No Rest for Saugus After 8-2 Walkover

It was 6 p.m., the sun was going down, 3 1/2 hours past game time, and Saugus High softball Coach Ron Hilton was putting his troops through the paces.

Hilton hit deep fly balls to the outfield in a punishing, postgame drill.

For 15 minutes the players ran in small groups catching the flies while chanting in unison, “Yes, sir; no, sir; yes, sir; no, sir . . .”

This was the price they paid for beating Westlake, 8-2, in a nonleague game Tuesday at Saugus.

Was Hilton still fired up after being named Saugus football coach last week?

No, sir.

Or had the Centurions, ranked No. 4 in the region by The Times, merely slouched through a sloppy two-hour game, in which five of their runs were unearned?

Yes, sir.

“We’re not going to win a lot of ballgames like this,” Hilton said.

Even with Shannon McRoy going three for three, hitting her third home run and driving in four runs to lead a 10-hit attack?

“No,” Hilton said. “I like 1-0, 2-0 ballgames. You lose your focus after five [runs]. I like to play error-free defense and bunt the ball.”

Saugus (8-2) wasn’t charged with any errors, but Hilton wasn’t pleased when a pop fly by Westlake’s Jennifer Azevedo landed in the middle of the infield for a base hit.

And with the Centurions doing a poor job moving runners, Hilton ordered seven of his final eight batters to bunt.

“It was a weird day,” McRoy said. “We lost our focus in the middle of the game. We were lax.”

It’s a good thing for Saugus, the defending Southern Section Division II champion, that Westlake (3-4) was a little intimidated.

Said Westlake Coach Darwin Tolzin: “My girls read that sign that says, ‘1996 CIF champs,’ and all of a sudden they can’t breathe.”

McRoy’s line-drive homer to right field in the bottom of the first inning didn’t help Westlake catch its breath.

The Warriors unraveled in the second. Saugus’ Tracy Passafiume and Sandy Volk opened with singles. Pitcher Erin Voeltz (3-3) retired the next two batters, but shortstop Katlyn Wilson’s fielding error on a grounder by Nicole Giordano allowed two runs to score.

Two more errors, by first baseman Azevedo and second baseman Sarah Koppel, led to two more unearned runs in the inning.