THE WAKEFIELD HIGH marching band (Summer Team) performed the National Anthem at Meghan Burnett Field on opening day and then again at the 18U championship of the 5th Meghan Burnett Fly High Softball Tournament. (Courtesy Photo)
WAKEFIELD — This past weekend was the 5th annual Meghan Burnett “Fly High” Fastpitch Softball Tournament and, believe it or not, the first one with no rain.
The tournament was initially established in 2018, only two months after Meghan Burnett passed away due to complications during surgery. Meghan loved softball and had always wanted there to be a fastpitch tournament in Wakefield so friends got together and created the first tournament.
The success of this first tournament also enabled the creation of the Meghan Burnett Foundation, the goal of which is to enrich the high school experience through sports, music and travel while helping students discover their own personal potential. Meghan was always smiling and always positive so each year it is the goal to infuse her joy into the tournament.
This tournament brings 16 teams from around New England to Wakefield to compete at the 14U and 18U levels. Usually there are a few participants who have a personal connection with Meghan whether they are coaches she played for or teammates she played or trained with who are now coaches themselves. This year there was even an umpire who was a former teammate.
Programs from as far away as Burlington, Vermont and as close as Saugus and Woburn played at Wakefield Memorial High School, Veterans Field, Mapleway Park and Lynnfield High School until only one team remained in each division. There was some excellent softball to be seen at all four fields and what follows is a recap of some of the action that played out this weekend.
14U Division
The 14U Northeast Reign made a good showing this weekend, featuring two players from Wakefield: Pitcher Kathryn Sliski and catcher Cassidy Silva. Friday night at Mapleway saw the Reign square off against the North Shore Breakers. With Silva behind the plate, Sliski was in the circle for the Reign and she notched her first of three wins with the Reign prevailing 3-0.
On Saturday, after losing their first game to the VT Storm, the Reign came back with a solid win over a strong South Shore Chaos team, which earned them the No. 3 seed for the elimination round.
They started Sunday with a 10-8 win in a close game against the Blackstone Valley Venom but that would be the end of their run as they fell to the VT Storm in the Semifinals.
On Friday, the 6 p.m. game at LHS was the first of five wins for the Rage where they defeated the NE Storm in a 12-0 contest. They continued their offensive onslaught on Saturday with a 13-1 win over the NE Hurricanes and completing the day with an impressive 5-2 victory over the Blackstone Valley Venom. This set the Rage on top for Sunday, just edging out the Vermont Storm for the No.1 seed.
On Sunday, the Rage took the 10 a.m. game 17-9 over the South Shore Chaos, after which they played one of their only nail-biters in a tight 5-4 victory over the North Shore Breakers in the semifinals.
The Vermont Storm played all three pool games on Saturday, starting with an early win over the South Shore Chaos. In the 12 p.m. game they handed the Reign their only loss in pool play with an impressive 12-3 win. The Storm went on to finish the day with a well-played 11-8 win over the North Shore Breakers.
Sunday saw the VT Storm starting out with early leads and never looking back, defeating a strong NE Storm team 14-7 and then seeing the Reign for the second time, handing them their final loss 8-2.
In last year’s 14U championship game, it was the Rage vs. Vermont Storm and after a close game, the Rage was victorious. This year the championship game once again included those two teams with a different result. Once again it was a close game with two well-matched teams. After some back and forth, the score was tied going into the last inning. After three games on Saturday and in their third game on Sunday, the Storm was able to reach deep and put two unanswered runs on the board in the last inning, bringing them this year’s 14U championship. Both teams were in it to the end but this time it was the VT Storm who finished on top.
18U Division
As has been the tradition with this tournament, the opening of the 18U games was preceded with performances of the National Anthem at the two fields in Wakefield.
Sam Prosperi (a friend of Meghan) was the soloist at Vets field and the WMHS Marching band performed at Wakefield High’s Meghan Burnett Field. Once the opening ceremonies were finished and hats returned to heads, it was “Game On.”
Friday evening, Vets field hosted the Blackstone Valley Venom vs. the Rage which proved to be a close game, well played by both teams. The Rage pulled away and was up by three runs heading into the bottom of the last inning. The bases were loaded with two outs when Franny Fitch came to the plate. With two strikes, she lined a shot to left, tearing around the bases and beating the throw home to score a walk-off grand slam and win the game for the Venom, 6-5.
Unfazed by the sudden loss, Deb Smith, coach for the Rage took it all in stride.
“Sometimes that’s just how it goes,” said the coach.
After a spirited showing in pool play Saturday, the Rage had lost another close game but won their final game, earning them the 6th seed on Sunday. The Venom was on a tear, winning all three games, scoring 20 runs and earning the No.1 seed for the tournament.
As usually happens, (Elimination) Sunday is a new day and everyone gets a fresh start. Saturday’s results don’t dictate Sunday’s winners as 0-3 teams can go on to win the championship on Sunday, so this time the early game at Vets pitted the No. 1 seed Venom against the No.7 seed EMass Panthers. The Panthers have a reputation of being a strong, scrappy team but they had a rough go of it in pool play this weekend and were not going down without a fight. Panther coach Guy Cafarella noted, “I like being the underdog.”
True to form, the Panthers came out strong, going ahead early but the Venom bats hammered away and they took the lead. Both teams exchanged blows until the Panthers exploded for three unanswered runs late in the game, resulting in their 7-4 victory over the favored team.
Meanwhile at Meghan Burnett Field, the Rage was battling back, starting with an 8 a.m. win over the 3rd ranked VT Storm, followed by another hard-fought, nail-biter win over the No. 2 seed South Shore Chaos. This was one of the best games of the weekend as it remained a close, back-and-forth game throughout that included a Chaos 230-foot, 2-run bomb from Noey Giardina over the fence in left-center field. Still the Rage never let up and at the final out were on top 6-5, earning their spot in the championship game.
The championship games on Sunday were played at Vets (14U) and at MB Field (18U) with pregame anthem performances by Zachariah Baumhardt at Vets and the WMHS Marching Band at MB Field.
This year, thanks to Matt O’Connor (with an assist from his sister Megan), the semifinal and final 18U games at MB Field had the added benefit of a live announcer.
The 18U championship saw the 4th ranked Northeast Hurricanes (Salem, NH) facing off against the No. 6 seed Rage. The Hurricanes won some close games on Saturday, losing only to the No. 2 seed South Shore Chaos. On Sunday however, they were not to be stopped as they posted impressive run-rule wins against every opponent, amassing an incredible 34 runs in 3 games. Adding to some impressive offensive play, the Hurricanes were led by pitching phenom Julia Caruso, who had been recognized on Saturday as one of the best pitchers in pool play, despite being only 13. Her catcher Nalia Hilton is only 12.
The Hurricanes went on to complete their perfect day with a hard fought 10-0 win.
In the end, there were both nail-biters and some games called early due to the run-rule. There were teams dominant on Saturday and then “one-and-done” on Sunday. As always, there were also teams who played well enough to win but at the last out came up short by one run. Everyone was in the running and as they say, a good time was had by all.
The Foundation would like to extend their gratitude to the WMHS Music program and all the volunteers that came out this weekend and made the tournament a success. They would also like to recognize and thank Dennis Fazio and the DPW grounds crew for getting the fields ready for a tournament of this magnitude (as they do every year) and their generous continued assistance throughout the weekend. The participating coaches, Umpires and USA Softball officials were all very complimentary of both the fields and the volunteers at those fields, and they all want to come back and do it again next July.
Meghan would’ve loved to be here…(or was she already?)
Meghan’s parents added, “We got to see 250 girls play some great softball with the same heart and enthusiasm that we loved to see from Meghan – it was like having 250 daughters that weekend!”