Alex Welch drives two home runs as Middleboro High softball overpowers Silver Lake
KINGSTON − When the Middleboro and Silver Lake High softball teams matched up for the first time 11 days ago, Alex Welch went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
The senior center fielder's struggle at the plate was a microcosm of the Sachems' 3-0 loss in which the team put just one hit into circulation.
But coach Dan Sylvia knew the drought wouldn't last. After all, Welch, a reigning All-Scholastic, hit for a .461 average with team-high totals in triples (8), home runs (6), RBIs (45), runs scored (39) and slugging percentage (.899) as a junior.
And, sure enough, in the teams' rematch on Silver Lake's home field Wednesday afternoon, Welch found the range again and powered a pair of home runs en route to a 3-for-4 day as Middleboro scored a 7-1 win over the Lakers to split the season series.
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“She’s in the three spot for a reason," Sylvia said. "She was one of our best hitters last year and we expect the same thing, nothing less, this year. She had a stretch there where she would tell you it’s probably not where she’d like to be, and she fought through it. We worked on certain things. She did a lot of work on her own to put herself in the position she was in today.”
Welch connected on a double in the fourth inning to get the momentum humming. Then, the very next inning, she crushed a two-run shot over the center field fence to put Middleboro up 4-0 in the fifth. The blast she hit in the seventh was the exclamation point, marking a 7-1 Middleboro cushion and the final score.
“As I told her as she rounded third base the first time, I said, ‘You’re back,’" Sylvia said. "And then when she went opposite field for the home run, I told her, ‘You’re really back.’ Now, she’s working all fields. The confidence is really oozing from her. I can see it in her eyes and her mannerisms, for sure.”
Welch also homered in the Sachems' (16-2) previous game, a 10-0 win over East Bridgewater, as the team locked up the South Shore League title for the fifth consecutive season. She went 2-for-4 with two runs and 2 RBI in that one.
“At the beginning of the season, it was kind of a struggle. I had a little worry, I was striking out a lot," Welch said. "Then I took a couple hitting lessons and, next thing you know, it’s like home runs everywhere. (The swing) is feeling good.”
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Welch led the way by registering three of Middleboro's seven total hits, but Mel Rees, Mari Dowler, Mack Conlon and Paige Rooney also got into the act with hits of their own. Rooney, the eight hitter, lifted a two-run home run to right field in the sixth to put Middleboro up 6-0. It was her first long ball of the season.
“That was huge. She’s been trying to find her swing," Sylvia said of Rooney, a senior catcher in her first season as the starter. "She knew what the issue was, we talked about it before the at-bat and I’ll tell you what, (the swing) was picture-perfect. Proud moment for her.”
Silver Lake pitcher Delaney Moquin struck out seven of the first eight batters she opposed through the first three innings. Then, four straight Middleboro hitters reached via Welch's double, Dowler's base hit to left and two walks as the Sachems had the bases loaded with no outs in the fourth. Silver Lake got out of the jam having surrendered just one run.
“A power pitcher likes to expand the zone up. (Moquin) has good movement. Our job was to take what she does well away: No. 1, lay off the high pitch. If she goes up, you stay down. We were living in the bottom sash of the windows today," Sylvia said. "The other thing, we were in attack. We weren’t in the back of the box, we were moving up in the box, trying to take some of that movement away. That’s what we prepared for. We did it yesterday (in practice) and the hard work paid out.”
Machado keeps 'em quiet
Coming into Wednesday's game, Silver Lake (18-2) was riding a 14-game winning streak. The Lakers had scored 10 or more runs in nine of those games.
So how did Middleboro hold a lineup that lethal to one run, four hits and five total baserunners?
“One word," Dan Sylvia said with a grin. "Cass."
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Senior right-hander Cassidy Machado struck out seven, and closed out three of the seven frames in order.
"Great command of her pitches today. She’s, right now, in a zone. She’s in a good place," Sylvia said. "If Cass can continue to do what she’s doing and our bats can come alive like they are right now, I like where we’re headed.”
“She kept our lineup, which I think is pretty potent when we’re swinging, at bay. We couldn’t string two hits together," Silver Lake head coach Tony Pina said. "And when we did put the ball in play, (Middleboro fielders) were everywhere.”
Machado was named the South Shore League MVP as a junior last spring by maintaining a 1.98 ERA over 120 innings pitched. She tossed a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts against East Bridgewater on Monday, and a four-hitter with 15 strikeouts against Abington on May 16.
“Against a powerful team like (Silver Lake), I know they can hit a straight fastball. Anyone can hit a fastball, no matter the speed," Machado said. "It’s the breaking pitches that win games.”
TOURNAMENT PREPARATION
Wednesday was Silver Lake's final game of the regular season. Middleboro has Dighton-Rehoboth (away, Thursday at 3:45 p.m.) and Bishop Feehan (away, Saturday at 11 a.m.) still ahead before it attempts a return to the Div. 3 state title game.
The Sachems came into play as the No. 5 team in Div. 3 in the MIAA's latest power rankings. Silver Lake was the No. 5 team in Div. 2.
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“That’s (a matchup) I wanted going into the tournament. We were on a 14-game win streak, whatever it is, let’s have a piece of humble pie for dessert tonight and keep working at it,” Pina said. “What happened today doesn’t change our goals. It, maybe, changes our focus in terms of how we prepare, but that’s why I wanted to play (Middleboro). That’s what you get out of playing them the last game of the season. You get a gut check. You get a reality check. We’re good, but we still have work to do if we’re going to compete with other good teams.”
Flashback to the first meeting 11 days ago, Sylvia said his team has evolved a bit since then as it now rides a four-game win streak into the home stretch of the regular season.
“Where we were a week ago is not who we are (now). We’re kind of getting to where we want to be," Sylvia said. "You don’t want to peak early in the season. You don’t want to peak in the middle of the season. You want to peak going into the tourney. And what a stretch of great, quality teams we’re up against right now.”
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Alex Welch's powerful swing leads Middleboro softball past Silver Lake
