It’s one and done in the state tournament; that’s the message head coach Bryan Aiello has repeated tirelessly to his team this past week. The Fishermen have been through hard games before and often failed to execute: Beverly, Bedford, and St. Mary’s, to name a few. They’ve been deadlocked in these close games, and just a few costly errors have cost the Fishermen the game. In other matchups, the Fishermen have prevailed late. They had an extra-innings rally against Marblehead to take the NEC crown (2-0 win), a 6th-inning offensive effort by Julia Carrancho and Olivia Madruga to beat St.Mary’s (2-1), and a clutch performance in their last “ups” to beat North Reading (10-9). So, it was anyone’s ball game when they were down by 3 to start the Round of 32.
It was one of those games where Gloucester just squeaked by.
It wasn’t the cleanest start, by any means, but it was exactly the kind of gut-check moment Aiello had trained them for all season.
Medfield jumped on the Fishermen early, scoring on a pair of walks and back-to-back errors to gain a 3-0 lead.
After failing to get on the board during the bottom of the 2nd, the Fishermen’s defense notched three straight outs in the top of the third inning to retire the side.
Dylan Gaetano plated the first run for the Fishermen, scoring on an Ava Paone double (on an error) to make the score 3-1.
But it was the fourth inning that broke the game open for the Fishermen.
Emma Carrapichosa set the tone early with a laser double into the left-center gap. Catcher Olivia Madruga followed with an infield single to get the tying run on base. Carrapichosa then stole home to score the second run for Gloucester as Maddie Goodhue (pinch runner for Madruga) advanced to second. Mackayla Allen had an RBI single to tie the game before Julia Carrancho notched Gloucester’s third straight single.
Then, with two on and the winning run in scoring position, it was sophomore Aleena Brown who delivered the dagger—a clutch 2-RBI double scorched down the first base line to give the Fishermen the 5-3 lead.
The Fishermen shut it down on defense from there, only allowing 2 baserunners across the three-inning frame. Despite her shaky start, freshman ace Abby Noble allowed just two hits and struck out seven across seven innings to keep Gloucester in the game. She retired the side in four of seven innings — including a 1-2-3 seventh — to seal the win.
Now taking on the Sweet 16, the Fisheremen are set to take on a familiar foe, Bishop Fenwick, at home. The two out-of-conference rivals haven’t met this past season after going 1-1 in last year’s series. The game is set for June 3rd at 4:30 at the GHS Softball Field.
