Lady Sachems nab tourney win over Belchertown

  Coming into the 2022 season sporting a young squad, the Saugus High School softball team ended up exceeding preseason expectations by winning 14 games and nabbing a playoff victory in the process. The 27^th-seeded Sachems hosted No. 38 Belchertown last Saturday in the Div. 3 preliminary round and came away with a convincing, six-inning, 13-1 triumph.

  Saugus moved on to Monday’s Round of 32, where it lost 12-0 in six innings to sixth-seeded Austin Prep. All told, the Sachems compiled a 14-8 overall record and went an impressive 13-5 after beginning the season 1-3.

  In the win over Belchertown, ace pitcher Fallon Millerick notched her 13th victory of the season by working all six innings and surrendering just the one run on five hits. She fanned two hitters and successfully pitched to contact.

  Offensively, the Sachems had it going as Devaney Millerick led the way with three hits and drove in two runs. She was aided by teammates Gianna Costa with two hits and two RBI and Felicia Reppucci with a double and two driven in. Felicia Alexander and Paige Hogan each added an RBI in the win.

  The lopsided preliminary-round victory was indicative of how well Saugus’s offense had performed over the second half of the season. In five of their seven victories during the final nine regular-season games, the Sachems outscored the opposition by a resounding 66-20 margin. That spread improved to 79-21 after last Friday’s contest.

  The Sachems ran into a tough matchup at Austin Prep on Monday. The offense went quiet and ended up with just two hits. Lily Ventre doubled and Reppucci added a single, but that was all the Saugus bats could muster.

  Though the Sachems will lose some key senior players from this year’s team, the future looks promising with several experienced, battle-tested players returning for 2023 – and a 14-win campaign and some playoff success to build on.