RallyNorth.net

Tue, May 13, 2008 04:00 PM @ Peabody

Team	Final
Marblehead	4
Peabody	12

Peabody softball tops Marblehead, makes state tourney

Tuesday, May, 13 By Mike Grenier
Staff writer

PEABODY | The Marblehead High softball team had visions of beating powerful Peabody twice in a span of a week.

It didn't work out either time.

The Magicians were in the process of blowing out Peabody last Thursday when it started raining, causing a cancellation. They had to start the game from scratch here yesterday.

"They were probably mad about that," Peabody catcher Sam Terenzoni surmised about the Magicians.

No problem, or at least it wasn't in the early going. Marblehead kept its focus, got a two-run homer from Laura Kanarski (the first of her career) and a go-ahead run-scoring single from Mandy James in the fourth, but the Tanners responded with nine unanswered runs for a 12-4 decision.

Northeastern Conference newcomer Peabody (10-3), which is bidding to capture the conference title after being a member of the Greater Boston League for more than three decades, clinched a spot in the state tourney with the win. Marblehead, which had a 9-3 lead over the Tanners in the game that was scrubbed by rain last Thursday, dropped to 9-5.

"We'd love to win the NEC in our first year," said Terenzoni, "and we want to prove ourselves in the state tourney."

That's in the future. Yesterday they derived satisfaction from proving themselves against Marblehead ace Courtney Colantuno, who held a precarious 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth.

It all began to unravel for Marblehead at that point. The key sequence came when the Tanners had runners on second and third with two outs and Marblehead coach Johnny Gold decided to intentionally walk Tawny Palmieri to load the bases and take his chances with Terenzoni.

As Peabody coach Butch Melanaphy said, it was sound strategy. "You can get a force play at any base (to end the inning)," he said. But it was also like picking your poison because Palmieri and Terenzoni are both hitting well over .400 and are extremely dangerous in these situations. "It's like jumping from the frying pan into the fire," added the Tanners coach.

Sure enough, Terenzoni smacked a double, plating two runs for a 5-4 Peabody lead. The Tanners expanded it to 9-4 in the fifth, keyed by Palmieri's two-run triple, and they got run-scoring hits from Kenia McKeon and Sam Lerner in a three-run sixth that made it 12-4.

"I'm on the same AAU team (New England Firebirds) with Colantuno, so I know her a little bit," said Palmieri who finished 3 for 5. "It would've been fun to face her (with runners on second and third), but I had a lot of confidence in Sam (with the bases loaded)."

Gold readily admitted that Terenzoni's hit swung the game Peabody's way. If he had to do it over again, he would probably still walk Palmieri to load the bases. It's basic strategy, but this time it happened to backfire.

"It was a huge turning point," Gold said of Terenzoni's big hit. "Tawny is a good hitter and she's gotten to us before, and (Terenzoni) is a good hitter, too. They did a great job of hitting against us. They deserve a lot of credit for it."

Amanda Smith, Stephanie Fodera, Kenia McKeon and Lauren Tucker each had two hits, so it wasn't just the top of the order that did the damage for Peabody.

The Magicians left the field with a little bit of a bad taste in their mouths over an incident in the seventh inning. Marblehead leftfielder Sam Norman, who'd already made a great catch late in the game, made a valiant, diving attempt to catch another foul ball near the fence, causing some chuckles from the Peabody bench. Gold was clearly miffed but refused comment.

Melanaphy did his best to defuse the situation, apologizing on behalf of his team when he shook Gold's hand immediately after the game. The entire Peabody team then came over and apologized directly to Norman. It was a show of sportsmanship after a brief bad moment.

"I didn't see what happened (initially)," said Melanaphy, who was coaching third base when Norman was playing left field. "I'll handle it as a coach. I'll talk to the kids about it."