are going over some quick ground rules with each other to make sure they're on the same page as Bella Domestico is in the circle taking her warm-up pitches. It's a beautiful day for softball, Josh. I hope we get a good result for the Clockers. You and me both, Mike. Yeah, just a beautiful day here. Uh I'm sure the students watching are a little little just a little sad, a little disappointed. April school vacation coming to a close, back to class on Monday. We'll leave that for now. It seems like this has been a pretty fast break. It's It's been It's gone by quickly for me, I know that.
009A good shoot by Ava Vendetti down a second. Clockers are in the circle to get things started. And we are going to thank before we get started our sponsor for the day, Marathon Deli. As always, Marathon is a great supporter of Ashland athletics and they are today's sponsor. Let's play some softball. >> [groaning] [screaming] >> Lamont steps in. Domestico toes. And she throws. Look a little high. Ball one to Lamont. One thing Domestico does is she finds the plate all the time, Josh. She's been a very consistent pitcher, not a lot of walks. >> Mhm. >> [screaming] >> Starting up 2-0 though, not somewhere we normally are. Although, Bella did walk her first batter yesterday and came back strong after that initial walk against Keefe Tech. Hopefully she can settle in here. Something to keep
010an eye on, Mike. An 11:00 a.m. start time on a Saturday, a little unusual for varsity program. This is true. Hopefully they are all woken up. That missed tie, 3-0. I imagine Lamont will be taking all the way here. Yep. Lead-off batter's job to see as many pitches as possible. Toes and throws. In there for a strike. Hopefully Bella can fight back here, finds the strike zone. 3-1, maybe she'll settle in now and force Lamont to take a swing. In there for strike two. 3-2 count now. Bella fighting back hard against Valerie Lamont, the lead-off hitter for the Titans. Yeah, pitch look like it caught the inside corner. Bella's got a few different pitches up her sleeve. Let's see if she goes here. Ground ball to Buterman. Buterman fields it cleanly over to Kyra for
011the easy 4-3 out around the horn. The Clockers go and we have one down in the first. Nice job there by Bella battling back down 3-0. Induces a ground out 4-3 and we are underway. One out here in the top of the first. Coming to the plate here is Hannah Dunleavy, the third baseman for the Titans. Domestico sets, throws. Misses high. Ball one. Showing off a little speed with an opening fastball there. Yeah, Domestico has some nice velocity. She's not going to kill pit- pitch batters with her velocity cuz she finds spots. But she does know how to mix in the fastball once in a while and she hits the air to even up the count 1-1. One of the things that I've been most impressed about is Isabella's poise as a freshman. >> Mhm.
012Pop up, looks like Butera man is camping underneath that nice and easy. Oh, she does stumble after she makes the catch but she holds on. Might be a little bit of a whole fair over at second base but Haley Butera man holds on to make a good play. A little drama at the end of that play but she held on so two outs. Haley's been busy so far figuring into both defensive plays the first two outs here in the top of the first. >> This brings up lefty catcher Julia Davi. Be interested if she is catching lefty. She's batting lefty. She takes the first strike fastball in for strike one. This is the first time Bella has been ahead in the count with the first pitch strike. I think coach Sasso was pushing his outfielders
013back on the right side in center field. As Domestico misses low and away. Yeah, he must he I know coach Sasso has seen Algonquin play twice. He's a He is a college career coach here and he comes with a great sense of what has to be done to win ball games as Domestico puts one past Davi to go ahead one and two with two outs here in the top of the first. Swung right through that pitch. And a strike three swinging. We've got Davi and it is a one two three inning for Domestico and the clockers zero runs on zero hits and nobody left on base. A clean inning for Ashland as they come to the plate hoping to stay hot. That's a good start. Absolutely, Mike. So, let's see if the Clockers bats can
014come alive here in the bottom of the first get some runs on the board. Yeah, they have probably I I have I've talked about her briefly at the beginning of the game here leading off is Nico Eustace who is the center fielder. She's a returning Tri-Valley League All-Star and she is off to an absolutely scorching hot start in these first eight games. She has 17 hits, five home runs and when she gets on base it's almost an automatic double because she has got great speed in the base path. Seven for seven stolen bases so far this season. Amazing. Yeah, I was seeing I mean her batting average and on-base percentage are both above 800. Uh you may not have seen the the most updated statistics. So, I do have Nico >> [laughter] >> Nico right
015now is um not quite hitting 800. Uh she is in the sixes. She's in the >> Oh, she's dropped a little bit. Well, >> [laughter] >> I don't know Only the 600s. Yeah, yeah, Nico's hitting 630 and her on-base percentage is 730. So, Okay. Um she she really is hitting the hitting the ball hard. I'm not sure if every game have been loaded into that MaxPreps where you probably got some of your data before the game. Um but yeah, they had the last couple games where Nico has been absolutely on fire to start the season. Um following Nico is freshman Ava Vendetti who when runners get on base they just seem to cross the plate when Ava's up. She has 20 RBI in this young season right now. >> Tough. No wonder she's in the
016three spot, right? Yeah, she is in the three spot. Bella Domestico bats second. Uh the pitching sensation so far for the Clockers has had a solid bat. Uh she herself is uh hitting right now at a nice 393 clip and hopefully they'll get Caroline Kyra to the plate who is batting 571. So, uh Eustace getting ready to lead off here against uh Emily Ruiz who is on the mound today for the Titans. Ruiz comes into the game at one and two. She has 20 strikeouts on the year and she has an ERA of 5.6. Uh so, Ruiz does find the plate. She she does have some strikeouts. Um and let's see if the Clockers can can get after her a little bit today. Sounds good to me. I you know, Nico leading off here certainly
017saw a lot of her during volleyball back over the winter one of the stars of that team. Basketball, my friend. Basketball. Nico is the starting point guard on the basketball team, Josh. Uh yeah, Tri-Valley League All-Star I believe for the for basketball. One of the best defenders in the Tri-Valley League. Nico has great wheels and she she facilitates the offense for the Clockers and let's see if she can get things facilitated now in the lead-off spot. Ruiz sets, throws high to Eustace. One thing you don't want to do is get Nico on base by a walk. That's kind of a true axiom across baseball, right? You never want to walk the lead-off hitter but especially true here with Nico. Nico does her typical hard line drive to left. Great way to start for Eustace. Hits
018a hot shot to left field and she is on base after two pitches. That brings up Domestico to the plate. Domestico checks signs from coach Larry Sasso over at third base. We should be looking for Nico to run early here. It's a hot shot down the third baseline. Ground ball into left field. Nico is going to try and score No, Nico stops at third. Bella moves the runner over. First pitch swinging aggressively. Bella with a nice hot ground ball past the third baseman. Eustace on her horse over to third. And that brings up RBI machine Ava Vendetti. Hey, first and third nobody out. Really good opportunity here for Vendetti. Vendetti ground ball misplaced misplaced by the shortstop. She's able to reach on the error by Valerie Lamont who couldn't handle that one cleanly. So, we
019we've got a run scored as Eustace comes in. Domestico over to second bringing up Caroline Kyra with runners on first and second. So, does that count as an RBI for Vendetti on the error? I do not believe it does. Um I'll have to check the official scoring but we do have a courtesy runner here for the catcher. Interesting rule in high school softball. You get a courtesy runner that can re-enter throughout the game. So, it not quite sure who that is. I can't see her number just yet but Kyra takes >> Number four? Kyra takes ball one high. Yeah, number four looks like it's a call up for um the Clockers. Kyra takes ball two. She has a discerning eye up there. Uh doesn't walk a lot. Has five walks on the season but does
020typically only swing at good pitches. Let's see what she can do. Kyra hot shot to the shortstop but she gets a fielder's choice reaches on a fielder's choice there. Unfortunately, couldn't put that one past the shortstop who makes a nice play getting Domestico out on the 6-5 at third. Vendetti moves to second. This brings up Haley Butera man. Sophomore second baseman. Butera man takes ball one outside. Mike, I tend to noticing here so far with the Clockers is they are swinging early. Yeah, the Clockers are aggressive. Butera man again to the shortstop doesn't not handle it and we have runners everywhere taking advantage of another error. Uh she's been busy over there. Now the bases are loaded. So, two errors this inning from shortstop Valerie Lamont leads to the Clockers with the bases loaded and
021one out. And this brings up Maddie Sanders who's playing shortstop today. Uh we've got Sierra Mullins who is running for Vendetti. She's at third. Kyra's at second. Butera man at first. Maddie Sanders takes a look here. She ground ball to third. They get the force at home. Fielder's choice for Sanders. So, the Clockers are putting the bat on the ball early. Not able to uh get many runs just yet. The Sophie Conners uh stepping up to the plate here. Sophie making her varsity debut at third base batting seventh. So, bases remain loaded but now with two outs. In the dirt for a ball one and oh. Yeah, Sophie in a tough spot here for her first varsity at bat with the bases loaded two outs in the first inning. She fouls one back. Solid swing.
022It'd be a shame if we can't put one another one across here. Uh we've got the bases juiced with Kyra, Butera man and Sanders. Sophie puts one into the outfield right to the center fielder. She gets a nice little piece on it. Flies out to center. Unfortunately, the Clockers can only put one across on two hits and they leave three runners on base and there were three errors that inning for the Titans and it's just too bad that Ashland couldn't take advantage uh of the errors. Absolutely. I mean, they had they had the bases loaded multiple times, runners all over the place, did great job putting the ball in play, but just could not take advantage of those three errors, those three gifts from the Titans. So, uh Clockers have to settle for a one-nothing
023lead after one. Yeah, and I do think that these Clockers bats will be getting going. They made They made pretty good contact. Uh got to put the ball in the air. Obviously, the shortstops saw a lot of action there and they reached on a couple of fielder's choices, but not the typical hitting that we see out of this Ashland team. Um so, we we we want to keep our eye on that. Don't know what kind of spin Emily Ruiz might be putting on that ball. Mhm. Well, you know, it's interesting you would said at the outset, right, that Bella is always around the plate, throws a lot of strikes and we were seeing that from Ruiz as well. Uh not deep counts. I mean, it's a pretty low pitch count, though she did see a
024lot of hitters there in the first inning. Yeah, she did and that's one thing about this Ashland team. I talked about their aggressive approach at the plate, which I like. They They do take walks, but not a whole lot of them. Uh as Emily Ruiz comes to the plate now to go up against her opponent in the circle, Bella Domestico. Ruiz comes up in the top of the second with the Titans down one to nothing. Domestico toes throws and Ruiz fouls one back. Domestico ahead of the count here, which is where she wants to be. I'll tell you what, after seeing Ruiz pitch last half inning, that pitch looked super fast. So, Bella, again, not neither of these pitchers I think are going to blow you away with velocity, but both can move the ball
025around. A nice fastball there though goes right by the swinging bat of Emily Ruiz. Domestico looking to get her second strikeout of the game here, up 0-2 to her counter part. Good to see Bella get ahead of this lead-off hitter, 0-2. Fouls one back, staying alive, Ruiz. Puts a good swing on that. If you notice Ava Vendetti, was looking for that high fastball to see if she could put it by her. She set up pretty pretty high there. >> Mhm. Yeah, make her chase. Good fundamental softball here. We'll see what we can do again here. Bella Domestico up 0-2. Stri- changeup just misses low. Bella likes to mix in that changeup. I think it she really has fooled a lot of batters. She had one game this year earlier where she had, I believe, 10
026strikeout looking. Wow. >> just like that. Yeah. Change speeds and location. That's a pop-up. Oh, a great play! Fantastic freshman Ava Vendetti with the hustle play, catching the foul ball. That's the kind of spark this team might need here. Vendetti with just a spectacular web gem. She's going to be probably our first candidate for the Marathon Deli Gobbler Sandwich Defensive Player of the Game. We're going to have to submit that one to SportsCenter. Perhaps you should. Maeve Walker comes to the plate. Walker pops up to Bella Domestico and now we quickly have two outs in the top of the second and this brings up Chelsea Saints, the second baseman. Saints, number 17 stepping up to the plate against Domestico here. Clockers really flashing the leather here, Mike, here in the second. Yeah, a couple good
027plays by the by the uh freshman battery. Looks like she just missed high there. I think Bella wanted that one, but it did look like it was a little up. I was waiting for you to all Bob Uecker on that one. >> No, not yet. Just a bit outside. >> [laughter] >> One of my favorite movies, Major League. Probably not the one that the children should watch just yet, but once you get of age, it's one that cannot be missed. Domestico down right now 2-0 to Saints with two outs in the top of the first. She puts one by her though to get back in there, 2-1 count. Yeah, way behind on that fastball. Yeah, when Bella brings that that smoke right now, she looks pretty good. I I would I would think that she
028might try to put another one by her right here. Good fastball count, 2-1. Great spot. Good spot there by Bella, missing a little bit low. 3-1 count. I think the fans wanted that one, Josh. >> I was waiting for Vendetti to tap the top of her helmet, look for the ABS challenge. >> ABS challenge on that. Didn't get it. Oh, bad hitter. Bout to get a hit by pitch. That's going to be the first base runner of the day for the Titans via a hit by pitch. Uh which is going to bring up Annika Machala, who is the first baseman batting seventh for the Titans. Domestico toes and throws, strike one. She wasn't going to miss that one. >> Mhm. I called it before she did. If if that one didn't come across with that
029right hand up in the air, we would have been calling for the ABS. >> [laughter] >> Domestico again, hard ground ball to Butermann, scoops, throws to Kyra, gets out of the inning with no harm done on the hit by pitch. We have got no runs on no hits, no errors, and one left on base for the Titans. Um Who are struggling right now against Bella Domestico, really not able to get anything hit hard at all. Two ground balls to to uh Butermann, a couple of pop-ups. They They really have not um been able to figure out just yet. Yeah, I mean, you've got three outs to uh you know, made by the second baseman or involved in the you know, involved in the out at least. Two pop-ups where at uh catcher and and pitcher.
030But one thing I wanted to comment on, Mike, with Butermann on that last play, >> [snorts] >> could have been tempting to try and get the lead runner there. She was like the runner and the ball both arrived at the same time, but cool as a cucumber, just tossed it over to first, get the force at first, end the inning. Yeah, you nice smart play, right? Just get the nice easy out at first base uh by the sophomore, making good decisions. Those kind of things that that we have seen this year out of this team. It it is a They've become a team with a much better softball IQ than they've had over the course of the last couple years and I think that a lot has to do with Coach Sasso and the way
031he approaches the game. I mean, one thing that I think is really been evident, this is a different environment for these girls. It's always positive. He just preaches positivity uh and you can see it in the way they are in the dugout, in the way they are as a team. It's a completely different regime here with Larry in charge and um the girls have benefited from him his leadership. Yeah, he's had a long career coaching at every level from Little League all the way up through college and uh now it's the Ashland girls that are benefiting from his tutelage. And this brings up Rebecca Kriegsman, who is a senior tri-captain today playing left field. She gets ahead of the count 1-0. And she takes ball two. Uh Rebecca is a tremendous contact hitter. She puts
032her bat on the ball consistently. Uh it's one of my favorite things about her uh besides the fact that she is just an all-around tremendous young woman, a MIAA uh student leader at the state level. Uh she represents Ashland very well and she'll be um playing golf in college next year, Josh. >> Is that right? Where is she going to be going to school? I believe she's going to be going to Colby. I'm not positive on that. I probably have to get get a fact check on that one. >> Sorry to put you on the spot with that, Mike. It could be Bates, actually. It might be Bates. It's one of those wonderful schools, that's for sure. And she lines one right back to the pitcher, puts the wheels on and is just not able
033to get it. Hard hot shot back at Emily Ruiz, who makes a nice play to come back and get a speedy Kriegsman by a step at first base. Good sting by Rebecca there though. Absolutely. Just a bang-bang play at first and credit Ruiz. I mean, that you know, see your life flash before your eyes when hit that hard right back at you that hard. Taylor Krotch puts a shot into one right at the center fielder. Uh Krotch is also another kid who's been swinging the ball much swinging the bat much better these past couple games, was the tough luck recipient there of a good shot to center, but she flied out. And this brings up Nicolette Eustace, who is one for one. Eustace down the third baseline. See if she can get two here. Nico
034can always stretch a single into a double. Hot shot for Eustace, who is two for two for the day with the single and a double. And here comes Bella Domestico. Domestico hit a similar shot uh in the first inning down the third baseline as the one Nico just hit there. Yeah, it's the second one the Clockers were able to sneak down the uh left field line. And Nico did a great job reading uh the left fielder struggled with the ball a little bit, little bit of a bobble and Nico slowed a little bit coming around first, picked up the outfielder and wisely took second. Which she can do pretty easily here. Bella fouls the first one back, down 0-1, takes the next pitch high for ball one. Uh don't be shocked here if you do
035see Nico try to take a shot um especially with a lefty catcher in a righty batter here trying to take third. Bella, hot shot to third. She bobbles it. But she is able to stay under control, makes a really nice play there getting Domestico 5-3. No runs in that bottom of the second inning off of one hit, the double by Eustace. One runner is left on base. A clean inning there for the Titans. Uh we've got a close game, a pitcher's duel like we thought we might have here uh in Ashland. 1-2 nothing right now after two. Absolutely, Mike. And just a tale of two cities there defensively for the Titans. I mean the first inning three errors in the first, but a couple of terrific defensive plays in the second. Setting the Clockers down
036not 1-2-3 but pretty close. Yeah, they they were able to to make a couple plays. That was a hot shot back to the pitcher by Kriegsman. More of a protect yourself kind of play. And and she ends up gathering herself and and Reese is able to get the out. Um 8-9-1 here coming up for the Titans as we are going to see Isabella Dallas, the left fielder. Delaney Walker who's been not too busy yet out in right. And then Valerie Lamont will come to the plate for her second at bat of the game. Yeah, her Walker's sister Maeve in center field been a little bit busy. A couple of putouts out there. And I'll tell you that second one I don't think she even had to move for it. Just say a credit the scouting
037on that one. It's it right to her. Yeah, it was a good good piece of hitting by Taylor on that one. Unfortunately, it was right at her. We got a great crowd here at Hunt Field today uh to support the Clockers. And Domestico toes the rubber. Shows bunt. Vendetti hops, but that ball is going to go foul. Vendetti an excellent defensive catcher as well as a good hitter. Um I I think that bunting on her might be a mistake. She has a She has a pretty good glove. She's quick to the ball. Let's see what happens here. Ground ball to third. Sophie Connors, nice and easy. Great play across the diamond. 5-3 to get Isabella Davis. Solid play by Sophie. Yeah, really interesting there, Mike. The bunt attempt on the first pitch pulled the third
038baseman in. And on the subsequent pitch ground ball right to her. Easy play to first. Yeah, and Sophie made a nice play there getting the ball out of her glove nice and quick. We got another lefty coming up here, number one Delaney Walker, the right fielder. Here's the pitch. She also shows bunt, fouls it back. She's going to fall behind 0-1 to Domestico. Uh perhaps um coach Kristen Morcone is trying to get a little something going here with the bottom of the order trying to flip it to the top with some bunts. Yeah, just have Bella fire high fastballs if they're going to show bunt. Shows bunt again, fouls this one off. Now she's ahead 0-2. I I think that you probably >> to call it off. Yeah, probably have to put the bunt back
039in the back pocket here on this one. But that's exactly what you have to do as a pitcher. High fastballs are harder to bunt. They sure are. And and and and Bella, like I said before, can hit a spot really nicely. Uh let's see what she can do here up 0-2. Strike three, you're out. Second strikeout of the game for Domestico. Second one swinging as well. We've got two outs here in the top of the third bringing up the top of the order, Valerie Lamont. The shortstop has been busy defensively today. Uh and she is 0-1 on the day with a groundout to Haley Butermann. Hopefully the right side of the infield is going to be ready here as Lamont steps to the plate. Little little change of pace there. Off-speed off-speed pitch early. Uh
040trying to see if she can get Lamont fooled. Just misses a little bit high. Uh Domestico falls 1-0 to the lead-off hitter. Comes back really nice there with a good fastball right by her looking 1-1 to Valerie Lamont. Efficiency by Bella. >> [laughter] >> Bella toes, throws. Hot ground ball past the dive of Haley Butermann into center field. Eustace gets it in in a hurry. That's going to be um the first hit of the day for the Titans. Good shot just past the dive of Haley Butermann who is never one who's afraid to get dirty. Uh Haley Haley is a dirt dog over there at second base, but she just couldn't reach that one. Well, a good strong hit by Lamont. One one for two on the day now. Which brings up Dunleavy. Looked like
041a good pitch to me. I don't know where that one missed. That was right at the knees, but she called it a ball nonetheless. Um yeah, Dunleavy popped out to Butermann in the first. She comes in 0-1 0-1 and she is up 1-0 right now on Domestico who toes and throws. That one sneaks by Ava. That's going to go down as a pass ball for Ava. We have not seen many of those. I wonder if she got crossed up a little bit. Regardless, the runner is going to go And Dunleavy now is ahead of the count 2-0 with the runner in scoring position. Yeah, again need to settle down here. Got the first two outs pretty quickly and now suddenly a runner in scoring position and a line drive single to center. >> Eustace's arm
042here. Butermann, no. >> [cheering] >> Not able to hit the cut-off. Um little lack of execution there in that play, but a nice hit nonetheless. Would have taken probably a perfect throw to get her at the plate. Uh Dunleavy in with an RBI single. And that is going to tie the game at one. She does move over to second on the throw. Not calling that an error by anybody, but uh I don't know what the official scorebook is going to say. So Julia Davie up now, swings at the first pitch down 0-1. Got a tie game here, Mike. 1-1. Yeah, 1-1 now in the top of the third. Julia Davie struck out her first time up. Let's see if Bella can repeat that to get out of this inning. She hits a hot ground ball
043to second. Taylor Croch, again we're not hitting cut-offs for some reason here. Um fundamental softball, I'm not seeing it right now by the Clockers. They're not hitting cut-offs. And that that's potentially um could cost them. Right now luckily, uh Davie stayed at first base. Uh but the RBI does come in and the Titans take the lead in the top of the third 2-1. I think one of the reasons the runner stayed at first Vendetti smartly came out to cut off that throw preventing the runner from advancing. But yeah, I mean Mike it was I mean Clockers are putting on a defensive clinic pitching defensive clinic through the first two and two thirds. Everything happening now is coming with two strike with two outs. Yeah, this has been a two-out rally by the top of the
044order um for Algonquin. They've seen it as a Now this is their second time battling against Domestico. Um hoping to get Emily Reese here who she got to pop out on that fantastic little bloop foul ball that Vendetti dove for uh in the second inning. Domestico starts with an off-speed pitch. After you Go ahead. No, go ahead. Vendetti thought about a snap throw to first to see if it catch that runner breaking a little too far off the base. And she did. And I was going to say that Bella has come back after after a little meeting at the mound to settle everybody down here. Uh She misses low. But I think there's no problem here for these Clockers. They They haven't been tested really this year. They've been ahead the majority of their games.
045I'll be nice to see how they react to being down in the third inning. It's not something that they're used to this year. How they respond to adversity. Correct. And it's a little pop-up right back to Bella. No big deal. No harm done there with the runner on first base. Unfortunately, two runs do come across. Um two runs off of three hits. Three hard Three hard hit balls. Uh one runner is left on base. No errors by the Clockers. But they are now losing 2-1 after two and a half. Yep, bottom of the third coming up. Clockers with a chance to get back into this one. At least tie it up, try and take the lead. Got What do we have? Hitters 3-4-5 coming up for the Clockers. >> We do. We have 3-4-5 coming
046up. I expect that the Clockers can get a little something going on here. Vendetti does have a tendency to put herself on second base. She leads the team in doubles. She comes in with seven doubles on the season. And then with Kyra behind her, hopefully she can get a little contact, knock her in, and then again Haley Butermann behind. Let's see if we can get something moving here in the bottom of the third. Uh we are looking for the Marathon Deli Gobbler Sandwich Defensive Player of the Game as well as the Marathon Deli King Kong Sandwich Offensive Player of the Game. As we are sponsored by Marathon Deli who supplied us with some fantastic food today. What What did you get for lunch today, Josh? >> I went with old reliable, the the hummus chicken
047wrap. The hummus chicken wrap. You are a healthier guy than I. Um I I went with the New Yorker, which is the pastrami panini, one of my favorites at Marathon Deli. You really can't go wrong. >> No, you can't go wrong at Marathon Deli. And and we do want to thank Doug and the and the whole crew over there at Marathon Deli for for feeding all of us here, the broadcast crew, the announcers. They're a wonderful partner here in the community, a long-time business. We certainly appreciate it. And they are open to I believe 10:00 to 5:00 today. If you want to place your order, stop on by after the game today. Yeah, you really can't go wrong. I know the chicken finger dinner is a huge hit at the Kyra household. It comes with
048french fries and coleslaw. So, if you're looking for some good chicken fingers, you can definitely find them over at Marathon Deli. Ava Vendetti, however, is looking to crack things open here in the bottom of the third as she steps up to the plate against Emily Ruiz. Ruiz Vendetti reached on an error by the shortstop in the first inning looking for her first hit today. Gets ahead of the count one and oh. Ruiz toes and throws. Vendetti takes strike one at the letters. Vendetti, great piece of hitting right there, Josh. She sits on the change up. She sits on the change up. And she takes it right back up the middle. And then she has a really heads-up base running on the error by the center fielder, which allows her to get to second base. Heads-up
049base running after a really good piece of hitting by Vendetti. I love seeing a kid wait on that change. As I I wasn't sure if she waited on it or she was fooled by it, but either way, totally worked. Beautiful clean single to center. And then taking advantage of the error by the center fielder. This brings up Kyra with the runner in scoring position. Kyra laces one to right field. It gets by the right fielder. Kyra's on her horse. She's looking to get to third. They're waving her in. She might just be able to get home. So, there she goes. And we're going to give her a single. So, I'm not as sure what the official score is going to be, but Caroline Kyra motoring motoring around the bases to take advantage of an error
050by the right fielder. She put on the jet packs and she got herself all the way home. RBI single that scores a run for her. Does she get the speed from you, Mike? She >> [laughter] >> She She had to definitely put on the jet pack for that one. Let's say let's just say that. Love to see that here's a bunt Caroline. Fantastic bunt. Haley Butera lays down an absolutely beautiful bunt. And she reaches because she actually has real jet packs. [laughter] Butera is one of the fastest players in the team. And expect her to try to take second here. And we all of a sudden have the lead back after some good hitting and some unfortunate fielding by the Titans. >> Mhm. Yeah, and just a terrific bunt by Butera and and the speed
051to beat it out. Bang bang play at first. And all of a sudden Titans have infield in. Yeah. Well well, Maddie was showing bunt there. She shows again. Lays a nice one down. Butera over to second. Sacrifice bunt by Maddie Sanders. Really nice bunt. So, that's going to go down as a sac. I I think that who made that play? The pitcher? Yes. The pitch sac sac bunt one to four. But moves Butera over into scoring position for Sophie Connor, which who did put a fly ball to the center fielder in the first inning. Unfortunately, it was caught. But Sophie did put her bat in the ball pretty hard. She takes ball low here in the bottom of the third. Yeah, I've noticed this, Mike. I just I love all these Clocker runners how they
052pop off the bag after the pitch. Like they are aggressive. They're ready to go. Sophie swings and misses for strike one. Just a little bit behind that. A high fastball. So, one and one here. Got her with the high one there. And Sophie Sophie swung at a pitch that was a little bit high there. Would like to see her be a little bit more discerning. But let's see what she can do here down one and two. Takes pitch. Yeah, Ruiz is just climbing the ladder right now. Just trying to get her to chase out of the zone. Butera is very fast at second base. So, a base hit is absolutely going to score her. And she does. She gets her to climb up again. Unfortunately, Sophie reaches and she strikes out to make the second
053out of the inning. But this brings up Rebecca Kriegsman, who I said before typically makes really good contact. Let's see if she can put one into the outfield. And she does exactly that. Laces one down the left field line. Kriegsman with the RBI stand-up double. That's the kind of hitting we want to see out of the senior. Really proud of her. She stepped up and she has a big RBI double here in the bottom of the third. Rebecca Kriegsman, great shot to left. Absolutely. Just a clutch swing there. Smacked it with authority down the left field line. Easy double. Scores the run. Clockers up four to two. Yeah, this is this is a big inning right now for the Clockers, putting three on the board with another kid who can really hit the ball when
054she makes contact on it. Taylor Kotch has been hitting the ball really hard. Just has been bad luck right now. She's just hitting it right at people. And yesterday, she hit a hot shot. And she used her speed to beat out the pitch beat out the throw. But unfortunately, the umpire was umpiring the score and not the game. And they robbed Taylor of a hot hit yesterday. Let's see what she can do right now. And she high fly to right field. She camps underneath it. Gets the sun out of her eyes and a fly out to end the inning by Kotch to the right fielder. But some serious damage was done as the Clockers bring in three runs off of four hits. And they left one runner on. And there was definitely one really costly
055costly error there by the Titans, which turned Kyra's single into a home run. Well, into a into a run we should call it because it was not a home run. But nonetheless, the Clockers now are up four to two. Yep. Top of the fourth. Looks like we may have a new pitcher here, Mike. Number 20. No, that is Bella. Oh, it is? That That is Bella Destico. Still number 20. >> Okay. Um I don't know. What I saw it looked different, but My apologies to Bella, to our audience. That is Bella. And and and they are going to be bringing up five, six, seven here. Maeve Walker will lead off followed by Chelsea Saints and Annika Macchella. Bella wants to settle down a little bit after an inning where she let up two runs off
056of three hits. Let's see if she can get back into a groove here. Um And while she's waiting, I'm going to give a quick shout-out to one of Ashlyn Clocker's biggest fans. I know that she's watching at her home in Wilmington cuz she couldn't be here today to watch her niece play. My sister, Angela, who is such a huge Clocker fan. Hope you're having a good day. Hope you're feeling okay back home. Pitch strike one to Maeve Walker. And Destico is up one and one. I'm sure she was cheering like a maniac watching her niece round the bases on that hit to right. And Bella goes up oh two to Maeve Walker. She got her to pop up to herself in the second inning. Yeah, wastes one low. One and two. Yeah, you took the
057words out of my mouth, Josh. It's a good miss, right? Good one to waste. She puts one low. See if she can get her to chase at a bad pitch. Never want to give up an oh two hit. Absolutely. And let's see what she does right now. I think she's going to go right by her for strike three. Gets the fastball. No messing around that time. Around the horn, the Clockers go. Tick tock goes the clock. One down in the fourth bringing up Chelsea Saints, the second baseman for the Algonquin Titans. It's a strong start to the inning for Bella. Her third strikeout of the afternoon. >> [snorts] >> Saints got hit by a pitch in her first at bat. So, we're not quite sure what kind of hitter she is. But she fouls that
058first one back on a pretty solid swing. Bella's doing her job. She's got a lead. She's throwing strikes. And that is typically what she does, Josh. An efficient efficient pitcher. Hits spots. The The one game where she struggled this year was against one of the top teams in the entire state of Massachusetts. And this is a high fly to Rebecca Kriegsman. Snow cone catch by the senior left fielder. She makes the play, makes it interesting, but makes the play nonetheless on the fly out to Kriegsman. Yeah, like we have the headsets on, so I don't know if she was calling for it or not, but that's the kind of play the outfielder has to take charge. That's a much easier play coming in for the outfielder than the infielder going out. >> With two outs
059in the top of the fourth, that brings up Annika Macherla, the first baseman, who grounded out to Butera men in the second. What I was saying earlier about Domenico is the only game she struggled was against the Hopkinton Hillers, who are, you know, a top 20 team in the state. >> Mhm. Who who certainly hit her pretty hard, but one thing I felt like in that game Bella was forced to put the ball over the middle of the plate. She wasn't getting Was she getting squeezed? >> any calls. She was squeezed. Yeah, the umpire's strike zone was tighter than Matt Foley's jacket that day. And and and Bella couldn't take advantage of it, and the Hillers did. So, I'm hoping that when we get our second shot at Hopkinton later in the season, we have
060an umpire that understands that the back of the plate is indeed a strike. Um so, she is seeing Macherla here, one and one count, another foul ball. And she goes ahead one and two. Can I just want to compliment you on the Tommy Boy reference there? Nice work. >> Well, that would have been Tommy Callahan. Matt Foley is the motivational speaker from the Saturday Night Live days. Did you get Did you get Did you get Did you get my man Chris Farley? >> That's all right, Josh. Not everybody is a Chris Farley connoisseur like myself. >> jacket, and I thought of Tommy Boy. I thought of seeing Tommy Boy. You know, the fact I wore a little coat, and she gets her with a beautiful change up. Gets her swinging on a wonderful change. And
061that's the same pitch that Ava Vendetti took to center field. A different piece of hitting right there. And instead, Domenico gets Macherla to reach and miss. We have two strikeouts on the inning for Bella D. And uh the Titans go down scoreless with no runs on no hits and nobody left on base. Another clean defensive inning for >> [cheering] >> the Clockers. Yeah, Titans go down one, two, three. Clockers coming to the plate looking to build on a 4-2 lead. We head to the bottom of the fourth. >> And much to Emily Ruiz's dismay, she is going to be looking at the hot-hitting lead-off hitter for the Clockers, who is now probably up over 700 with her average. She came in at a 630, and she's two for two on the day with a single
062and a double, Nico Eustaris. Should be an exciting start to this to the bottom of the fourth there, Mike. And you know, one thing I want to mention, you know, that that Rebecca Kriegsman hit that drove in that final run of the third. The the number eight hitter to be able to to put you know, put the ball in play, get on base, bring up the number nine hitter that of course eventually does turn into the end of the inning. We got the top of the order coming up here in the fourth. >> Huge. Always try to turn that order in, right? >> Exactly. >> And and we have seen some really clutch hits this year by the bottom of the order. Specifically in their game against Holliston, the bottom of the order came through
063in in droves. And and they really were the reason the Clockers won that game. The The top the two, three, four, five hitters did not get a hit in that game. And the bottom of the order took care of business. >> Wow. So, they've won in a few different ways so far this year, Josh. Yeah, that's what we're seeing here today. I mean, it's it's just it's a balanced lineup one through nine. Eustaris takes the first pitch outside to get ahead 1-0. Really want to get her on base here. Again, one thing I said about Nico, a walk becomes a double with Eustaris at the plate because she is an automatic steal. Uh don't think anybody in this league is going to be throwing her out at besides maybe Caroline Osmond of Hopkinton. She puts
064one just foul down the left field line. Yeah, she's a little in front of that one. The The The thing about Nico is if Nico can put the ball on a line into the outfield, it's it's almost invariably an inside-the-park home run here with no with no fence because of her speed. Nico is up now three and one. She's got to love this one, Josh. >> I I don't want her chasing anything here. It's got to be perfect hitter's count. Hitter's count, Mike. >> Just get on base here. Got to love this. And she takes the walk. A good good patient at bat there by Eustaris, understanding the situation, how important it is for her to get on base for Bella, who is one for two on the day with that hot shot down the
065left field line, and then a groundout to the third baseman. I imagine the third baseman is going to be ready right now for Domenico at the plate. Takes the first one. Down 0-1. Really important inning here for the Clockers to put a few more runs on the board. Yeah, get some breathing room. Another shot. Wow. >> Eustaris beats it out. >> [cheering] >> We're going to give that We're We're going to give her We're going to give her a single. I'm not sure what the official score is going to be. Could be a fielder's choice, I suppose. Um but I'm going to give her a single because I like Bella a lot. And Nico really made that play because of her speed. They realized they couldn't get her at second base, and the next thing
066you know, hustling down the line by Domenico, no play at first. With a different set of runners, that could have been a 6-4-3 double play. Instead, it's first and second, nobody out. With Ava Vendetti to the plate, who I have told you earlier is an RBI machine. Vendetti has reached base twice today on an error by the shortstop and a single in the third. And she puts one back to short again. They're able to reach via the fielder's choice, but but nevertheless, uh Eustaris gets out 6-3. Allie Wilson, it looks like, is in running for Bella Domenico. Caroline Kyra comes to the plate. Oh, Kyra absolutely laces one over the center fielder's head. That should knock in two. Kyra going to leg a triple. This is a real one. >> [cheering] >> So, we'll give
067her a triple. Caroline Kyra with a blast triple over the center fielder's head, knocks in two runs. A two RBI triple for the big slugger. And that brings up Haley Butera men with Kyra on third base and one out in the bottom of the fourth. That's a big hit, Mike. Really big. That's a huge hit for her. And let's see if Haley Haley shows bunt again. Oh, that hit her twice. She should be out. Haley should absolutely be out because the ball hit her twice. I don't know if the umpire saw that. I did. Sh- She was out regardless. So, I believe the the pitcher made that play. Uh but that's going to be a 1-4 for Butera men. And we've got two outs now with Kyra on third base and Matty Sanders at the
068plate, who is 0 for 1. Sanders had a sac bunt in the third and a reached on a fielder's choice in the first inning. Yeah, Matty's swing looked a little long on that last pitch. Just came in behind it. See what she can do. Really need a piece of contact here to get the run in. Don't want to We'd hate to see a runner left on third with with one out. Sanders takes ball one. Good eye by Sanders. Two and one's the count. Again, love to see a third run come across this inning. Clockers had a clutch two-out RBI single last inning. Let's see if they can do it again here. She takes one high. Three and one to Sanders. Again, walk is is a is a good thing here for Matty, but we'd love
069to see her get her bat on the ball. Matty swings and misses. I must have lost the count. I only had three and one, but sometimes I do that when I'm not paying as much attention as I should. There's a lot going on, Mike. >> Matty goes down swinging to end the inning, leaving one runner left on base, but the Clockers do plate two on the two RBI triple from Caroline Kyra. Uh we had three hits on the inning. Two runs, three hits, one left on base. Well, we've got ourselves a 6-2 lead going in to the top of the fifth. And I will tell you, coming into this game, Josh, my key to the game was scoring six runs for the Clockers. Um the Titans have not scored over six all season. I'm sorry,
070they they only scored six runs once this season. They have lost every game where their opponent has scored more than six. So, six was my magic number. I wanted to see them reach that, and I thought that if we held them to under four, we'd be in pretty good shape. So, let's see what the Clockers can do as they face the 8-9-1 batters for the Titans. Sounds like that's six runs. That's the Marathon Deli stat of the game. Wow, the Marathon Deli Clockers sandwich stat of the game. >> [laughter] >> You know, they got a Fenway sandwich, Josh. Uh probably the only positive thing that's happening at Fenway right now is the sandwich that you can get at Marathon Deli because the boys at the boys in Boston are not making it happen. I was
071wondering if you're going to work that in today. Well, we've got um Isabella Dallas who fouls one off for strike one. Uh Dallas grounded out to Sophie Connors in the third inning after showing bunt. But, this is the exact situation where the Clockers found some trouble last inning where they had two outs and got to the top of the order. >> Mhm. So, let's see if they can work through this time. Oh, she fools her on a changeup. That changeup is working right now, Josh. Absolutely. Like a Ranger Suarez changeup. Holy cow. She gets ahead 0-2. Not so sure I want to be compared to Ranger these days, but I guess he's >> Hey, that one really good start they have. But, eight innings, that's the changeup I'm talking about. >> Another changeup. Sanders across.
072Oh, she beats that out. Yeah, that's a slow roll. I would love to see Maddie charge that one a little bit. She's waiting for it to come to her. But, if she she took a little bit more aggressive approach uh at short. But, again, Maddie not not someone who is typically playing shortstop, stepping up Mhm. in the absence of their everyday shortstop Quinn Herder who is not here today. Uh and and still makes a great play. Just misses her by a step. Uh we're going to give that a a a infield hit for Isabella Dallas. Vendetti doesn't get the ball out of her glove quite fast enough. Uh and we're going to have a stolen base there for Dallas. Uh did you catch that that was a ball or strike? I I didn't I wasn't
073able to catch that >> has it as a ball. Scoreboard has it as a ball. I should be paying attention up there. Okay, Delaney Walker shows bunt. Nice bunt. Third baseman Nice stretch by Kyra. Pulls her off the bag, unfortunately. Uh I don't know if she was called off the bag or if she was beat around. She did hold the ball, but we'll see what happens. Nonetheless, it's a infield hit on a bunt by Delaney Walker, and they move the runner to a third. And the Titans have a little something going right now with the top of their order up with two runners on and no outs. It's amazing how fast this inning turned and turned into a dangerous situation. You're first and third with nobody out. And two infield hits, too. You know, they're
074not hitting the ball hard. And that was a heck of a bunt, Ash. Goodbye uh Delaney Walker. And she was moving pretty quick. Uh Coach Sasso looks like he wants to get a second look at that, but I'm not sure if that's going to be met with uh any sort of positivity. >> Right. But, you're right. That bunt uh batter did a great job of deadening the ball. It it just sat there right right in front of home plate. And uh not a lot Bella could do there to make the play. Be interesting to see what happens here with runners on first and third and no outs. I would imagine they'd be stealing. And we'll see if you know, up four, maybe Ava will try to steal the runner at get the runner at second
075base. You never know. It's a hard ground ball. Oh, Sophie over to first. Got her. Run comes in, but a nice play by Sophie Connors uh getting the out when you're up by four. I think that's probably the smartest play to make. Yeah, I was going to say she you know, she had the opportunity she had the time. It was such a hard-hit ground ball to third base that she had the time to look the runner back. But, uh yeah. Just take the out at this point. Get an out on the board. Not mess around. Yeah. Moves the runner over to second. So, runner in scoring position for Hannah Dunleavy who is >> [screaming] >> popping one up here to Eustace who camps underneath it, makes the easy play. Um Not a bad piece of
076hitting there by Dunleavy, being aggressive. But, now there are two outs with the runner in scoring position for Julia Davey who is one for two on the day with a single and a strikeout. A topsy-turvy inning so far, Mike. I mean, first and third, nobody out. And now just one run in with two outs, runner on second. Clockers have a chance to escape this win with minimal damage. >> I and I I agree with you. Minimal damage would be huge right now, right? And it's been an interesting inning. And now we have uh Davey up who has struck out once, and she falls behind quickly to Bella 0-2. Probably a time for that and sneaky little changeup here, Josh. I don't know. I've the scouting report on my friend Bella. I wouldn't be surprised if
077she throws this one. She can do. No, instead she throws the the the low heat. Uh looked like Ava was setting up for high heat. Yeah, I you know, it's interesting. You know, could have gone either way. I was actually thinking, you know, Julia hasn't shown the ability to catch up to the fastball yet. Why not go high fastball? Try and get her to chase on an 0-2. Yeah. But, changeup was absolutely on the table there. Yeah. We'll see what happens. See if she she's up high for high heat here. See if she put it by her. Doesn't get her to chase. Uh 1-2 to Davey. Again, who is a good hitter. Uh she's the three hitter uh for the Titans. Yeah, I have no problem with with you know, going high heat 0-2. Just
078you know, try to make them chase. Again, don't give up 0-2 hits. That one was a lot closer, but 2-2. Da- Davey actually leads uh the Titans with uh what is now 11 hits on the season. And she has three doubles for the year and six RBIs. So, she is a definitely a threat >> Mhm. with the runner in scoring position here. But, they get her looking. >> A backwards K for Bella D. And the Titans go down in the top of the fifth. One run off of two hits for the Titans there. Uh and no errors by the Clockers, and they leave one on base. We've got ourselves a 6-3 ballgame going in to the bottom of the fifth. Uh and Sophie Connors, who is playing a really good game over third base, is
079is leading off the inning. Uh we got Connors, Kriegsman, and Kotch in the fifth. Uh any of them get on base, back to the top of the order and Nico. Yeah, and you know, like you said, if they can turn the order to the top, it's dangerous. It is a dangerous. Right now, the top of the top of the order uh you know, Eustace is 2-2. Uh Domestico is 2-3. Vendetti uh is 1-3. Kyra is 2-3. Uh that 1-4 right now has certainly done their job for the Clockers. As we talked about in the beginning of the game, they have typically done that all year long. Yeah, I mean, those 1-4 hitters account for five of the six runs scored today. Yeah, they they really have They really have done what they've been doing all
080year, uh which is make solid contact and uh allow for more at bats, right? The The more times you get on base, the more at bats you get. They're averaging, you know, four to five at bats a game, which is also something that has typically never happened for an Ashland Clockers team. They I I was looking, and uh so, I've been again watching this team closely for 3 years. As Caroline is a 3-year veteran on the squad, and I talked to my wife last night. Uh looked at some stats. Her freshman season, the Clockers as an entire team had 111 hits. This year through eight games, the Clockers came into this game with 96 hits. So, this is a whole new team right here. We we are talking about a major change in Ashland softball.
081I like to think Ashland softball is back. We think about the glory days of the 2000s uh for Ashland softball when they were putting banners up on the gymnasium wall. And it would be great if these Clockers can can find that magic of uh Clockers years past. And I'll tell you what, Mike. I was looking at the schedule this morning on Arbiter, and we're not even halfway through the season. It's like there's just so much season left. There's so many games left. Just a a great opportunity to come out root these girls on. They got something special going on here. Yeah, and if they can hang on today to get their eighth win of the season, they'll only need two more to make the state tournament for the first time in decades um for for
082the Clockers team. And Sophie Connors pops up to the second baseman to lead off in the fifth. Sophie's played great defense though today. And had a little bad luck at the plate, but playing some good D. And this brings up Rebecca Kriegsman who had a huge double um in the third. Yeah, big two-out double there. Score the run, right? Kriegsman takes a ball one from Ruiz. Ball two. 2-0 to Rebecca Kriegsman. If anybody could hit that one, it's Rebecca. We know that she knows how to drive a golf ball a long way. One of the best golfers in the state of Massachusetts. One of the most impressive things about Rebecca is uh typically female golfers in Massachusetts have a springs to play in the spring. Rebecca competes against the males in the fall because she
083plays softball. But, then she will go in the spring state tournament having not played for months, dedicating herself to softball, and still be a highly competitive golfer in the state tournament. Rebecca thought that one was fouled. Unfortunately, it was called fair, and she gets thrown out catcher to first base on the 2-3 putout. Yeah, that that dirt around home plate is just so soft right now. Like, she hit it and it hit the ground and just stopped right on the line. Taylor Kotch is going to is going to blast one right here. I can feel it. Taylor has been just getting under two balls. If she barrels one right now, she's got the speed to turn a single into a triple. Let's see what Taylor can do. Time to barrel one now. Let's go, kid.
084Okay, good eye for Taylor. I know it's a big weekend for the seniors. She's deciding on what college she wants to attend. Uh these kids are coming rapidly uh to that May 1st deadline. Taylor, ground ball to second. Who Second baseman has been a busy young player this game. Kotch grounds out. They go 1-2-3 in the fifth, but they still are ahead 6-3 going into the top of the sixth. No hits, no runs, no one left on as the clock has go down 1-2-3 in that inning. And I might just go back for a second. We were just talking about, you know, all the college acceptances that are happening now. And And I have to hat tip to the Ashland counseling department and the great job they do with promoting all these acceptances, whether you
085know, the uh the notes go up on the board in school, as well as uh like there's a whole Instagram account on this, right? >> Yeah, they we do keep track of it. The kid I think the kids run that account, but it's fun thing. And And you know, you just had to deal with that last year, right? Two years. Two years. Chase, the time is flying. So, So, your son Chase, who I talked about earlier, is uh a future Hall of Fame uh whacker first ballot Hall of Fame broadcaster. He's done a tremendous job for us. And he's going to have quite the summer this summer. Really proud of Chase. I'm sure you are beaming with pride to talk about what he's going to be doing this summer. >> Yeah, Gabby Logan and I
086are all just just so ecstatic, just so thrilled for Chase for this opportunity. He's going to be one of the announcers for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League. So, the league itself is a super competitive college collegiate elite league, wooden bats, major league scouts out there, the some of the best baseball players in the country. And uh as a result, the announcing jobs, the social media jobs, anything involving these teams are also very competitive. And uh Chase went up against a lot of talented kids. And uh has been named as one of the two announcers this summer for the Anglers. That's just fantastic news, and we're really proud of Chase, and we look forward to hearing him as uh Emily Ruiz helps herself there with a single to right field to start
087off the top of the sixth inning. Uh Ruiz gets her first hit of the day on that single to right on the first pitch from Domestico to start the sixth. This brings up Maeve Walker, who is 0 for 2 on the day. Ruiz is on first base with no outs in the top of the sixth. >> [cheering] >> Walker shows bunt, fouls it off. Uh the the Titans definitely like to bunt. Small ball is their game, I think. I also like, you know, that's a skill, right? I mean, that's something you have to work on quite a lot in order to get good at it. We don't see a lot of bunting at the major league level or certainly so, you know, there aren't many players that are known as good bunters. But we're seeing
088it here today from the Titans. Takes the next pitch low. Snap throw to first. Ruiz gets in in time. 1-1 count here. Uh Ruiz probably looking to go here. I would I would think want to get a runner in a scoring position down three in the sixth, maybe try to manufacture a run here and and sneak one across if they can to chip away at this lead. Ground ball to Sophie Connors, goes across the diamond. Nice throw. Again, a really solid defensive game by Sophie over there at third base. Gets the runner the batter runner, I should say, and Emily Ruiz heads over to second, which brings up Chelsea Saints, who has flied out to left and got hit by a pitch. Domestico stretches the back out a little bit. Sets, toes, throws, ball high
089to Saints to start the at-bat. Uh coach Sasso trying to get him moving his outfielders in just a little bit, trying to squeeze field them potential play at the plate should uh ball get hit into the outfield. Yeah, Ruiz looks like she has pretty good speed out there. Certainly someone who could probably score on a base hit to the outfield, which would certainly make sense why you're pulling them in a little bit. That Again, the black of the plate is a strike. The black of the plate has always been a strike, but just not today. Uh we I I actually marked it as a strike in my book. I have to erase it. Well, I don't have to erase it now. So, it's 2 and 1 to Chelsea Saints. >> Yeah, and Haynes hit by
090a pitch uh back in the in the second inning. Kind of turned on that pitch, that inside pitch that was called a ball, and I think that was enough to see the umpire get that pitch called a ball. It It I'm looking at this crowd. It sure is nice. What What a fabulous crowd here on a on a lovely Saturday morning in Ashland. As Chelsea Saints fouls one down the third baseline. But this is the kind of thing you see when a team is having success. Clockers looking for their eighth win in this young season. It's going to bring out some community members to come out and watch these girls and cheer them on. They deserve it. They deserve to be uh supported. I hope the student population begins coming out and getting behind these
091fantastic young ladies. >> Yeah, it's a likable team. They play good fundamental softball, and they're just a lot of fun to watch, Mike. And you said likable team. They They They are a incredibly likable team and really wonderful kids, too. Uh we have some really good student athletes, some student leaders on this team, some kids who are involved in the community, who do good things. Uh You know, people like Rebecca Kriegsman, who was an MIAA leadership uh student. Taylor Kotch, who is a class officer for the senior class. Uh And Saints uh leaned into that one a little bit. She did. She definitely leaned into it, but you know, smart play. Smart play by the kid. She takes the pitch, gets hit by a pitch. I I do think that um she wore that one,
092but you know, sometimes a kid Take one for the team. Yeah. Okay, coach Sasso getting an explanation from the home plate umpire. >> Yeah, I think coach Sasso saw the same thing that I saw um that she definitely leaned into that. Um talking about it with the base umpire. You really can't lean over the plate to take a pitch like that. And that's what I saw, but again, we have a tough angle. We got a bad angle here in the right right right field line. Um I'm interested to know if any of the fans that are out in center field felt like she Oh, no fans in center field because we don't have a fence here at Hunt Field. I've been searching for that for quite some time, but maybe eventually we'll get ourselves a
093fence so these girls can play like they should play at the varsity level um with an actual fence. Okay, well, first and second for the Titans with just one out here in the top of the sixth, though. Titans threatening, and we're going to have a mound visit here from our circle visit from uh coach Larry Sasso. Yeah, I think that makes sense, right? Yeah, settle the girls down. You get 7-8-9 coming up with one out. Be really nice if you can get out of this inning uh with 7-8 to have nine lead off the seventh for the Titans. Uh she has struck out Maturalla in the fourth inning, and she got her to ground out to Buderman in the second. So, this this batter is 0 for 2 on the day to Bella. Uh I
094think right now it's just one of those moments where you want to just have a quick conversation, settle these players down, and and let's get out of this inning. Yeah, stick with the game plan, keep going with what what has brought you success here today. Throw strikes. Yeah, throw strikes, hit spots, don't don't get rattled by what was I think a missed a missed strike call, and then really potentially a uh a a a stolen hit by pitch, but you can't let that worry you. You can't worry about that. You have to have poise in the mound. And this is going to be foul. It's a foul ball. Um but a good piece of hitting there by Maturalla. But nonetheless, that's just strike one. Uh so, probably maybe move Taylor in a step and put
095her over to the line after that, but she's playing pretty deep right now. I don't know if coach Sasso wants her that deep. No, he's moving her in. Oh. Off-speed pitch goes for a ball. I thought she might have brushed her leg with that one. It just felt like something felt a little bit off on that delivery. Huh, interesting. Yeah. I wonder. Uh but also, you know, this is the sixth inning. She could be tiring a little bit. Typically, these pitchers can go deep, but that's a late swing. It's a good fastball. It's a good low fastball. 2 and 2. I'm going to check the stats to see how many pitches Bella has thrown so far today. Mhm. Again, these are unofficial. This is an unofficial um count, but the game changer box score, once
096it loads up, has Bella uh As she a backwards K for Bella D and that is two outs now in the top of the sixth bringing up Isabella Dallas Um Yeah, Domestico has only thrown 82 pitches 55 for strikes which which really isn't efficient an efficient percentage. Strike one. Sixth strike out of the day for Bella second one looking. Yeah, I I this is that's the typical game for Bella. She's not going to blow you away um with strikeouts but she will get some in in in the big spots too. That was a big spot for a strikeout now with two runners on with only one out. Now we've got two outs with two runners on and the number eight hitter up to the plate and Isabella Dallas who did have a single in the
097fifth. Well, Mike as you're how you're describing Bella I don't know if you can call a freshman crafty but it seems like that's that's the direction you're going in. Yeah, she is she she hits spots. She she is and she's been working on her game for years. I've been watching Bella pitch since she was a young girl. I mean and we've been watching her growth and her development. Um she has a as a 13 14 year old kid has been playing in U18. Uh that that's going to be a hard ground ball in the center field. And that's going to get a run in. So another another single by Isabella Dallas and she knocks a run in there. Uh So it keeps the inning alive and now the score is 6 to 4 Clockers in
098the top of the sixth with two outs and runners on first and second for the number nine hitter Delaney Walker. Well, Mike in the pregame you we talked about you know the Titans were going to be a formidable opponent for these Clockers and it's coming true here so far today. We've got a pretty tight game here in the sixth. >> And I also said to you last inning had to keep them under four four four or less and right now they're at three heading with with two outs. So got to keep got to keep uh Chelsea Sanders off the >> [screaming] >> So that one gets by Maddie Sanders and sneaks into the outfield. I'm going to wait and see what the official score is on that um by our scorekeeper. Yeah, I mean shortstop
099didn't touch that ball. I would have to score it a single. Yeah, I It's a play I think should have been made but >> our scorer gave it an error and I actually think that that went under her glove. I I I think she should have made that play. >> Once she went backhand, yeah. So I'm going to go E6 as well on Sanders and that loads the bases unfortunately. Uh this is going to be a tough spot with the top of the order up here with two outs. The Titans are looking for some two out magic with Valerie Lamont who is one for three on the day. Big big spot here for Domestico who is up 01 on Valerie Lamont. Misses away. This is this is a huge spot for the freshman. Got to
100shut this down right here. Can't let any more runs score. High pressure situation right now for the Clockers. Little high two and one. Good news for the Clockers is they are coming up with the top of the order in the in the bottom of the sixth. So hopefully those bats can keep going but we don't want them to get any more across. We want to limit the damage here. So it right now is 6 to 4 and that's not what we want, right? We said we wanted to keep them at four. >> Mhm. So we wanted to score six. We wanted to keep them at four. So let's see if my my hope holds true. As Bella does have two strikes and she gets out of the inning with a huge strikeout swinging a [cheering]
101miss to Valerie Lamont. That is a heck of a spot for Bella Domestico there getting out of a really hard situation with the bases loaded and the lead off hitter up. She gets her to strikeout swinging keeps us alive for hopefully a really great inning in the sixth. Clockers lead 6 to 4 after five and a half. What a jolt of electricity there. A big strikeout to end it with the bases loaded. Yeah, and I love the excitement that we shown by the the ladies as they came off the infield. They That's another thing that we just haven't seen in the last two years by this team is excitement. You know, obviously winning is contagious and and when you only win six games in two years it's it's hard to get excited and losing becomes
102contagious but winning becomes contagious and that's what I think coach Sasso has done here is he's gave them a winning mindset. These girls aren't coming out thinking they're going to lose. They they they're running out to the field. They're running off the field and I I think we also need to give credit to you know coach Pam Curtis who stuck with the Clockers. Coach Sasso talked to some of the the players the returning players. They talked so highly of coach Pam and what she brings to the table for these kids and she and he kept her on board from last year's staff. And when when we talk about coach Curtis uh what is a absolutely tremendous human being. She's just a wonderful wonderful person. She does so much for these girls for their confidence. Um
103she's always positive. She's bringing them snacks. She's packing them hand warmers when it's cold. She does all the little things but she just truly cares about these kids and I I think the the kids feel that from her and and they're really enjoying this team right now. I think coach Sasso and coach Curtis along with the the young coaches that they have on staff that used to play for coach Sasso and Anna Maria have also been a welcome addition. It just sounds like a lot of positivity on this team from the coaching staff through to the players. Sure is. And one thing that's been positive is the play of Nico Eustace who is looking for her third hit of the day. Uh Eustace is two for two. Uh she's been on base all three times
104as she walked in the fourth. Eustace fouls one off. Good cut. She was right on that one. So it's one and one is the count in the top of the sixth to the Clockers lead off hitter. Spark plug at the top of the lineup. Again Nico what's what's interesting is Nico's only scored one run today. Uh Nico's used to crossing that plate on a regular basis. That's going to be a pop up to the right fielder. She camps underneath it. Uh Nico just gets under it. Unfortunately, she pops up to right to get the first out of the inning. Uh hopefully Bella Domestico can get her third hit of the day. She comes to the plate two for three today. Bella takes ball high. Uh really want to get one this inning. Mhm. Yeah, look
105Nico looked like she may have gotten jammed on that last one. Like everything else she's been hitting today has been pull side. That one floated out to right. Yeah, only up 6 to 4 right now. I feel like an insurance run or two is really important. Uh as Bella leaves one it's going to be two and 0. Again, if Domestico can get on I do have great faith in our three and four hitters to knock her in especially uh the way they've been hitting as of late. And Bella ropes one to left. It gets by the left fielder. Bella just may be able to get to third here. Looks like she might be trying to go home. Larry's waving her in. No. It cuts her down. Probably a good move. Leave her at third base
106with the big bats of Vendetti and Kyra coming up. Again, that one's going to go down as a single with an E7 but nonetheless Bella Domestico is at third base with one out in the bottom of the sixth and the Clockers have something going with runners in scoring position for Ava Vendetti. Just had a yellow conference on between the umpires. I'm curious to see what they're talking about. They're having a little conversation now with uh third base coach for the Titans. I don't know if the the runner go too far coming around third base. Uh I don't think that's that would nothing I I don't know what that issue would be. I didn't see anything. She does seem upset about something. The head coach uh of the Titans wants to talk to the plate umpire.
107Not sure what this could possibly be about. Oh, maybe it's the courtesy runner. He brought a courtesy runner on. He Maybe she's saying he didn't call the courtesy runner. You get a courtesy runner for your pitcher. So they've done it all game long. Uh so I I don't know what the argument could possibly be. Domestico gets a courtesy runner. The only other thing I can guess Mike I mean they seem to be pointing an activity toward like the middle infield. I I know if they were some kind of an interference. I I don't know. >> Yeah, I'm not sure. Um Maybe someone in the live broadcast can send us a text and let us know. Angela, what happened? I know you're watching. Maybe you saw you saw, but regardless, you're going to have Ashland's side
108as you are the most biased fan in the United States. Vendetti pops one up to the shortstop. That brings up Kyra with the runner on third. Kyra is two for three today. Um This is a big spot for her with the runner on third base and two outs. Really could use a clutch hit out of Kyra right now. >> [screaming] >> Looking for her third hit of the day. You think she's eyeing the right fielder again? Well, I've got the scouting report on her like nobody else. And um Caroline does typically hit to the opposite field. She looks like she's a power pull hitter, but she's not. She's a She is an opposite field of kid. That one goes to the third base. She made a liar out of me as she pulls a ground
109ball to third, leaving the runners stranded. Unfortunately, that is the last thing the Clockers wanted to do was go scoreless from the top of their order in that inning. Not getting anything across, no runs off of one hit. Um really a a tough turn of events there for Ashland. They had their their their best four hitters up and they come out scoreless. And now they're going to put the pressure on Domestico to close this thing out up two going into the seventh. Yeah, runner on third with less than two outs, not able to bring them home. That Hopefully, that's not going to come back to haunt them. They still again, I mean, it's not all bad. We're going gloom and doom, but Clockers do have a two-run lead here in the top of the seventh.
110>> do. They're up They're up two. They're up two. They're up six to four right now going to the top of the seventh. Uh and they do have a tough part of the order coming up though. Uh we'll see what Bella can do. I have great faith that Bella's going to shut this team down here, but two, three, and four are coming up. Um on the day, Dunlevy uh is one for three. Davey, who's going to come up second, is one for three. And Ruiz is also one for three. So, they're three for nine on the day combined uh for the two, three, four hitters for the Titans. It's going to be a tough test here to see if the freshman can stay poised and um put this team away for the Clockers eighth win
111of the year. Uh love to see this happen. And again, winning close games is what good teams do. Right? You figure out if you are a good team by winning the close game. So, let's see what Bella can do up here against Hannah Dunlevy. First pitch in there gets ahead of the count. She's up 0 and 1 right now on the third baseman. Domestico checks the sign, toes the rubber, toes and throws. She fouls one off her foot. She fouled it off her foot. I don't think anybody saw that, but I did. It definitely hit her in the toe. That's going to be strike two to Dunlevy. A good spot here blowing by her, huh? Absolutely. Makes you that high heat. Would be nice if we could see that high heat. Yeah, it looks like
112Vendetti's setting up for it. Oh, she tries to She just fouls it off and it's still going to be 0-2. That that pitch was in the zone, Mike. That's not what he She wanted to with an 0-2. Got the fastball, but it's got to be a It's got to be up high in her eyes. >> Yeah. Yeah, wants it a little higher than that. She did catch a little bit too much plate there. And this is a long fly ball. Rebecca Kriegsman camps underneath it. Again, the outfielders making it a little bit more interesting than we'd like them to make it, but Kriegsman makes a nice catch in left, goes down, assures the catch, and we have one out here in the top of the seventh. I think that's a third fly ball the afternoon
113the Clocker defense has made a little more interesting than it needed to be, but we'll take it. One out here in the seventh. And Domestico gets ahead of Julia Davey, the catcher for the Titans, who is one for three in the day. Uh Domestico caught her swinging in the first and looking in the fifth. This is a big time for another strikeout here if Bella can put one by her. She's up 0-1. She is going to check the sign from Vendetti, toe throw. Looks good. Oh my goodness. Uh not a spot where you want to be squeezed here in the top of the seventh up to 6-4 trying to cling onto this lead. I don't know, Josh. >> [laughter] >> Seen a couple close ones that I haven't liked. >> I know. I know. But
114uh Bella's rung up Julia twice today. This is a line drive to left. >> That's foul. >> Just foul. Just foul. A long strike is all that is. Uh what we want to do is keep this ball out of the outfield though. Uh ground balls and strikeouts are big right now. >> Mhm. It's It's been a overall solid defensive day for the Clockers for the most part. Um I've got them with a clean game. I'm not sure what the official score has. It's going to be a pop up here that's going to get out of play over into the multi-purpose field over at Ashland Middle School. And we're still one and two to catcher Julia Davey. Now might be a good time to pull out the changeup. Well, he She got her on it last
115time. That That's the pitch that she got her on in the fifth. Little low, low and away. Two and two is the count. Uh I wouldn't I wouldn't hate a high fastball right now either. Just see if you can get her chasing. Got to change the eye line. Yeah, she is behind her. Uh So, let's see what we can do here. Bella toes and throws. It's a hop pop fly to Nico. She camps underneath, makes the call, makes the catch. Fly out to Eustace. We've got two down here in the top of the seventh. Clockers hanging on to try and close out the Titans up 6-4 right now in the top of the seventh. And here comes the pitcher, Emily Ruiz, who had a single in the sixth inning and two pop ups before that.
116She takes the first pitch. It's a strike True to form, getting ahead of the hitter. So, right now um we're hoping that we can get this game going, get these girls home. Let's see what we can do, Bella. Another Oh, just away. Just away. One and one. Uh Bella Domestico doing it at the plate and on the pitching in the pitcher's circle today. Having a a really fantastic game all around. And it's going to be a little pop up to Buttermilk, who drops it. >> [screaming] >> Buttermilk Buttermilk drops drops it. I think she was thinking about celebrating before she caught the ball, which is a little bit of a mistake there. But you know what? She'll be fine. Got to shake that one off. No big deal. 6-4 here. Maeve Walker is 0 for
1173 on the day. And Coach Sasso is going to bring the team out, talk to them a little bit, settle them down. You know, one of the things that you talk about as a coach, right, is don't let one mistake become two. Right. >> Right? Things happen. Things happen. Not a big deal. Uh the sophomore took her eye off it. And Hannah's a good player. She's a great player. She's got to shake that one off. And she's got to understand that it's not a big deal. No harm done right now. We got a runner on with two outs and a two-run lead. Yeah, I mean, I can't remember if it was Aristotle or Ted Lasso who said, "Be a goldfish." Be a goldfish. >> Right. So, just to your point, right? Don't Don't let this
118become a domino effect. Don't let you all get off the past. Look to the future. Yeah. >> Focus on the next batter. >> Absolutely. No big deal. You know what I'd like to see happen here? I'd like to see a ground ball right to Buttermilk so she can end this game with a nice clean play. >> Redemption. >> And get a little redemption here [laughter] because she is a good player who's done a good job for the Clockers this year. I don't think any harm is going to come of that. And it's a strike one. >> [screaming] >> A snap throw. Vendetti trying to catch Ruiz sleeping over there. I don't want to take any risks right now. No. No, I I I I like the aggressiveness by Ava, but I would just assume work
119this batter and see if we can get [clears throat] out of here. Strike two. She's going right after this batter. Two straight fastballs. 0-2 right here to Maeve Walker. I'm This game needs to end cuz I'm starting to lose my voice a little bit here, Josh. You putting in a full game, Mike. Fouls it off her foot. Uh so, she's staying alive here. Again, Maeve Walker has grounded out to third, popped up to the pitcher, and struck out swinging in the fourth. She is now down 0-2 to Bella Domestico, who is looking for her seventh win of the year. And she gets her looking. It's a backwards K for Melody and the Clockers get their eighth win in a offensive performance that was led by the top of the order for the Clockers. Um and
120and what a really solid performance here by by Bella Domestico. Uh Domestico goes the distance. She allows only four runs off of six hits, two earned runs, eight strikeouts, and what's most impressive about this performance today for Bella, no walks. You win games when you do not allow a free pass. Absolutely, I couldn't say it better myself, Mike. Just a terrific performance by Bella. Defense was there when it needed to be, and and that vaunted Clockers offense showed up again today. It sure did. Uh looking through the the some stats here, some quick stats for the Clockers. Nico Eustaris, two for three with a walk and a run scored. Bella Domestico, really good at the plate today. Three hits on the day. Ava Vendetti, two for four with an RBI and a run scored. Caroline
121Kaira in the four hole was also two for four with three RBI and a run scored. Haley Buturman, one for three with a run Rebecca Kriegsman, also one for three with that really big RBI double that she laced on the left field line. So, we we had a double from Eustaris and Kriegsman, a triple from Kaira, all around a really solid day for one through four who combined for nine hits. Nine of the 11 hits came from one through four. Mhm. Yeah, we were talking about that earlier in the broadcast. Like what a you know dominant performance today by the one through four hitters. Scored five of the six runs today. They did. And and this is just a just what a wonderful way to start the season. This is going to be a really
122tough stretch here for the Clockers, these next this game and their next three games. We're going to find a lot of out about this team over the course of the next few games. So Dedham Dedham the Dedham Marauders, I believe, are the Clockers next opponent. They come in at five and three, and they are a really challenging Tri-Valley League opponent. The Marauders beat them twice last year. And Dedham is one of the better teams in the Tri-Valley right now. If the Clockers can take that victory, it's another it's another stepping stone toward becoming the team that they really want to become. And then they have a a game their next game after Dedham I believe They've got a busy week this week. >> do. They have three they have three games this week. After Dedham,
123they are going heading to Westwood, and then they host Norton, one of the top teams in the entire state of Massachusetts, who comes in who who will most likely come in undefeated. They're right now 8-0. The Norton Lancers have been a juggernaut of a team. So, it's not getting any easier for Ashland, who's got you know two really difficult games this week. Well, speaking of that Norton game, Mike, according to my records, that's we're going to have that game here on WACA. It'll be a 4:00, I believe, on Thursday with Wayman Eng doing the announcing on that one. Yeah, I'm taking that night off. I'm not doing that one. Wayman Eng is going to be here. Wayman joined me for the first broadcast we did. Wayman's all about cheering is what Wayman does. So, we'll
124see how the broadcast goes alone for Wayman. He's Wayman is a great friend of mine. Love Wayman a lot. What a what a great guy. >> Really good person. Absolutely, couldn't agree more. And I've also got George Tubin and Ashland junior junior Jacob Padula announcing the baseball game against Norton on Thursday. So, it looks like we might have some some double header action going here on WACA. And also want to mention Wednesday at 4:30 girls tennis takes on Westwood, and Jane Weiner will have the call on that one. So, we got a we have a job to do now. So, we we've got to pick the we've got to pick the um Gobbler Defensive Player of the Game, the King Kong Offensive Player of the Game. So, I don't know, I think we got some
125candidates in terms of offensively, I think anybody from that first four I I would say it's got to be either Domestico, who was three for four on the day, Kaira, who was two for four with three big RBIs, that triple, and and then Vendetti, who was also two for four today with an RBI. Well, I you I know you might be hesitant to nominate Caroline as the as the King Kong Offensive Player of the Game from Marathon Deli, but I'm good with it. She had a couple of really strong hits, some clutch performance, drove in the runs, and some extra base hits. Okay, so we'll give the King Kong Batter of the Game to Caroline Kaira for her performance today. And then now we got to get that Gobbler the Gobbler Defensive Player of the
126Game. I you know, obviously Ava Vendetti made that great diving play behind the plate, but I think Sophie Connors at third base was was great there today. Stepping in in her first varsity start, making some really solid plays over third. You make a good point, and I'm convinced. I was ready to give it to to to Ava with that diving play. She called a masterpiece behind the plate today, but you're right. I mean, you know, Connors came up huge at third base and and was pretty much making all the plays. Yeah, I it's it's um it's a tough call, but she did have three assists on the day from the third base spot. And that's you know, it's no easy position playing third base, especially in your first career start. >> No, she she was
127making solid throws from third base across the diamond. So, we are going to head over. I'm going to go grab our King Kong Player of the Game, our Gobbler Player of the Game, and also get Bella Domestico over here. Okay, sounds good. So, I guess I'm going to hang out here with you for just a couple minutes while Mike grabs our players of the game. Do want to mention we were talking about the different play different people within the community that are announcing these future games coming up this week. And want to mention that during spring sports here on WACA, we have a total of 12 different announcers, seven crew members, including three current Ashland students, and a recent Ashland graduate. So, if you'd like to join the broadcast team, whether as an announcer on
128the crew, if you're interested in learning about video multimedia production, drop us a line. Best way to get us is newsnotes, all one word, newsnotes@wac wacatv.com. No prior experience necessary. We'd love to have you. Get everything you need to learn right there on the job. So I'm looking on camera now, and Mike is still having a conversation with Coach Larry Sasso again. I like it. We're going to go with with Coach Sasso today. Coming up on on camera. I'll step out of the way. Coach >> [laughter] >> Might be a little close there. I'm not sure how close you are. You want I think Coach is ready for his close-up. >> Yeah, well why don't we why don't we just get behind here? Is this good? All right. Coach Sasso, fantastic win today out of
129you. So, we we've got to talk a little bit about this program and the turnaround that we have made here. Going from six wins in two years to starting off this season 8 and 1, well on track to potentially make the state tournament for the first time in over a decade. Talk a little bit about the the change in attitude and the positivity that you feel like you've brought to this program. Yeah, first off, what happened in the past, I want to thank all those coaches who participated to help with going forward each day. What's changed with this team? Early on, we had to build trust. We did that with Coach Curtis and Coach Kelly Stein. I talked to them, and immediately I knew we we wanted to keep them in the program. And that
130that started it off great. And then we've got our coaches from Prior College and Mary College, our three assistant coaches right there. Sav, Cass, and Sailor. So, with that, we've got a talented group. But we also have a talented young softball team with good leadership, right, and tremendous players. The biggest thing that they needed to know is that they have the talent. We had to build confidence and trust. We want them to know that the bar is up here. It's not down here. Whatever happened last year and the year before, we don't go by that. We started ground we started zero, but we set the bar high with these guys. It's it's all about industrious. We work hard. We prepare hard. We prepared for that team big time. We did our scouting reports. We had
131that's a very good Algonquin team, coached very well, really tremendous team. And it it shows that we can raise the bar and we have to. So, we're all really proud of them. That's excellent. And we got some players today that we're going to honor. We we have we're sponsored by the Marathon Deli. So, Coach, we're going to come over and and get some some quick some quick recognition for these these girls. So, we're going to start with Sophie Connors. Sophie Connors coming over. Sophie, we we we selected you as our Marathon Deli Gobbler Sandwich Defensive Player of the Game today. So, if you throw that on real quick. So, Sophie, getting the call up today, your first varsity performance. You go over play at third base. You play a really solid third base, make three
132really nice plays. Talk to us a little bit about what it meant to you to be able to have your first varsity game to start at third base. Um it meant a lot. I love softball and have always loved softball. I started in kindergarten, and on JV, I don't get to play a lot of third base. So getting to come here and play third base was great. Well, that's fantastic, Sophie. A great job today. Congratulations for being our first ever Gobbler Defensive Player of the Game. We're going to pass this over now to to Caroline Kaira >> [laughter] >> Kaira Caroline Kaira, certainly I'm a little biased about this, but but Josh Abrams did select you as the King Kong Offensive Player of the Game today for your two for four performance, three RBIs, a
133triple, a single on an error that allowed you to score all the way from first. You got the afterburners going. You put the speed on. Talk a little bit about Caroline, this team, and how much fun you've been having on this team this year, and and what this season has meant to you so far. >> I think so far it's been it's been a lot of fun to get to experience this team with a whole new whole new staff and a whole new group of players. It's a lot of fun to get to experience everyone else and how they view the team and how they're doing. So, it's been a lot of fun. I've actually really enjoyed this season a lot. So, it's a lot of fun. >> And what were you thinking when you
134hit a leg out of triple and leg out one to score today? You know, you had to turn it on. >> I did not think I was going to make it, but somehow I put those wheels on and I moved. I got the sign and I took off. >> Turn those square wheels around today and were able to make it through. So, a great a great game out of you. Good job today, Caroline, and we will go home and maybe celebrate later on. Let's bring on our winning pitcher today, Bella Domestico. Bella, another tremendous performance out of you today, Bella. As we've talked about you all year long, efficiency around the plate is what you have shown us as a freshman coming in so poised, coming in in that last inning, needing to close them
135out with a two-run lead. Bella, on the day, four runs, only two earned, eight strikeouts, and some big strikeouts. Bella, talk a little bit about what it's meant to be able to play with some of these older kids who have shown some leadership for you as well as you know, your long-time friend Ava Vendetti behind the plate. You guys are freshman batteries. I'm sure it's been great for you. Yeah, it's meant a lot because I wasn't able to like like I didn't play with like the seniors captains, but like I've made like a really good connection with them and it's like our team connection and like our how we work together is like really good and yeah. Well, Bella, it's been it's been fantastic watching you play. What do you think this team needs to
136do to keep it up for the rest of the year? Confidence cuz sometimes you don't have the best confidence, but like we're going to beat Hopkinton when we come back. All right. Well, you heard it from Bella Domestico. Let's let's make sure we take care of business against Dedham first on Monday and then we'll think of Hopkinton down the road. But, Bella, I love the way you are thinking. Folks, this was fantastic. Coach Sasso, Caroline, Sophie, Bella, thank you for joining us. >> Thank you. Please thank all the fans. We needed a little extra today. We got the energy from our players, but when I saw the group out here, our players appreciate that the fans support. That little extra, that was the difference today. We need everybody. All right. Thank you, coach. Thanks. Thank
137you, ladies. So, for the crew here at Hunt Field at Ashland Middle School, we want to thank an amazing crew. Absolutely. Um so, we'll say we'll say thanks to Jeff Hall, to Bri Monacito, to uh What are your names? I've I've met the two new guys yet. >> Harry Adamik and Garrett Ferguson Okay, Garrett. helping us out today on the cameras. It has been a wonderful day with you, Josh. I hope we get to do this again. My pleasure to be with you. And from Ashland Middle School, it is the Ashland Varsity Clockers six, the Algonquin Titans four. Ashland is moving and shaking, eight and one on the season. Until next time, we are signing off here. I am Michael Kyra with my partner, Josh Abrams. Thanks, everybody. Thanks for watching and go Clockers. >>
138[snorts] >> All right, man. You going to let me do this again? It's so