Young Lee Wildcats Top McCann Tech
LEE, Mass. -- Anna Jeffreys went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs and scored three runs to lead the Lee softball team to a 12-9 win over McCann Tech on Friday afternoon.
The Wildcats (4-4) got contributions up and down their lineup as they won their second straight and fourth in their last five.
Each Lee player reached base at least once, six had at least one of the team’s eight hits and four players knocked in at least one.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen that this year,” Lee coach Harold Heath said. “Everybody hit. We haven’t hit that well as a team all year. We had only three strikeouts as a team today. I’ll take that.
“I’m a very proud coach. We went 3-1 this week.”
On Friday, Lee broke open a 2-2 game with a four-run third inning. Alyssa Heath doubled in a run, and Jeffreys hit an RBI single to left in the rally, which also benefited from two McCann Tech errors.
Hornets pitcher Michaela Malloy was bothered by control issues (she hit four batters) and defensive miscues: McCann committed five errors in the game, leading to seven unearned runs.
“We’ve got a young team, but we gave them too many outs,” McCann Tech coach Robin Finnegan said. “To their credit, they hit the ball hard, and they hit it well. We’ve got to make the plays, and we didn’t do that today.”
Another McCann Tech error helped open the door to a five-run fourth for Lee as the Wildcats extended their lead to 11-4. Peyton Heath and Jeffreys each had a hit in the rally.
The Hornets (3-3) rallied with five runs in the top of the sixth to draw within two.
Ayrian Quinones delivered a two-run double, and Madison Degrenier-Leibenow and Julia Esoldi each singled in the rally, which also saw Kalley Vanuni hit a sacrifice fly to left.
Lee pitcher Katelyn Clark stopped the bleeding thanks to an outfield assist from Kylie Joyce in center and one of several strong throws from third baseman Sarah Cook to retire the side.
In the bottom of the inning, Lee answered the rally with a run off an RBI groundout by Olivia Keiderling, an eighth-grader and one of several youngsters on a very young Lee roster.
“I’ve got seventh- and eighth-graders on this team,” Harold Heath said. “Most of them are eighth-graders. I’ve got seventh-grader in center field, the pitcher is an eighth grader, my catcher is an eighth-grader, my second baseman is an eighth-grader, the right-fielder is in eighth grader.
“I had a lot of young kids come out and play hard today against a bunch of varsity players. I’m pretty proud of these kids today.”
On Monday, Lee hosts Gateway on Monday and McCann Tech goes to Palmer.