Connie Mack U-11 Athletics tie Blue Jays, Braves

The Athletics tied the Blue Jays, 16-16, in a recent Connie Mack U-11 softball game.

The Blue Jays led off with walks to sisters Kelsey and Alexandra Sommers.

Kelsey Sommers then scored on a sharply hit ball up the middle by Lacey Hutchinson, who in turn crossed the plate after successive walks to Alyse Bradley and sisters Claire and Mary O'Neill, reaching the three-run limit for the inning.

The Athletics answered with three runs of their own on walks to sisters Megan and Melissa Mallon, Alison Staebell, Brigid Ryan, Taylor Gibbon and Sophia Militello. Brooke Garand, call-up Grace Galvin and Kelsey Sommers drew walks to load the bases for the Blue Jays in the top of the second. The A's hopes of getting out of the inning with giving up less than the three-run limit came alive when pitcher Rachel Callea struck out the next batter but were foiled when Hutchinson drove the ball to deep center field and tallied three RBIs.

The A's came back to knot the score at 6-6 with walks to Rebecca Regan, Sammy Dispenza, Callea, Kelsey Dwello, and Megan and Melissa Mallon. Callea took the mound for the A's in the third and got her second strikeout of the game.

Claire O'Neill then pounded one to center field but was held to a double by the hustle of fielder Ryan. Mary O'Neill then walked and Claire O'Neill scored on a single by Garand.

The second out came on a strikeout, and Megan Mallon caught a pop fly near first base to hold the Blue Jays to one run. Alexandra Sommers struck out one A's batter, but the A's were still able to get the three-run limit on multiple walks to take the lead.

By the fourth inning, the weather had started to change as the wind picked up and it became noticeably cooler. The Blue Jays first batter was out on a caught pop-up by pitcher Megan Mallon. The next five batters walked, scoring Bradley and Claire O'Neill. Melissa Mallon fielded a grounder hit down the first base line by Kelsey Sommers but it scored Mary O'Neill for the third run.

Dwello led off the A's with a single and advanced on a grounder back to pitcher Kelsey Sommers, who threw to Alyse Bradley at first for the out. Dwello scored on a double slammed to right field by Melissa Mallon. Mallon scored on a hit by Staebell, who in turn crossed the plate after advancing on Ryan's sacrifice hit up the first base line to Bradley. Gibbon then scored Staebell on a hit toward third base.

The Blue Jays added three more in the fifth on multiple walks. Claire O'Neill came in as the reliever for the Blue Jays and got the first A's batter out on strikes. Rebecca Regan then beat the throw to first for a single, Dispenza reached on a walk, and Callea drove one to right field to score Regan. Lizzie Pittari loaded the bases with a walk followed by a walk to Megan Mallon to score Dispenza. The third run came on a sharp single hit by Melissa Mallon.

As the unlimited-run sixth inning was set to start, ominous clouds darkened the field, making it hard for batters and fielders to see the yellow ball. The Blue Jays loaded the bases and scored with four walks. Garand was out on a sharp hit grounder to Ryan at first but netted an RBI as Hutchinson crossed the plate. Two more walks cost the A's the lead, and the side was retired with a strikeout and grounder back at the pitcher Megan Mallon, who threw to Ryan for the third out.

The A's came to the plate down by one run as the skies grew even darker. Ryan scored the tying run after reaching on a walk, advancing with steals and scoring on a single from Regan. The side was retired with strikeouts, leaving the score knotted at 16-16 each.

Braves 10, A's 10

Under sunny skies, the Braves and Athletics met for the second time this season. Track meets, dance classes and other conflicts had both teams playing short-handed, but the girls on the field didn't seem to mind as the teams played to a 10-10 tie.

The Braves' speedy Holly Sullivan beat out an infield single and later scored along with her sister Julie and Hanna Floss to give the Braves a three-run top of the first inning.

The A's battled back. Melissa Mallon led off with a single to right center field, Alison Staebell followed with a single to center, moving Mallon to third. Brigid Ryan's low liner was knocked down by Brave first baseman Laura Lawson, who scooped up the ball and beat Ryan to the base while Mallon scored. Julie Sullivan struck out the next batter, and Lawson made another unassisted putout at first to end the first.

The Braves added to the lead in the top of the second when Sarah Boyle, Lawson and Margaret Boyle drove home three runs.

The A's second started with Sam Dispenza scoring on Melissa Mallon's hit.

Kelsey Dwello advanced on Sophia Militello's walk and raced home on Ryan's grounder. Taylor Gibbon was plated by Megan Mallon's hit to center, bringing the score to 6-4.

Meg Gramza scored first in the third followed by the Sullivan sisters, adding three to the Braves' score.

The A's remained in pursuit as Dispenza, Dwello and Gibbon walked and crossed the plate on Melissa Mallon's double and Ryan's single.

Megan Mallon took the mound in the fourth and struck out the three batters she faced. The A's tied the score in the bottom of the inning as Megan Mallon and Dispenza scored on Melissa Mallon's fourth consecutive hit.

The fifth started with Megan Mallon striking out her fourth and fifth consecutive batters before Sarah Boyle hit a line drive that Melissa Mallon grabbed for the third out.

The battery of Julie Sullivan and Kyra Sweeney cooled the A's hot bats in the fifth with a pair of strikeouts and a pop fly to Holly Sullivan at first.

The Braves retook the lead in the top of the sixth as Margaret Boyle was hit by a pitch and scored on Julie Sullivan's hit.

The A's tied the game when Melissa Mallon scored on Ryan's single. Megan Mallon singled to bring Ryan to third with the potential winning run to third before Julie Sullivan struck out the last two A's.

Julie Sullivan and Megan Mallon each pitched three innings, striking out five and seven batters, respectively. Melissa Mallon had four hits and a walk in five trips to the plate, caught three innings and made two unassisted putouts in the field.