Sports

Jean DePlacido column: Avalanche complete perfect season in Salem LL softball with title

By Jean DePlacido
Correspondent
Published: June 30, 2009

Running the table in any sport is almost impossible to do, because very few teams can go through an entire season without at least one misstep.

But the Salem Little League Majors 12U Avalanche softball team managed to pull off this incredible feat.

The Avalanche went 15-0 during the regular season, then won two straight in the first round of the Salem LL playoffs. In the championship series against the Jet Hawks, they swept the best-of-three series to finish the season with a perfect record.

"To go that many games in this league without one lapse is more incredible than most people realize — take it from someone who knows," Avalanche head coach Brian Stevens remarked. "At this level the only thing you can count on, as the saying goes, is some days you've got it and some days you don't."

In the first game of the championship series, ace pitcher Abrielle Stevens pitched six hitless innings, walking three while striking out 17 and Katherine Towey supplied the big bat to lead Avalanche to a 6-0 victory.

The Avs then won the title with a resounding 20-10 victory. Joanna "Jojo" Coleman got the win on the mound, with Stevens getting the save. Towey was 3 for 4 with a home run while Stevens also had three hits, including two doubles. Sarah Faria was 3 for 5 offensively and Erin Creane smacked a triple. Defensively, Madison Rocio made a spectacular catch in center field while and first baseman Towey and shortstop Hannah Vandestadt snared line shots.

A combination of red-hot hitting and outstanding pitching powered the Avs. They hit .479 as a team, with three players over .600: Stevens (.688), Coleman (.659) and Towey (.619). They also scored 182 more runs than their opponents (248-66).

Stevens had 15 wins (with one no-hitter) and 3 saves in 77 innings pitched. She struck out 195 and had a miniscule ERA of 0.22, allowing just 20 hits and 17 runs. Coleman won three games and saved four others in 22 1/3 innings on the mound and struck out 31. Vandestadt had a win and a save.

Others contributing to the team's incredible success are Jillian Pelletier, Janzel De La Cruz, Jadi De La Cruz, Mackenzie Girard, Grace Cawley, and Morgan Grundy. Assistant coaches were Laura Towey and Rick Grundy.

Coleman, Stevens, Towey, and Vandestadt were all named Salem Little League Majors softball all-stars along with Autumn Abboud, Michaela Thibault and Becky Woodcock of the Bombers; Meaghan Zipper and Rachael Zipper of Jet Hawks; and Christa Leger, Desiree Martin, Dakota McMahon and Shawna Szczechowicz of Seadogs.

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Peabody's A.J. Grube, who finished 15th in the high jump at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina (6-4 ¾), plans to compete in the Bay State Games, then take the rest of the summer off before heading to UMass Amherst to continue his track career.

The three-sport Peabody High athlete (soccer, basketball and track) had a personal best jump of 6 feet 7 inches this spring, and credits a lot of his success to one-on-one training with assistant coach Joe Patrone. "He's unbelievable to work with," Grube said. "In his day he was one of the best at URI and qualified for an Olympic Trial.

"I always hoped to compete in one of my sports in college, but never figured I would be part of a big track program like UMass."

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Jean DePlacido is a part-time writer and columnist for The Salem News. Contact her at jmdeplacido@aol.com.