With a 13th western Massachusetts title in 14 years in the bag, Turners Falls High School turns its sights toward the state tournament today.
The two-time defending MIAA Division III champions begin their march for a potential third straight state crown this afternoon in Amherst, where the Powertown tangles with central Massachusetts champion Hopedale High School in a Div. III state semifinal at 3 p.m. The game will be played at Sortino Field on the campus of UMass, the site of Saturday’s 15-1 WMass title victory over Mt. Everett Regional School.
It’s the second time in three years that Turners (21-2) will meet Hopedale in a state semifinal. The two teams tangled in the 2015 tourney, when the Powertown captured a 3-1 victory at Sortino Field and eventually defeated Millis High School for the state crown. In last year’s state tournament, Turners defeated Tahanto Regional High School in the semifinals and Austin Preparatory in the finals for its second consecutive title.
“I know their pitching is quality and they’ve been there before,” said Turners coach Gary Mullins of today’s foe. “I don’t think it’s going to be power pitching, but they do have a couple big sticks in the lineup, from what I was told. They don’t steal a ton of bases but they’re not afraid to bunt. That’s not how they try and win games, though.”
Turners enters today’s game red-hot after thumping a pair of heavyweights to close out its WMass tournament run. In the semifinals against rival Greenfield High School, the team jumped ahead early and never looked back in an 8-0 win. The championship game against Mt. Everett was close until the third inning, when Turners pushed 10 runs across and cruised to a 15-1 win for its fourth straight sectional title.
Hopedale (16-8) moved through the central Mass. tournament as the sixth-seeded team in a 17-team field. The Blue Raiders edged top-seeded Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School in the finals, 2-1 in extra innings, giving them their second sectional title in three years. Freshman Rowena Harris hit the game-winning single in the top of the ninth inning against Blackstone Valley.
Hopedale senior pitcher Julia Alberto leads the way in the circle for the Raiders, as she allowed just one run total in the team’s last three games. That included back-to-back shutouts in the quarterfinals against Quaboag Regional High School (13-0) and semifinals against Uxbridge High School (8-0) before the 2-1 Blackstone Valley duel.
“I keep saying it, but if we show patience at the plate, I think we’ll be OK,” Mullins offered of his lineup. “I think they’ll be ready to play and hopefully prepared for it.”
The Blue Raiders did have to survive a wild first-round tournament game just to stay alive. Maynard High School, the 11th-seed in the field, played Hopedale tight, ultimately falling, 11-10, in the opener.
Turners enters the tournament hoping that its efforts during a difficult regular-season slate will continue to pay dividends. Mullins scheduled aggressively, playing games against independent foes that showed quite well come season’s end.
Turners beat Newton North High School in the regular season, and the Tigers wound up winning the Div. I North championship with a 2-1 victory Saturday over Billerica High School.
Turners was right in a regular-season game against Wachusett Regional High School, eventually falling, 3-1. The Mountaineers also took home some hardware this past weekend, claiming the central Mass. Div. I title with a 3-1 win over Doherty Memorial High School. Both Wachusett and Newton North are in the four-team Div. I field trying to capture a state title.
In Div. II action, Turners swept a two-game regular-season series with Hampshire Regional High School. The Red Raiders won the WMass Div. II championship, knocking off Southwick Regional High School, 8-4, Saturday at UMass.
“I wrote an email to the Newton North coach congratulating her because I thought she was classy when we played them. It was awesome to see that they won (a title),” Mullins said. “And then Wachusett and Hampshire both won their titles. We played tough against all those teams. I think those games really helped prepare us for the rest of the season.”
Turners enters the state mix with a whopping eight MIAA championships. The eight crowns ties the program with Bishop Fenwick for the most in state history.
The other Div. III state semifinal is scheduled for today at 5 p.m. at Taunton High School, where North champion Austin Prep (22-2) tries to return to a second consecutive title game when it tangles with South champ West Bridgewater High School (22-2).
“There are some good teams left in Division III, but I don’t think there’s anyone who is an absolute Cadillac,” Mullins said. “We played well against some really good teams this year so I don’t think my kids have any reason to feel overwhelmed. But we still have to go out there and play softball.”
The Div. III state championship game is scheduled for Saturday at Worcester State University.