Softball Upset by Methuen in First Round

• The Rockets season ends with a 14-3 record. 

Needham softball’s 12-game win streak came to an end in the first round of the postseason, as No. 22 Methuen upset the No. 11 Rockets 7-1.

After averaging 10 runs per game in the regular season, Needham only plated one run against Ranger pitcher Delaney D’Hondt. D’Hondt shined in the circle, throwing a complete game with seven strikeouts while scattering four hits.

Methuen got to Rockets pitcher Kaitlyn Cheng in the top of the first with a leadoff single from Sarah Fairchild. After two defensive errors and an RBI double from Mel Reyes, the Rangers went up 2-0. Cheng struck out D’Hondt for the first out of the inning, but Adriana Delancy followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to make it 3-0. Needham was able to get out of the inning after that, with another strikeout from Cheng, but were unable to respond in the bottom half of the inning.

The Rangers added three more runs in the top of the third to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Arianna Schmidt hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the third for the Rockets first hit of the day, but after loading the bases they were unable to drive any runs in.

Cheng was replaced by Emily Kaplan in the fourth inning. Kaplan allowed a leadoff single to Addy Campbell, but catcher Morgan Kraft caught her stealing second for the first out of the inning. After two more quick outs, the Rockets headed into the bottom half of the inning hoping to cut into the six-run deficit. Needham got two runners on in the bottom of the fourth but left them stranded as D’Hondt struck out pinch-hitter Naomi Dabuzhsky to end the inning.

Audrey Muzikant relieved Kaplan in the fifth, and the Rangers scored another run on a fielder’s choice to make it 7-0. Muzikant held them scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings, allowing two hits while striking out three batters in those frames. But that wouldn’t matter much, as the Rockets’ offense continued to struggle.

Needham scored their lone run in the bottom of the sixth off an RBI single from Schmidt. Schmidt was the only Rocket to record two hits in the game, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Unable to mount a comeback in the seventh, the Rockets’ loss eliminates them from the postseason in the first round for the first time in two years. Methuen advances to the next round where it will face No. 6 Bridgewater-Raynham.