DALTON, Mass. -- The Dalton 12-year-old softball team needed just five hits to score 17 runs Wednesday and advance past the Greylock Thunder in the Berkshire County tournament opener at Chamberlain Park.
Olivia Wehner went 2-for-3 with a double to lead Dalton’s offense, and Casey Wilson pitched a three-hitter in a game ended in the fifth inning.
On a night when the Thunder had trouble keeping the ball away from the basket, the battery of Wilson and Wehner was firing on all cylinders for Dalton, registering seven strikeouts and just one wild pitch.
“They did a good job today,” Dalton coach Jody DiMassimo said after his team's 17-3 win. “Our pitcher is usually a little bit wild, and today she wasn’t. Today, she only walked a few hitters, and it made a big difference.”
Greylock pitcher Rylynn Witek struck out nine and walked 11, but the big issue was the combination of wild pitches and passed balls that led to a number of Dalton runs.
Dalton also applied a fair amount of pressure on the base paths, where Olivia Iovieno stole a pair of bases among eight swipes for the home team.
The Thunder scored twice in the third inning, a rally that was helped by Witek, who singled to right on a play that a saw Julia Kowalczyk score all the way from first base.
Witek ended up with all three Greylock hits, including a double that led to the team’s third run in the top of the fifth.
Dalton moves on to Thursday’s county title game against the Berkshire Force, which defeated the ACS Swat, 15-0, on Wednesday. The 10-and-under and 16-and-under divisions open tournament play on Thursday.
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