HOLDEN — An early spring snowstorm left six inches on the Wachusett Regional softball field, postponed the team’s 2024 opener and moved practice to the football turf and inside the gym, but the inclementness and inconvenience hardly deterred the Mountaineers.
“With the team chemistry we have,” Wachusett senior Amanda Roche said, “it doesn’t matter where we’re practicing. We come together and work as hard as possible.”
The Mountaineers played just their second game of the season Tuesday morning, but already appear to be ready for another great run.
Wachusett lashed 17 hits, and junior Shayna Bakun allowed two singles and struck out 10 in a five-inning, 16-0 victory over Doherty.
“We’re definitely happy with the outcome,” Bakun said. “We put our heads down and work very hard together as a team. We all want to win. We have standards, and we’re going to meet those standards this year. We just have to keep working.”
The Mountaineers (2-0) won 23 straight games to open 2023 before falling to North Andover in the second round of the Division 1 state tournament.
Bakun again will split starts with senior Taylor Stuart, who earned the win in last week’s victory over Westborough, and Wachusett’s lineup is loaded.
In two games, the Mountaineers have scored 35 runs and collected 38 hits.
“We’re really working on it in practice,” Wachusett senior Caitlin Ciccone said of the offensive explosion, “pushing ourselves and getting as many reps as possible. We always go up to the plate with the mindset of swinging aggressively, swinging hard, staying in control in the count, knowing where we are and taking advantage of that.”
Against the Highlanders, Wachusett sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning and scored nine runs.
Ciccone, the leadoff batter, reached on an error, senior Tiegan Walsh followed with a double to left, and the big inning was on.
Roche’s RBI single and Ciccone’s two-run triple highlighted the second inning. Roche and junior Kendall Grady each had triples in the third.
“Make every pitch count,” said Roche, who had three hits and five RBIs in the win over Westborough. “I think that’s important, especially at practice. When every pitch can be the most important, treat it like that, and you’ll be fine. When we have everyone with that mindset, working together, it comes through in games.”
Bakun, who was making her first start of the season, struck out the side in order in the first and retired the first eight batters she faced.
“(Having our hitting behind me) makes me feel great,” Bakun said. “It’s good to have offense and defense, so when we’re working together, we’re doing really well.”
Freshman Aundrea Quinones and senior Francie McMahon had Doherty’s hits.
The Highlanders, who committed five errors, opened the year with three straight victories.
“(Wachusett) is a very good team,” Doherty coach Phil Spellane said. “You give them extra outs, they make you pay for it. You can’t make mistakes against them. They’re that good.”
Tuesday’s game was the first of three this week for Wachusett, which plays four games in seven days, including next Monday at St. Paul.
“We’re definitely excited to be playing and playing consistently,” Ciccone said. “We’re staying focused throughout these games. We have some good team coming up. We just have to show up for each one.”
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenTolandTG.
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