15ENTERPRISENEWS.COM S AT U R DAY, JUNE 16, 2012

DIV. 2 SOFTBALL STATE FINALDIV. 2 SOFTBALL STATE FINALAbington High (23-2) vs. Grafton High (23-1)

• 4 p.m. • Worcester State University

MARC VASCONCELLOS/The Enterprise� Members of Abington High’s Div. 2 South Sectional champion softball team look to add a state trophy today in Worcester.

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INSIDE

HIGH SCHOOLS, RED SOX / 14CELTICS, U.S. OPEN / 15TRACK TALK, SCOREBOARD 15

ABINGTON GREEN WAV ESEASON RESULTS

APRILDate Opponent W/L

3 at Whitman-Hanson W, 6-5 (8)5 Franklin L, 5-39 East Bridgewater W, 14-1

10 at Harwich W, 8-112 at Rockland W, 12-016 Plymouth South W, 9-018 at Cardinal Spellman L, 4-221 at Franklin W, 3-124 Mashpee W, 8-026 at Norwell W, 8-130 at Hull W, 21-1

M AY2 Carver W, 13-18 at East Bridgewater W, 8-1

11 Harwich W, 19-014 Rockland W, 10-015 at Mashpee W, 17-117 Norwell W, 7-021 Hull W, 13-024 at Carver W, 6-028 at Plymouth South W, 3-2 (9)

JUNE5 Medfield W, 7-4*6 Duxbury W, 8-0*9 Hopkinton W, 2-1*

10 Fairhaven W, 3-1*12 Dracut W, 5-4*

* MIAA tournament

GRAFTON INDIANSSEASON RESULTS

APRILDate Opponent W/L

4 Uxbridge W, 14-66 at Bartlett W, 16-09 Nipmuc W, 10-0

10 David Prouty W, 23-012 Millbury W, 10-017 at Oxford W, 6-024 at Sherpherd Hill W, 2-025 Ta n t a s q u a W, 3-0

M AY2 at Leicester W, 3-03 at Northbridge W, 9-17 Quaboag W, 2-18 Auburn W, 15-39 at Southbridge W, 23-13

11 at Millbury W, 12-114 Northbridge W, 12-016 Holy Name W, 2-119 Oxford W, 5-023 at Hudson W, 1-024 Oxbridge W, 7-025 at St. Peter-Marian L, 4-3

JUNE3 Oxford W, 8-0*6 Hudson W, 4-3*9 Leicester W, 16-*

12 Hampshire W, 3-2*

* MIAA tournament

No.Name Pos.Yr2 Victoria Chiocchio LF Fr4 Megan Kelly CF Fr7 Stephanie Chiocchio RF Sr8 Mackenzie Gillis SS Jr

10 Liz Morgan 2B Sr11 Stephanie Cornish 3B Jr12 Samantha Thompson 1B So14 Kelly Norton P Sr

ABINGTON HIGH ROSTER

No. Name Pos. Yr15 Haylee Rogers C Jr16 Haley Gomes C Jr18 Alicia Reid CF Jr20 Victoria Curtin P Fr21 Danielle Hamilton 1B Jr23 Amanda Doherty 3B Fr25 Alex Powers 1B Jr34 Jill Marella RF Sr

GRAFTON HIGH ROSTER

No.Name Pos. Yr1 Tara Faford 3B Jr3 Amanda Voellings 2B Fr4 Kendal Roy P So5 Meaghan Sawtelle P Fr7 Ali Page C Jr9 Kate Cardoza 1B So

STATE TROOPERSAbington girls gofor program’sfirst softball statechampionshipBy Cameron McDonoughENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

ABINGTON –ChampionshipSaturday has ar-rived for theAbington High

softball team, which will putthe ball in the right hand ofKelly Norton one final time ina bid to win the program’s firststate title.

One thing that Green Wavehead coach Ernie Ortega knowsis that he doesn’t have to worryabout the stage being too bigfor his senior fireballer in to-d ay ’s 4 p.m. MIAA Div. 2championship game againstGrafton (23-1) at WorcesterState University.

“I think the bigger thegame, the more fired up shegets,” said Ortega. “She is avery determined young woman.She has been money for us.There’s nobody I’d ratherh ave . ”

Norton has indeed been thecornerstone of the Green Wave,who are 23-2 this season andhave gone 44-4 in Ortega’s twoseasons at the helm.

The Enterprise Player of theYear in softball last season, shehas pitched every game thisseasonwh i l eamassing223 strike-outs over162 innings,includingpostseasonplay, to gowith a mi-croscopic ERA of 0.60.

In her five tournament ap-pearances, she has pitched 35innings and struck out 43, withan ERA of 1.20.

Norton will make her 71ststraight start today to wrap athree-year career that includesfive no-hitters and two perfectgames as she goes for her 62nd,and final, win for the GreenWave .

Or tega’s expectations ofher are simple.

“Nothing less than she’s al-ways done,” he said. “She’s al-ways been prepared and readyto go.”

Norton will be facing animposing pitcher as well insophomore sensation KendallRoy, who has pitched 22 of theIndians’ 23 wins this season,including a near no-hitter inGrafton’s 3-2 win over Hamp-shire in their state semifinal onWe d n e s d ay.

Roy took a no-hitter intothe seventh inning before al-lowing a single to lead off theinning and settled for a three-h i t t e r.

“Kendall has done a goodjob in the two years she’spitched for us,” said Graftonhead coach John Geeme.“She’s always nice and relaxedand comfortable with whatshe’s doing, and she’s confi-dent in her defense. It’s rare tohave a player at her age be asconfident as she is. I thinkshe’ll do pretty well.”

Abington will have to faceRoy without one of its key hit-ters in senior right fielder JillMarella, who left on a familycruise to Bermuda on Friday.

“Offensively, someone hasalways come up,” said Ortegaon losing Marella. “O bv i ou s ly,I would have loved to have herbecause she went from a part-time player last year to full-time this year.

“It’s a big loss, both in the

No. Name Pos. Yr11 Makayla Ritzie CF Fr12 Nikki Murphy CF Sr13 Amanda Vulter LF Sr14 Michelle Goulet RF So15 Tess Fitzmaurice 1B Jr16 Marissa Ruggiero SS Jr

Head Coach: Ernie Ortega Head Coach: John Gemme

Look for complete story, photoand video coverage of AbingtonHigh’s Div. 2 state softball finalagainst Grafton today in Worcesterin The Sunday Enterprise and atEnterprisenews.com.

COMING SUNDAY� IF YOU GO: Take Rt. 495 North to Exit 25 for Rt. 290 West. Proceed to Exit 18 (Rt. 9 West); tur nright off exit ramp and stay in center lane, following directions for Rt. 9 West. Turn right onto Rt. 9West, also known as Highland Street. While on Highland Street, stay in the right hand lane. Stay onHighland Street for 1.5 miles. (past Elm Park and Doherty High School on the left.) At the rotary,bear left onto June Street. At the second traffic light, turn right onto May Street. The main entranceto the University will be three blocks ahead on the left.

TO WORCESTER STATE UNIVERSITY

INSIDE� PlymouthNorth seeks asecond straightDiv. 2 baseballstate title todayin Worcester /16

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