ATTLEBORO, Mass. – During the regular season, Attleboro hit only one home run as a team. On Sunday morning at the Drummond St. Field, the Bombardiers started their playoff run by hitting three, including the first two homers of the season from senior Lauren Eby.
The power surge at the plate helped overcome and upset-minded Andover, which took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Attleboro scored 13 straight runs and rolled to a 17-4 victory in five innings, advancing to the Div. 1 Sweet Sixteen for the second year in a row.
“Obviously there is a little concern there,” said Attleboro coach Mark Homer about falling behind early. “In the first couple of innings we’ve had trouble getting going sometimes. A lot of it is nerves. I’ve got a freshman on the mound pitching her first state game, you’ve got to believe she’s a little nervous, but she settled in once our offense made a statement there.”
When asked about responding to a three-run deficit, Eby added, “We’ve done it before, but it’s definitely not something we let get us down. We definitely come back from it, rebuild from it.”
Andover showed no fear at the start of the game and a bench that was already fired up got even louder when Kate Walsh blasted a three-run homer over the fence in right center.
With two outs in the bottom half of the inning, Attleboro answered. Lily Routhier got things started by beating out an infield single to deep short. Eby stepped in and smashed her first homer of the day, in almost the exact same spot as Walsh, to cut the lead down to just one.
It was the perfect response from the home team and a big confidence boost to freshman pitcher Jenna Callahan, who was making her first postseason start. After giving up the homer in the first, Callahan would give up only one more hit and unearned run over the next four innings.
“She was stoic out there today,” Homer said about Callahan. “You don’t see too much expression on her face when things are good or things are bad and that’s self-taught. For her to go out there and work through that situation, that’s what I like about her. Never mind her pitching and her ability to throw the ball, it’s what’s up here.”
Andover got a runner to third in the second, but a fly ball to Sarah Maher in center ended the threat. Callahan started the bottom of the inning with a single to left and Paige Quaglia drew a walk. The runners advanced into scoring position on a ground out, but the Golden Warriors escaped the jam by picking a runner off at third and getting a bouncer back to the circle.
Callahan pitched around a leadoff walk in the third and Attleboro’s bats came alive in the bottom half to take control of the game.
With one out, Rylie Camacho beat out an infield single, drilling a liner off the third baseman’s glove, and stole second. Routhier followed with her second infield hit of the game. Eby put the Bombardiers in front. She hit a towering fly ball up into the breeze, carrying it over the fence in center for her second homer of the day and her fifth RBI.
“It was definitely a good day to hit those, but when I went up there I really was just looking to hit anything,” Eby explained. “Any little hit would’ve helped us, just to get us started. It was such a great feeling. Everyone’s so supportive.”
Homer noted, “About four or five games ago, we moved Lauren down in the order. She was struggling. Today, I went back to the original from the beginning of the season. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it but it might have made her a little more comfortable being back in that No. 4 spot. To see her do that, and hopefully that continues going forward, we’re going to need that.”
Everything seemed to click for the Attleboro lineup. Emily Eby lined a single to get things started again. Callahan was hit by a pitch and Quaglia drove in one with a single to center. Madison Moran followed with a double to right center, driving in another, and fellow sophomore Lilly McGilvray hit a sac fly to right that scored Quaglia and made it 8-3.
Suddenly pitching with the lead, Callahan looked more comfortable and seemed to be throwing harder. Maher hauled in a deep fly ball to start the fourth and then Callahan struck out the next two batters.
“This season, she’s blown me away,” Eby said about Callahan. “I’ve seen her since she was little and to see her out here on the mound and playing with her, I’m really proud of her.”
Camacho led off the fourth by crushing one over the fence in left. Routhier reached on an error and Lauren Eby this time stayed in the park, lining a single to right center. A walk to Emily Eby loaded the bases and Callahan drew a walk to bring in a run. A low throw on a play at the plate allowed Lauren Eby to score and Emily followed right behind on a single by Moran. McGilvray made it 13-3 with a single of her own.
Andover kept pushing and got a base runner with a one-out error. A double would bring the run across, but Callahan stranded one in scoring position by getting a pop up to Routhier at short.
The Bombardiers put the game away in the fifth. Routhier walked to reach base for the fourth time and Eby got her fourth hit of the day on a single to center. Callahan plated one with a single, Quaglia did the same, and then Moran brought in a pair (her third and fourth RBI of the day) with a double to right.
Homer said, “Finally, we got around the second time through on their pitcher. Everyone responded today.
Eby remarked, “I think we’re all really connected. We’ve known each other for so long and we’ve grown up with each other and I think once one person gets it started we build from it and just keep it going.”
Attleboro (13-8) will wait to see who it faces in the next round. The Bombardiers will face the winner of No. 7 Bishop Feehan and No. 26 Braintree.