ADAMS, Mass. -- The Adams-Cheshire-Savoy battery powered the Swat 12-and-under softball team to a Berkshire County Championship on Thursday evening.
Pitcher Nora Moser struck out 15. Catcher Maryn Cappiello threw out a pair of runners. And the pair combined to go 5-for-9 with four RBIs to a 17-3 win over the Northern Berkshire Titans in the tournament finale on Reid Field.
“I always tell myself to just do my job,” Moser said. “I just stayed confident, and even when there were challenges, I said, ‘We can do it.’ “
Moser faced just one challenge in the circle, a three-run third inning in which her team committed three errors.
Otherwise, she was dominant, striking out the side in order twice and recording two Ks in three other innings.
“I’ve known Nora for about the last year,” ACS coach Aimee McCarthy said. “I met her in the fall of 2018, and ever since, she is just constantly getting better in her pitching game.
“She pushes herself, and she wants to be out there. She wants to be a leader on the field. And I am just so proud of her.”
After Moser mowed down the first three hitters of the game on strikeouts, her ACS offense rewarded her with a seven-run bottom of the first.
Ashlyn Lesure reached on an infield single, and Emily Raschdorf laced a two-run single to right field in the rally, which also saw the Swat work four walks. Moser doubled up the middle to drive in the sixth and seventh runs.
It was 8-0 after two innings tanks to a Paige Meyette RBI in the bottom of the second.
Northern Berkshire finally started putting good swings on the ball in the top of the third when the bottom of the lineup set things up.
Danika Dodge reached on an infield error and stole a couple of bases before Aolani Luczynski drove her home with a single to right. Karlie Thomas then hit a sac fly to the outfield that was mishandled, allowing Luczynski to score and Thomas to go to second.
Thomas then scored to make it 8-3 when Emmerson Lane reached on an infield single.
The Swat’s Cappiello helped stop the rally by throwing out Emmerson attempting to steal second, and Moser got the third out swinging to end the rally.
From there, it was all ACS, which tacked on insurance runs in the third and fourth to push its lead to 11-3.
In the sixth, the floodgates open as Moser, Cappiello, Lesure and Raschdorf each singled in a six-run rally to put the game out of reach.
In the top of the seventh, Meyette made a big play on a line drive to second to open the inning, Moser recorded her final strikeout. And after ACS’ fourth error allowed a runner on base with two-out, Cappiello caught her trying to steal third to end the game.
“I actually met Maryn a while ago, and I worked a lot with her,” McCarthy said. “I caught in college, and we went over some fundamentals of blocking and throws and things like that. And she has gotten so much better over the last two years.
“I couldn’t be more proud of her, either. She wants it back there. You can tell she’s got the attitude for it. She’s tough.”
Northern Berkshire showed its toughness as well, Titans coach Corey Richardson said during the trophy ceremony.
“We knew it was going to be tough, and you hung in,” he told his team. “I couldn’t have asked for more.”
McCarthy also could not say enough about the enthusiasm she saw from her team.
“I had so much fun,” she said of her first season with ACS. “I came in, and I wasn’t part of house league. But we came and we started practicing right away and jumped into games. And every time we played, they just got a little bit more excited and a little bit more excited.
“I think my passion for this game, you know, has rubbed off on them. And you can see that their passion is growing, too. Together, we grew as a team, we all did. … I was just grateful to be a part of it.”
northadams.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
MEMBER SIGN IN
