Devils win a marathon; Hardy's hit beats Colonials in bottom of 16th.

Byline: Jay Gearan

LEOMINSTER - It was 6:30 in the evening and she had been on the softball field for nearly four hours, the game stretching into its ninth extra inning. Leominster High's Alyssa DiBenedetto wanted to go home.

And so home from second base she raced in the last of the 16th inning with the winning run as the fourth-ranked Blue Devils edged No. 3 Shrewsbury High, 2-1, in a Mid-Wach A marathon yesterday.

Leominster improved to 7-2, while Shrewsbury dropped its second straight after winning 10 in a row to start the season.

"This was the longest game I've ever been in," said DiBenedetto, a junior outfielder, who singled to left to start the 16th inning and moved into scoring position on Carolyn Miller's sacrifice.

After pitching 14 full innings, Leominster ace Allie Hardy, who didn't get the win on the mound, produced the win at the plate, returning to the lineup as a pinch hitter and lining a drive to right for a single and the winning RBI.

When Hardy hit the ball, DiBenedetto bolted toward third and then around toward the plate. "I heard Coach (Heath) Squires say, `Book it,' and I knew I was going," DiBenedetto said.

When she crossed the plate, she was swarmed by teammates. The battle was over.

"I knew we would come out with the win. I finally made contact," DiBenedetto said after the long duel between Shrewsbury's Amanda Aditays and Hardy, two of the area's finest.

"This was just an amazing game," said Squires, usually the varsity assistant, but filling in for Alexis Curry in his third game after Curry's recent surgery. "We kept getting runners on base, but we couldn't get them home."

In the fourth, for example, the Blue Devils loaded the bases on singles by Emily Griffin, Ashley Robbins and Miller's walk, but Aditays ended the threat with two strikeouts.

Said Hardy after the game, an ice pack plastered on her right shoulder: "I was just trying not to strike out."

Leominster lefty Allie Cousins, in a solid performance, earned the victory in relief, shutting down the Colonials in order in the 15th and 16th with a strikeout, and a couple of grounders and popups to the outfield.

Shrewsbury's Aditays tossed 14-1/3 innings before being relieved by Andrea DiTerlizzi. Aditays allowed six hits and struck out 15.

Hardy, like Aditays tough with runners on, countered with nine strikeouts while allowing 10 hits. Both teams benefited from terrific defense, especially at second base - Griffin for Leominster and Alexa Ferraro for Shrewsbury.

The Colonials broke the scoring drought in the top of the eighth when Christine D'Amico, who had singled and raced to third on an outfield error, scored on an infield error.

Back came Leominster in its half of the inning to tie it. Rebecca Fellows opened with a walk off Aditays, the fifth of the game for the Blue Devils. Lexi Munsey dropped a sacrifice bunt, but two infield errors allowed Fellows to scoot home.

Then came the standoff for the next 7-1/2 innings, another entire game and more.

Said Shrewsbury coach Phil Chevalier after his team's first league loss in two years: "We did a lot of fundamental things wrong. When you play a good team, and you don't play your best game, these are the results."

On lifting Aditays in the 14th, Chevalier said: "She was getting tired, and Andrea had to come in and it was a tough spot, but she did a good job. But then we got into the next inning, and we knew the game would come down to a hit like that."

NAME: SHREWSBURY HIGH SCHOOL; LEOMINSTER HIGH SCHOOL 

ART: PHOTOS

CUTLINE: (1) At top, a bad throw from Shrewsbury's Amanda Aditays, right, bounds out of the reach of Alexa Ferraro at first base, enabling Leominster's Lexi Munsey to reach. (2) In bottom photo, Leominster shortstop Crica Cordio couldn't quite reach a drive up the middle.

PHOTOG: T&G Staff/JIM COLLINS