By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WILMINGTON — The Wakefield High softball team pushed their winning streak to six in a row with a 21-0, road victory over Winchester yesterday.
That win came after a 9-4 triumph over Wilmington on Friday morning, one of the best wins of the season so far for the Warriors.
Wakefield and Wilmington have had a great rivalry over the last few years with multiple close games including a 12-11, first round state tournament win for the Warriors in 2023. The two teams split the Middlesex League Freedom Division title with Burlington last year.
Wakefield certainly has an eye on an outright title this season as they also beat Burlington, 7-3 on April 17.
At Aprile Field in Wilmington, the Warriors wasted no time in getting on the board. Jade Waterhouse led off with a walk and moved to third on a Caroline Burns single. Waterhouse scored on a passed ball and Molly Burns brought home Caroline with a double. Jackie Sullivan followed with an RBI base hit to make it 3-0.
“I was really pleased with how the girls started early and jumped out to a good-sized lead after the first two innings,” said head coach Chris Tolios. “We know we always have really good battles with Wilmington so coming out with that energy and effectiveness was a goal of ours that we talked about before the game.”
That was more than enough for Warrior ace Kathryn Sliski who took a no-hitter into the 4th inning and finished with a stat line of 0 earned runs, 4 hits, 1 walk and 6 strikeouts in 6.1 innings.
“Kathryn did a real nice job in the circle for us and we were able to play some clean defense behind her which is a recipe for success,” said Tolios.
Wakefield added to their lead with 4 more runs in the 2nd. Bella Burns led off with a single and a bunt hit from Waterhouse with expert base running put runners at 2nd and 3rd to start. Caroline Burns crushed a 2-RBI triple to right field, making it 5-0 and forcing Wilmington to a new pitcher.
Sliski brought home Burns with a groundout and Molly Burns accounted for the final run when she stretched a single into a double and Chloe Seto followed with an RBI double, making it 7-0.
Another 1,2,3 from Sliski in the 2nd included her 2nd strikeout and more steady defense from the infield including Sullivan at first and Molly Burns at short.
Sliski kept it rolling through the 3rd, only allowing one base runner on a walk and the visitors tacked on two more in the 4th, a Sliski triple followed by a Molly Burns RBI double and an RBI groundout from Seto.
Wilmington got on the board in the 4th after an error and a sac fly but Sliski’s defense got her out of it with two comeback grounders.
After a scoreless 5th, the Wildcats added another in the 6th but Sliski escaped a bases loaded, 1 out situation with a strikeout and a groundout to Sullivan.
Sliski’s 6th strikeout started the bottom of the 7th before she was replaced due to pitch count. Wilmington rallied for two runs but Kayla Shaw got a strikeout to end a key, early-season victory for Wakefield.
“We have a lot of respect for Wilmington, it’s always fun to play them and that’s a big win for us to get to where we want to get to,” said Tolios. “It was a good way to end our 3-0 week of April Vacation to propel us into ‘post-break’, which is what I consider to be the second half of the season.”
After their 21-0 win over Winchester yesterday in which Shaw got the shutout in the circle and the offense continued to impress, the Warriors will bring a 7-1 record into that post-break with 12 games in the regular season left to play. Wakefield was ranked No. 9 in the first Div. 2 power rankings released this morning.
They host Billerica (4-3) today and Reading (10-0) tomorrow with both games at Vets Field and a 4:15 p.m. start time. The Warriors are currently first in the Freedom Division while Reading is first in the Liberty.