A home run derby broke out at the Bourdeau Fields Complex Tuesday night.
Host Turners Falls High School had two long balls, but Minnechaug Regional High School clubbed a trio of homers, including back-to-back shots in the third inning, and the Falcons won a battle of two of the top teams in western Massachusetts with a 7-6 independent softball victory under the Powertown lights.
Division I powerhouse Minnechaug, the defending WMass champions, improved to 16-2 overall. Turners finished its regular-season 17-3 and now awaits the June 5 WMass seeds to find out its path to repeating as MIAA Division III state champions.
“You schedule these games to challenge your kids,” said Turners coach Gary Mullins of the heavyweight opponent. “(Minnechaug) got beat in the state semis last year but there’s still some quality athletes there.”
The score was tied 1-1 in the third inning when the Falcons got going offensively. Jenna Murray hit a two-run home run to give the visitors the lead, and Jessica Anderson followed immediately with a solo shot in the same spot to straightaway center field for a 4-1 advantage.
“We threw some balls over the middle of the plate and they took care of them,” a matter-of-fact Mullins said of the back-to-back shots.
The three-run third chased Turners freshman hurler Jade Tyler, with senior Peyton Emery coming on for the final four-plus frames.
The lead grew to 5-1 in the fourth when Olivia Whittier drilled her first home run of the season in the bottom of the inning to close the Thunder deficit.
It was 6-2 in the sixth thanks to a Morgan Sanborn solo home run when the Thunder roared back. The hosts scored three runs to get within 6-5 and had Minnechaug pitcher Rachel Crafts (7 innings, 6 strikeouts) on the ropes. Shortstop Cassidhe Wozniak had a chance to plate the go-ahead runs before her line shot back up the middle somehow found the mitt of Crafts, who held on for the final out with two runners on to keep her team in front.
“That was the play that made the difference late,” said Mullins. “Wozniak was having a good night. She hit the ball hard, an absolute screamer, and it got right back to (Crafts) before she could even react. Unfortunately it went right in the glove.”
Minnechaug tacked on what wound up being a huge insurance run in the top of the seventh. That loomed large after Turners’ Aly Murphy connected for a solo home run in the bottom of the inning with one out. That got the hosts within 7-6, but Crafts managed to retire the final two batters of the game to seal the deal.
“We battled back, made it a softball game but we just couldn’t get the big hit to come all the way back,” Mullins said. “Defensively we made some really nice plays, I thought. It was an entertaining game.”
Wozniak and Whittier had two hits apiece in the loss, while Sienna Dillensneider had a single and two RBI. Hailey Bogusz, Lexi Lacey and Emery added hits for the Thunder.
Tyler took the loss, striking out two and walking three in 2⅓ innings before departing with her team trailing 4-1. Emery struck out six and walked four in 4⅔ innings of action.
Frontier 13, Monson 0 (5) — Host Frontier Regional School exploded for seven runs in the first inning and never looked back en route to a 13-0 win over Monson High School in an independent softball game Tuesday at Zabek Field in South Deerfield.
The Red Hawks closed out their regular season 12-8 overall, and are off until the WMass Division II seeds are released next week. The quintet of Lauren MacDonald, Kelsey Jarvis, Kimmie Asseng, Kenzie Patterson and Emma Wesoloski were honored on Senior Day.
Wesoloski had three hits in the win, while Patterson had two hits, including a double, and two RBI. Natalie Denkiewicz smacked her team-leading eighth double of the season and drove in a pair of runs, while Ariana Walker and Ava Harper each had a single and an RBI. Jarvis also had a hit, and Maddie Fifield drove in a run.
MacDonald struck out seven and walked two in the five-inning, complete-game shutout. MacDonald scattered six hits, all singles, as Monson (4-12) was Frontier’s third shutout victim of the year.
Mahar 14, Sci-Tech 2 (5) — Skylar Dodge clubbed her eighth home run of the season, and Mahar Regional School closed out its best season since 2008 with a 14-2 independent victory over Springfield School of Science & Technology Tuesday in Orange.
The Senators went 8-12 overall this spring, their most wins in 10 years. Head coach Jerry Duguay said he used 17 different players throughout the course of the year during a season that featured several key injuries.
“It was a trying year health and injury-wise, but I think the girls are aware of what it takes for us to take it to the next level,” the coach explained.
Dodge hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning, and she finished with three hits overall. Lani DeDiego had two triples and a double for Mahar, while Sarah Graeff doubled twice and drove in a pair. Jordyn Berry singled twice and drove in four runs, while Juliana Herbert and Hanna Dupont each singled and had two RBI. In her final game, lone senior Kayla Baker-LaFrennie was a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs scored.
Sophomore Megan Rich singled twice at the plate and struck out five in a complete-game victory in the pitching circle. The right-hander pitched every inning for the Senators in a busy campaign.
“I can’t say enough about Megan Rich,” Duguay said. “She’s mentally and physically tough, the way she performed all season long against some really good competition.”
Gateway 15, FC Tech 2 (5 inn.) — Audrey Gamble limited Franklin County Technical School to three hits, and the Gateway Regional High School senior pitcher struck out five in five innings Tuesday to lift the Tri-County League champions to a 15-2 victory in Huntington.
Franklin Tech (4-16, 4-10 TCL) jumped ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning when Brooke Adams doubled home Jocelyn Crowningshield.
Gateway (14-6, 13-1), which won the TCL by four games in its first season after being realigned from the Bi-County League, responded with a five-spot in the home half of the first and pushed six more across in the second to take a commanding 11-1 advantage.
Adams had two of Franklin Tech’s three hits, with Crowningshield adding a single. Hailey Jackson drove in a run in the top of the third inning for the Eagles.
Gateway’s Ava Auclair homered and drove in five runs to pace the offensive effort for the Gators, which totaled seven hits against Franklin Tech hurler Desiree Doane (five innings, one strikeout).