Sachems battle back to edge Malden

  For the second time this season, the Saugus High School softball team found a way to topple a very good Malden Catholic squad by producing a comeback effort. Two weeks ago, the Sachems fought back to knock off Malden on the road. On Monday at home, they pulled off a similar feat by overcoming a 5-0 deficit and emerging with a 6-5 win.

  Five runs in the bottom of the fifth evened the game at five apiece before Saugus plated the winning tally in the sixth. Pitchers Abby Enwright and Taylor Deleidi combined for the win. Enwright threw two innings and Deleidi worked the next five frames. Defensively, the Sachems came up big. Shortstop Devany Millerick made a game-saving, juggling catch in short center field to preserve the victory. Alexa Morello and Maria Silva made solid fielding plays at first base and in the outfield, respectively.

  On offense, Ava Rogers drove in two runs with a hit, followed by a single and RBI each from Lily Ventre and Danica Schena. Sydney Deleidi, Kaitlyn Pugh and Millerick contributed hits as well.

  Head Coach Steve Almquist said he’s been impressed with the performance of his young team, which has no seniors and sports three sophomores, two juniors and an eighth-grader in the infield, while the outfield is made up of a freshman, a sophomore and a junior.

  Monday’s victory improved the Sachems to 9-6 overall and in need of just one more win to clinch the program’s seventh straight state tournament berth. “We have certainly experienced our share of growing pains,” Almquist said. “We still have a long way to go but the entire team has been working hard to get better each day.”

  Last Wednesday, the Sachems scored a 12-0 mercy-rule win over Winthrop and then suffered a tough loss to Peabody two days later. In the Winthrop game, Deleidi was the winning pitcher, going all five innings and giving up just two hits. The Sachems rallied for seven runs in the first inning and never looked back.

  Pugh continued her hot hitting by belting three hits and driving in two while Millerick swatted two hits and had two RBIs. Rogers contributed two knocks and two RBIs, and Silva drove in two runs with a base hit. Also joining the hit brigade were Ventre, Schena and Isabella Natalucci.

  The Sachems hosted Swampscott on Wednesday and entertain Salem on Saturday morning (scheduled 10 a.m. start) at the Belmonte School Field.