BEDFORD — Bedford Excessive softball skipper Dennis Walsh has by no means seen something prefer it.
Alyx Rossi has been that dominant, and Tewksbury was the Boston Faculty commit’s newest sufferer on Sunday morning.
Rossi registered 18 strikeouts whereas permitting solely three hits and two walks as No. 3 Bedford rolled towards No. 6 Tewksbury, 6-0, within the Division 2 spherical of 8 at Bedford Excessive.
Bedford (20-1) and Rossi have but to permit a run all match and advance to the Ultimate 4 for the second consecutive season. The Bucs will meet No. 2 Hopkinton (20-3).
In three state match video games this spring, Rossi has amassed 51 strikeouts and scattered solely 4 hits. Her efficiency on Sunday was freshly faraway from an ideal sport towards Duxbury.
“She’s just bringing it every time,” Walsh mentioned. “She’s hitting her spots, she’s not getting down when weird things happen and she’s killing it.”
Tewksbury (19-4) fell to Bedford on the identical stage a 12 months in the past and ends its season after a profitable marketing campaign within the Merrimack Valley Convention that yielded a share of the league title.
The Redmen made Rossi work greater than she had all match, drawing her first two walks and notching three hits towards the ace.
“We competed as best as I think (we) can be against her,” mentioned Redmen head coach Kirsten Dick. “She’s accomplished a lot and Bedford is having a great season.”
However in her first season on the helm, the Redmen turned within the second-best file in program historical past and climbed again to the Elite 8 after graduating a powerful senior class final spring.
“We just pushed through all the noise,” Dick mentioned. “People doubted us, I think other teams doubted us … you never write out Tewksbury softball. The girls just pushed through and proved everyone wrong.”
It took three Tewksbury batters and one highly effective swing of the bat for Rossi to make a right away impression within the first inning. After retiring the facet with two strikeouts and a come out to open the sport, Rossi turned on the primary pitch she noticed on the plate for a two-run house run over the best subject wall.
The inning started with a leadoff double off the bat of Becca Sobol and continued when a Redmen error plated a 3rd Bedford run to identify Rossi a three-run cushion.
“I haven’t let up more than two runs all year, so knowing that, and that was against L-S, which is a really strong team, was kind of nice because I know that I historically haven’t let up that many runs so I should be able to maintain that as long as we score more,” Rossi mentioned of the early run help.
Bedford’s ace was nearly untouchable. She scattered remoted hits within the third, fourth and seventh and walked a batter within the fifth and sixth, however the Tewksbury offense couldn’t mount any significant momentum towards the flamethrower.
Vanessa Iandoli’s two-out single within the third was adopted by Rossi’s third strikeout of the body, whereas Kayleigh Martin’s leadoff single within the fourth was shortly nixed after she was caught stealing.
Maybe Tewksbury’s most vital menace got here within the fifth, when Jordan Doucette drew a leadoff stroll. Sydney Whalen’s sacrifice bunt positioned a Tewksbury runner in scoring place, however Rossi answered with two strikeouts.
Walsh mentioned he knew Tewksbury boasted a high-octane offense and emphasised avoiding extra-base hits.
“They can hit,” Walsh mentioned. “They’re awesome — they hit all year. I looked at their stats all year. They can hit anybody, and we weren’t afraid of hits.”
In the meantime, Gabriella Davis saved Tewksbury’s offense inside placing distance. After Bedford’s three-run salvo within the first, Davis posted three scoreless innings to maintain the Bucs at bay.
“She bounces back like that like no problem at all,” Dick mentioned of Davis. “She knows what to do, she knows how to improve the next pitch and the next batter, and that’s huge to have a pitcher with that mentality.”
Bedford finally broke by way of with a busy fifth, doubling its result in 6-0 after a flurry of Redmen gaffes had a hand within the three-run body. Bedford reached on an error, a stroll and a bunt to load the bases with no outs earlier than finally including insurance coverage runs after a Redmen error and a two-run double from Sobol.
Tewksbury threw one other scare at Rossi within the sixth with runners on first and second— reaching on a dropped third strike and a stroll — however Tewksbury couldn’t orchestrate successful. Whalen then singled within the seventh round a trio of strikeouts from Rossi.
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