By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
Needham bounced back from a tough loss with a 10-5 win over Braintree on Wednesday.
Junior Kaitlyn Cheng got the start at pitcher and put on a terrific performance. In a complete game effort, Cheng allowed five hits and struck out three batters. Before the seventh inning, she let up just one run.
“She throws strikes, fills the zone, keeps the ball down and we play some good defense behind her,” said head coach Jame Nix. “I'm looking forward to big things from her this year. She's a heck of a player.”
It did take Cheng a little bit to settle in, however. Braintree’s first batter of the game hit a triple and later scored on a sacrifice fly. No other hitters managed to get on base afterwards, though.
The Rockets also put on a show at the plate. After Braintree put a run up to start the game, Needham answered quickly with an RBI-single from junior Morgan Kraft to the game up.
A one-two-three inning from Cheng transitioned to more offensive output in the second. Senior Stephanie Sucher scored off a Braintree error while both sophomores Maddie Navales and Olivia Kirschener drew walks to push the score to 4-1. Senior Kelsey Pittman grounded to shortstop but knocked in another run on a fielder’s choice.
By the end of the third inning, Needham found itself with a 10-1 run lead after Sucher hit an RBI-double and later scored off an infield single from Cheng. Navales smashed the ball into play to score two more runs. Pittman capped off the inning with a triple to push another run across home plate.
“Today, I just think we were just a little bit more relaxed and the kids just had a good approach at the plate,” said Nix. “[They were] nice and relaxed and letting it go.”
Braintree threatened in the top of the fifth inning after leading off with a double. The runner advanced to third on a groundout, but Cheng proved to be clutch with back-to-back strikeouts.
With the big lead, Nix started to sub in players off of the bench, getting every player at least one plate appearance.
“We have a lot of sophomores and first-time juniors that didn't get a lot of that at-bats last year, so it's really important [to have everyone bat],” said Nix. “It's going to, hopefully, build that team camaraderie and get us rolling as the season gets going. I was happy that it happened early in the year.”
Sophomore Emily Feldman and junior Niki Stanton both drew walks and advanced to second and third base after a groundout. They were unable to cross home plate before the Rockets suffered their final out in the bottom of the fifth.
Several mishaps and hits led Braintree to score four runs in the final inning but the lead was never in jeopardy for the Rockets as they improved to a 1-1 record.
