WESTFIELD — For the first time since 2013, the Turners Falls softball team watched as someone else accepted a Western Mass. title on Tuesday.
The top-seeded Thunder fell into a quick 2-0 deficit and never fully recovered. Second-seeded Hoosac Valley rode a solid pitching performance from Rylynn Witek and some opportunistic base running to hold on for a 5-4 victory in the Class D championship game at Westfield State University.
It was the first sectional title for the Hurricanes (14-5) since they beat Greenfield for the Div. 2 championship in 1998. Turners had beaten Hoosac to win the Div. 3 title in 2016. The program’s last loss in a title game came against Mount Everett in the 2013 Div. 3 tourney.
“I think that if we play the way we’re capable of playing, then we should win this tournament and we didn’t do that,” Turners Falls coach Gary Mullins said afterward. “We played horrible last game (a 12-10 win in the semifinals over Hopkins Academy), crawled by, and this one, we made enough mistakes to lose and we did.”
Unlike past years, Tuesday’s loss does not signal the end of the season for Turners (12-9). The Thunder will find out their statewide tournament seed and draw on Wednesday, when the MIAA is expected to release brackets on its website. Turners will likely be the No. 2 seed in the Division 5 field, behind only top-seeded Greenfield.
Tuesday’s title game certainly didn’t start the way Mullins & Co. had hoped. Two errors and two wild pitches in the top of the first inning enabled the Hurricanes to push a pair of runs across against Turners starter Madison Liimatainen without the benefit of a hit.
“The last two nights at practice, the kids have done a good job at practice, making plays. Then the first fly ball today, we drop,” Mullins offered. “We shoot ourselves in the foot.”
Witek held up her end of the bargain in the circle for Hoosac. She allowed singles to Emily Young in the first and Cady Wozniak in the second, but retired the side in order in the third to keep the Thunder off the board early.
The visitors grew the lead in the top of the third, when Ella Bissallon walked and took second on a wild pitch. Gracelyn Wright laid down a bunt, and while Turners managed to throw her out at first, Bissallon rounded third on the play and ultimately snuck home to make it a 3-0 game.
Turners finally got on the board in the fourth inning, as Morgan Dobias walked and scored on a Wozniak RBI double to make it 3-1.
It grew to 4-1 in the fifth when Izzy Tart singled and scored on a hot-shot grounder from Nora Kondel that went off the glove of Paige Sulda at shortstop.
Sulda singled and scored in the sixth when Witek couldn’t come up with pinch hitter Marilyn Abarua’s grounder back to the circle.
Another error led to an insurance for the Hurricanes in the top of the seventh, and Tart smacked her third hit of the ballgame – she had the only three hits of the day against Liimatainen – to drive in Wright and make it 5-2.
Down but not out, the Thunder rallied in the bottom of the seventh in search of extending their Western Mass. title streak. Young walked with one out and scored when Liimatainen roped an RBI double deep into the outfield. One batter later, Witek attempted to pick Liimatainen off at second, but her throw got away. Liimatainen broke for third base, and the toss there also went awry, scooting into the Turners dugout to allow her to score and pull the Powertown within 5-4.
Dobias singled and courtesy runner Addison Talbot eventually took second base on a pitch in the dirt. With the tying run in scoring position however, Witek was able to get a line out to center field and a strikeout to seal the deal and give the ’Canes a title.
“The kids showed a little spunk and they fought back and made a game out of it, but we just make too many mistakes, we give away too many runs,” Mullins said. “It’s just frustrating.”
Witek, who struck out 14 and walked three, was named the Gary Stacy MVP for her efforts.
Liimatainen struck out 12 in the circle and walked five for Turners, which committed four errors to go with six wild pitches on the afternoon.
“Madi battled for us, I thought,” said Mullins. “But again, every single position this year is a brand new kid. There’s not one kid out there who returned to their spot. So you get to the Western Mass. finals with that team, is that good? No, not for us, we should be here. But again, you have to consider we’ve got eighth graders playing in the outfield and first-year players in the outfield.”
Young, who hit the ball hard all day, finished 2-for-3 with a walk atop the Turners lineup. Wozniak was 2-for-2 with a walk out of the No. 6 spot.