Another Alex Welch homer leads the rally: Middleboro High softball surges into Final Four

HUDSON – Alex Welch's home run parade is making its way around the state this postseason.

Wednesday night, it circled the streets of her hometown as the senior center fielder blasted a pair of grand slams in consecutive innings as the No. 6 Middleboro High softball team cruised to a 12-0 win over No. 22 Arlington Catholic at home.

Friday night, it took a tour of Hudson, as Welch delivered a two-run homer in the fourth inning of the Sachems' 8-5 road win over No. 3 Hudson to clinch the team a spot in the Division 3 Final Four for the second straight season.

Middleboro will oppose the winner of No. 2 Dighton-Rehoboth and No. 7 Triton Regional next (date/time TBD).

Welch recently hit a home run against East Bridgewater on May 22 to reserve the Sachems' fifth consecutive South Shore League crown. The next game, against Silver Lake two days later, she went the distance again. Now, her tournament total is up to three.

The one she hit Friday in Hudson sailed over the center-field fence to bring in Haley Puzzo to score, tying the game, 2-2. It was a loud introduction to Middleboro's six-run rally in the fourth.

“She’s doing great. Really helping us out,” senior catcher Paige Rooney said with a laugh. “I go crazy (when I watch her) and know she’s so happy to know her hard work is paying off. We’re just so proud of her, as a team.”

Her home run parade didn't just rev up on a whim. Its route began with hitting off a tee in the offseason and during practice this spring, through the lens of a trained eye of which pitch to bite on, and which to leave alone.

“One thing about Alex that I love about that kid, her attention to detail,” head coach Dan Sylvia said. “When we’re doing our practice drills, especially for hitting, the kid is right there. She’s (present) as well as a coach can be. She leads by example with the other players. They see the best hitter on the team putting the time and effort in tee work, and understand what it takes to be a solid hitter.”

“What she did a better job of (lately) is, laying off a lot of those other pitches and forcing that pitcher to, instead of working outside the zone, force her to work inside the zone," added Sylvia. "Now, she’s seeing better pitchers. Now, she’s driving the ball.”

As a junior last spring, Welch hit six home runs and drove in 45 RBI with a .461 batting average and .899 slugging percentage.

“I’m just looking for my pitch," Welch said. "If I get two strikes, then I start fighting everything off. But until that, everything’s going to be my pitch.”

“(The hot streak) is totally on her. Great dedication in the cages, on the tees and at practice," Sylvia said. "Just a solid player. Solid captain. One of those players you want to have in your program, for sure.”

KEY PLAYS

Pitchers beware, the parade might be picking up other Middleboro sluggers on its tour.

Rooney also hit a two-run home run as the final act of Middleboro's six-run rally in the fourth inning. And in her final at-bat of the game in the seventh inning, Rooney skied a fly ball deep to right and Hudson fielder Ally Cassidy grazed the fence to make the grab.

“A lot of confidence has come out of her,” Welch said of Rooney.

Senior left fielder Maddie Ryder drove in a pair of RBI on a base hit in the fourth inning, as part of her 3-for-3 evening with one walk.

The Sachems recorded 12 hits in the win, led by Welch (2-for-4), Rooney (1-for-4), Ryder, senior third baseman Mel Rees (2-for-4, RBI), senior pitcher Cassidy Machado (2-for-4, RBI) and Eva Jenness (1-for-4).

Middleboro is now one game away from appearing in the state title for the second consecutive season, after falling short of last year's crown by suffering an 8-5 loss to No. 2 Greater New Bedford as the five-seed. The team returned all but one starter from last year's cast.

“They graduated one (player) last year. I think they’ve got 12 seniors. We knew they were going to be tough," said Hudson head coach Laura Bowen, whose team encountered the Sachems now in back-to-back postseasons (Middleboro took last year's Elite Eight matchup, 13-12). "We scouted them. I knew they were going to put up runs. ... That team was in the state finals last year. I hope they win it this year. I’m rooting for them, but I couldn’t be more proud of my kids.”

“What I loved to see was, the moment wasn’t too big," Sylvia said. "That’s what it comes down to. Having experience in these games definitely pays dividends. There’s no doubt about it.”

After trailing big after Middleboro's fourth-inning avalanche, Hudson mustered up a final stand in the seventh as junior lead-off hitter Alyssa Davis (3-for-3, three doubles, walk) came around to score on a base hit by junior Livi Sousa. Two batters later, sophomore Lauren O'Malley's single to the left side plated Sousa.

Hudson, which finishes 17-6 on the year, had the tying run at the plate with runners on second and third, down 8-5 in the seventh.

“That, as a coach, that’s all you want, for your kids to battle to the end,” Bowen said.

To end it, a fly ball flared out to Rina Chane in right field. The junior made the routine catch to seal the win, then flung her arms, ball in-hand, in the air with a beaming smile as the Middleboro dugout flooded out to shallow right field to celebrate.

“We came and we were excited. We had a lot of energy to start," Welch said. "We just wanted to win this. It’s our last couple of games as seniors, so we want to win. Really badly.”

Ryder was the hero in last year's Elite Eight matchup against Hudson, as she hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning to lead the Sachems' 13-12 win.

"It’s nice to know we still have that connection and trust in each other to make the plays we need to make," Rooney said. "We’re just excited to keep going and go as far as we can.”

WHAT'S NEXT

The Sachems advance to play the winner of No. 2 Dighton-Rehoboth and No. 7 Triton Regional in the Final Four (date/time TBD).

Middleboro split the regular season series with Dighton-Rehoboth, as it won the season-opener by an 8-6 margin at home on March 30 and lost on the round, 8-4, on May 25.

“I think we’re confident to a good amount. I don’t think we’re overly confident – we know we still have to fight for this, and work for it," Welch said. "We feel like we can do this. We feel like we can win everything. Two more games, we’ll be good to go.”

“Just really proud of this team," Sylvia said. "Our goal is one game at a time. There’s two opportunities but if we don’t take advantage of the next one, we’ll never have a shot to get back to where we’d like to get back to (the state championship game). We’d like to finish that unfinished business.”

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Another Welch HR rallies Middleboro High softball into Final Four