Boston College Athletics
Dreswick Leads BC Through Perfect Weekend
March 27, 2018 | Softball, #ForBoston Files
Huge weekend sweep headlined by pitcher's first perfect game.
In the bottom of the fifth inning of Friday's softball series opener against Virginia, Boston College head coach Ashley Obrest had a moment of clarity. The bases loaded with the first three hitters, and with nobody out, junior Allyson Moore drew a walk to score a run. That staked the Eagles to a 7-0 lead and catcher Jordan Chimento drew an opportunity to end the game.
Something else clicked on at that moment, though, and it had nothing to do with anyone who was on the field or at bat. In fact, it had to do with Chimento's battery mate and pitcher, Jessica Dreswick.
"We had seven runs in the fifth and a runner at third," Obrest said. "Jordan's up, and this is a kid who is obsessed with numbers, so I asked her if she knew what would happen with a hit and a run. She said, 'Dres gets a no hitter.' I looked at her and said, 'Well yeah but it's a perfect game too.' So we kind of laughed, and she got in the box, got a hit and scored a run."
It was walk-off perfection. Chimento's base hit scored CC Cook, sealing Dreswick with her first ever perfect game.
"As a pitcher, you want to help in any way possible, and for me, that's not allowing runs to score" Dreswick said. "I can't score from the pitcher's mound, so I really just tried to make sure to limit the amount of base runners and hits."
Needing only 57 pitches to complete five innings, she struck out seven of 15 batters faced. All of those came against the top five hitters in the Cavalier order as she struck out multiple batters across three different frames.
"When she's on, she's in control," Obrest said. "She can get ahead of hitters, and those at bats aren't going more than four or five pitches. You're not going to full counts (against her), and she can do her damage early in the count. (Virginia) was swinging early so there were some really quick at bats, and she had a four-pitch inning in there too. A lot of pitchers get ahead and throw a waste pitch, but she was trying to throw the least amount of pitches possible."
A perfect game would've been a hallmark staple for a weekend, a lifetime achievement. But it was only the first game of a huge weekend series. BC was supposed to debut its new stadium in Brighton, but weather and cold conspired to put that on temporary hold. The series instead moved to North Andover's Merrimack College, with a doubleheader on Friday.
Dreswick's perfect game in turn wound up as the front end of that, meaning BC had to go again against a highly-motivated Virginia roster. The Cavaliers rallied from a 3-0 first inning deficit in game two to tie the game in the top of the second, then came from behind again to take a 6-5 lead off of the same pitcher who had just disallowed them from getting any base runners less than two hours prior. It wouldn't hold, though, and BC scored double digits in a 10-6 victory.
"We were happy that we won the first game with a run rule," Dreswick said. "I don't necessarily think I came out as clear or aggressive in the second game. But Ally (Frei) shut Virginia down, and our offense bounced right back. It was kind of like they were picking me up pretty quickly, and that's why I love this team."
"She wasn't tired, but they had seen her for six at bats in a row, so they were picking up on things," Obrest said. "I had to make the change to Ally Frei, and they couldn't touch her."
The win helped buoy a night of sleep, which meant Dreswick retook the mound refocused on Sunday. She rebounded in a big way, allowing only three hits and striking out three for a second shutout on the weekend. BC won, 3-0, finishing off the resounding "home" sweep and culminating the execution of the perfect game plan.
"Going into Saturday, I was wondering who to start," Obrest said. "But at the end of the day, we went back to (Dreswick). And she came out mixing speeds, which she didn't show on Sunday. You have to imagine someone who is six feet three inches tall, throwing 70 (miles per hour) and smoke. Then she's coming back and throwing offspeed at 50. She had hitters swinging before the ball ever left her hand. It was awesome. We had changed the game plan a little bit, but we didn't forget what we did on Friday. We just added a couple of pieces to it."
"(Assistant Coach Megan Brown) set up a plan for minimizing runs, and it started with the first batter," Dreswick said. "In the top of the fifth (on Friday), we didn't have the runs yet, so I wasn't even thinking of the run rule. I was just happy at that point that I hadn't walked anyone yet. In the fifth, I realized we were going to get eight runs and I was thrilled to have a no hitter. I didn't even realize I had the perfect game (going)."
"The reason I have success is because I have good defense and a good catcher," she continued. "Jordan was behind the plate and made sure that she was working really hard back there, meaning there were no passed balls. And there were no defensive errors. There was a moment where there was a ground ball up the middle. But by the time I turned around, Chloe Sharabba had already scooped it up and was throwing it to first."
More than anything, the perfect game headlined three huge ACC victories. Duke's sweep left a sour taste in the Eagles' collective mouth, but the wins over Virginia boosted BC right back into the thick of the conference race. They elevated the Eagles to 3-3 in their reconfigured standings, right behind both Notre Dame and Florida State in the Atlantic Division. It also sets up crucial games this weekend at Syracuse, who, at 4-5, are right on the Eagles' heels.
"Nobody was satisfied with how they played across the board (against Duke)," Obrest said. "Pitchers didn't play well, base running wasn't good, and hitting was there and then it wasn't. Everyone starts talking when that happens, so we tried to regroup. We went back to working hard with challenging practices. It was intentionally pushing ourselves the way we do when we're successful."
"We've had a tough schedule, which has been great for us to learn about ourselves going into conference play," Dreswick said. "The Duke series didn't fall how we wanted it, but we also didn't get blown out in any games. We ended up having the whole week to practice and settle. Everyone was very excited to get into these games. Yes, we had to go to Merrimack, but we had a great energy all weekend, got really aggressive and weren't making losing an option. We were ready to win, and that puts us in a big position where we're playing (Boston University) and Syracuse (this week)."
The Eagles play BU this afternoon at 4 p.m. before heading out to Western New York for three games this weekend. The series against the Orange kicks off on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Something else clicked on at that moment, though, and it had nothing to do with anyone who was on the field or at bat. In fact, it had to do with Chimento's battery mate and pitcher, Jessica Dreswick.
"We had seven runs in the fifth and a runner at third," Obrest said. "Jordan's up, and this is a kid who is obsessed with numbers, so I asked her if she knew what would happen with a hit and a run. She said, 'Dres gets a no hitter.' I looked at her and said, 'Well yeah but it's a perfect game too.' So we kind of laughed, and she got in the box, got a hit and scored a run."
It was walk-off perfection. Chimento's base hit scored CC Cook, sealing Dreswick with her first ever perfect game.
"As a pitcher, you want to help in any way possible, and for me, that's not allowing runs to score" Dreswick said. "I can't score from the pitcher's mound, so I really just tried to make sure to limit the amount of base runners and hits."
Needing only 57 pitches to complete five innings, she struck out seven of 15 batters faced. All of those came against the top five hitters in the Cavalier order as she struck out multiple batters across three different frames.
"When she's on, she's in control," Obrest said. "She can get ahead of hitters, and those at bats aren't going more than four or five pitches. You're not going to full counts (against her), and she can do her damage early in the count. (Virginia) was swinging early so there were some really quick at bats, and she had a four-pitch inning in there too. A lot of pitchers get ahead and throw a waste pitch, but she was trying to throw the least amount of pitches possible."
A perfect game would've been a hallmark staple for a weekend, a lifetime achievement. But it was only the first game of a huge weekend series. BC was supposed to debut its new stadium in Brighton, but weather and cold conspired to put that on temporary hold. The series instead moved to North Andover's Merrimack College, with a doubleheader on Friday.
Dreswick's perfect game in turn wound up as the front end of that, meaning BC had to go again against a highly-motivated Virginia roster. The Cavaliers rallied from a 3-0 first inning deficit in game two to tie the game in the top of the second, then came from behind again to take a 6-5 lead off of the same pitcher who had just disallowed them from getting any base runners less than two hours prior. It wouldn't hold, though, and BC scored double digits in a 10-6 victory.
"We were happy that we won the first game with a run rule," Dreswick said. "I don't necessarily think I came out as clear or aggressive in the second game. But Ally (Frei) shut Virginia down, and our offense bounced right back. It was kind of like they were picking me up pretty quickly, and that's why I love this team."
"She wasn't tired, but they had seen her for six at bats in a row, so they were picking up on things," Obrest said. "I had to make the change to Ally Frei, and they couldn't touch her."
The win helped buoy a night of sleep, which meant Dreswick retook the mound refocused on Sunday. She rebounded in a big way, allowing only three hits and striking out three for a second shutout on the weekend. BC won, 3-0, finishing off the resounding "home" sweep and culminating the execution of the perfect game plan.
"Going into Saturday, I was wondering who to start," Obrest said. "But at the end of the day, we went back to (Dreswick). And she came out mixing speeds, which she didn't show on Sunday. You have to imagine someone who is six feet three inches tall, throwing 70 (miles per hour) and smoke. Then she's coming back and throwing offspeed at 50. She had hitters swinging before the ball ever left her hand. It was awesome. We had changed the game plan a little bit, but we didn't forget what we did on Friday. We just added a couple of pieces to it."
"(Assistant Coach Megan Brown) set up a plan for minimizing runs, and it started with the first batter," Dreswick said. "In the top of the fifth (on Friday), we didn't have the runs yet, so I wasn't even thinking of the run rule. I was just happy at that point that I hadn't walked anyone yet. In the fifth, I realized we were going to get eight runs and I was thrilled to have a no hitter. I didn't even realize I had the perfect game (going)."
"The reason I have success is because I have good defense and a good catcher," she continued. "Jordan was behind the plate and made sure that she was working really hard back there, meaning there were no passed balls. And there were no defensive errors. There was a moment where there was a ground ball up the middle. But by the time I turned around, Chloe Sharabba had already scooped it up and was throwing it to first."
More than anything, the perfect game headlined three huge ACC victories. Duke's sweep left a sour taste in the Eagles' collective mouth, but the wins over Virginia boosted BC right back into the thick of the conference race. They elevated the Eagles to 3-3 in their reconfigured standings, right behind both Notre Dame and Florida State in the Atlantic Division. It also sets up crucial games this weekend at Syracuse, who, at 4-5, are right on the Eagles' heels.
"Nobody was satisfied with how they played across the board (against Duke)," Obrest said. "Pitchers didn't play well, base running wasn't good, and hitting was there and then it wasn't. Everyone starts talking when that happens, so we tried to regroup. We went back to working hard with challenging practices. It was intentionally pushing ourselves the way we do when we're successful."
"We've had a tough schedule, which has been great for us to learn about ourselves going into conference play," Dreswick said. "The Duke series didn't fall how we wanted it, but we also didn't get blown out in any games. We ended up having the whole week to practice and settle. Everyone was very excited to get into these games. Yes, we had to go to Merrimack, but we had a great energy all weekend, got really aggressive and weren't making losing an option. We were ready to win, and that puts us in a big position where we're playing (Boston University) and Syracuse (this week)."
The Eagles play BU this afternoon at 4 p.m. before heading out to Western New York for three games this weekend. The series against the Orange kicks off on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Players Mentioned
C/3B
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