BURLINGTON — The Wakefield High softball team improved to 2-1 on the season with a 7-3 victory over Burlington on the road yesterday.
Sophomore Kayla Shaw got the win in the circle pitching 5 innings and striking out 13.
Offensively, the Warriors were led by junior Jackie Sullivan (3-for-4, 2RBI) and got some timely hits from sophomores Bella Burns (2-for-3, 2RBI) and Chloe Seto (2-for-4, 2RBI).
“It was a really good league win for us against a solid team in our division,” said head coach Chris Tolios. “It’s always a good day when you can knock off those league rivals that are established programs and yearly contenders.”
Wakefield staked Shaw to an early lead by putting up 3 runs in the 1st inning, including an RBI hit from Sullivan.
“I was proud of the girls for the quick start,” said Tolios. “We got into a little lull after that and weren’t as aggressive as we were out of the gate but we came away with timely hits when we needed them.”
Those hits were needed when Burlington bounced back with 3 runs later on to tie it.
The home team looked like they would take the lead in the 5th but Wakefield threw out two runners at the plate in the inning to keep it level.
“It was good to see the infield executing, knowing where the ball needed to go and doing it cleanly,” said the coach. “That gave us some momentum going into the 6th.”
That’s where Burns brought home two runs with a triple to give Wakefield a 5-3 lead.
“Really good to see her have that clutch hit,” said Tolios. “When she’s hot, she is a really dangerous hitter.”
Junior Kathryn Sliski came on to pitch and shut down Burlington in the bottom of the 6th.
The Warriors then added two more in the 7th, first on an RBI double by Seto followed by another RBI knock from Sullivan.
Sliski kept the home team off the board again in the bottom half to end the game.
“It was an all-around good effort in all facets of the game — good starting pitching, good offense and timely hits and solid defense making key outs and then Kathryn closing the door in the circle to secure the win,” said Tolios. “I told them after that game, ‘That’s what good teams do. They make key plays in the field and have timely hits.’ We’re looking to carry that momentum into the break where we hit the ground running with four games.”
The poor weather has had a big effect on Wakefield’s start to the season. The Warriors have yet to be able to play a game on their home Meghan Burnett Field at Blatz Park. They’ve had three games postponed including their matchup with Andover on Monday which was paused and will be picked up on Saturday.
Those postponements created a busy April Vacation week for the Warriors. They will travel to Woburn on Monday, will host Melrose on Wednesday and go to Wilmington on Friday. All of those important, Middlesex League games will start at 10 a.m.