Smelstor Leads Norwood-June 7, 1974

A young female softball player from Norwood, wearing a blue team shirt and shorts, is throwing a ball while her teammates cheer enthusiastically in the background.

It was Kathy Smelstor day in Wakefield yesterday and she and her friends enjoyed every minute of it. Kathy Smelstor and friends also happen to be the Norwood High girls softball team which is coached by a very happy Kathy Burt, who had gone through a tight contest a couple of days earlier to remain alive in the Division I State Softball Tournament. Yesterday the Mustangs beat Wakefield, 12-2, which sets up a meeting with Braintree Monday in Woburn. Both teams finished tied for second place in the Bay State League this season. “We really want to face Braintree again,” said coach Burt. “I’m sure they feel the same way about us. They beat us in the first meeting and we want another chance.”

On Monday the Mustangs showed they were unaccustomed to tournament pressure in a contest with St. Clements. They pulled out a 14-13 victory after committing some harmful miscues. Yesterday was different. It was a relaxed and confident group of tournament veterans that handled the Wakefield club with ease. Of course, Kathy Smelstor was brillant. The blonde pitcher had an incredible 12 putouts with some of the slickest fielding seen in the tournament. On the offensive side of things she missed hitting the cycle by a single. She knocked in five runs with a double, triple and home run. Not a bad day considering she also struck out three batters and walked none.

“This was a great game for Kathy,” coach Burt praised. “She seemed to get a lot of spin on the ball and it seemed for some reason they were hitting the ball right back to her to handle. The fact we played on a skin infield for the first time didn’t bother her or the infield at all. We didn’t have to charge the ball as we do on grass because it came a little quicker when it was a good hit. Our infield loved it and in all this was the finest game we have played all season.” It’s a rule of thumb never to breath easy in a girls softball game because comebacks are common. But with the way the Mustangs were playing, supporters really couldn’t have feared for their favorites.

The first inning set the stage for the contest. The Mustangs came up with four runs with Janet Lanzoni walking and then scoring on a double by Smelstor. Kathy came home right after that when power hitting third baseman Sue McSweeney smashed a single to left. McSweeney scored on Joan Trainor’s double and Trainor crossed the plate on a single by Leslie White. With Joan Skowronski leading off with a single, Smelstor lengthened the lead with a long crack to left field that went sailing over the fielder’s head toward the street. Smelstor never looked up and kept on running until she crossed the plate.

Leslie White scored on an error in the third and she was followed by Jean Ellis when Skowronski singled her home. Paula Larsen and Lanzoni both scored after singling when Smelstor tripled them home. The triple was hit in the same area but not quite as far. McSweeney made easy work of the first pitch thrown her and drove Smelstor home for the 11th run of the game. Wakefield got a couple of runs in the third with four singles but after that there was but a scattering of hits that never put the game in danger. Other team members participating in the game included Larseh, Rossi, Lunberg, Neauitte, and McAuliffe.