RallyNorth.net

Lexington ace no-hits Methuen

Friday, June, 06 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

As good as advertised.

That was the consensus of the Methuen softball team at Martin Field last night after the Rangers fell to Lexington and its ace, Kiki Saveriano, 3-0 in the Division 1 North semifinals.

Saveriano, a towering 6-foot-1 junior, threw a no-hitter at the Rangers, striking out 11 and allowing just three baserunners as the No. 2-seed Minutemen improved to 21-2.

"She's absolutely head and shoulders above any pitcher we've faced this year," said Methuen coach Jason Smith. "They're as good as we thought they would be, and she's a big reason why."

Lexington coach Frank Pagliuca wasn't surprised by his ace's third no-hitter of the season.

"She (Saveriano) wanted the ball today and she was expecting good things," said Pagliuca. "She kept the ball off the middle of the plate and kept them off balance. And that's a good-hitting team you're talking about."

Methuen (16-7) was retired in order in four of the first five innings. Nicole Mason led off the sixth with a walk, only to be doubled off after Talan Barron lined the ball to first baseman Joelle Zahka. Jessi McCarthy reached first with one out in the seventh when she was hit by a pitch, but a strikeout and a groundout ended Methuen's best season since the 1988 and 1989 teams reached the Division 1 North finals.

Saveriano's performance overshadowed a fine showing by Sarra Bergeron, who gave up just five hits, struck out five and retired nine straight batters between the second and fifth innings.

Lexington scored the only runs it needed in the first inning. With two outs Saveriano walked, Alyssa Zahka tripled to right-center and her older sister Joelle Zahka (2 for 3) singled her home. Joelle Zahka added an insurance run in the sixth when she led off with a single and later scored on an error.

"I can't say enough about the game Sarra pitched," said Smith. "She gave it everything she had and gave us a gutsy performance without much support.

"This was a tough loss, but the kids fought to the end and did a lot better this year than people expected (with All-Scholastic pitcher Hannah Everson having graduated). I think the kids felt they had something to prove and they did."