TURNERS FALLS — Lauren Ross and the Franklin Tech softball team had just about everything working for them on Tuesday.
The fourth-seeded Eagles were loose prior to their MIAA Division 5 Round of 16 contest, and that attitude translated onto the field against 13th-seeded Academy of Notre Dame from Tyngsborough. Ross retired 18 batters in a row from the first to seventh innings, and the Tech bats racked up double-digit hits en route to an 8-1 victory.
The Eagles (22-3) will host either No. 5 Mount Greylock or No. 21 Frontier in the state quarterfinals, likely on Friday at 4 p.m. Greylock and Frontier will meet in the Round of 16 on Wednesday in Williamstown.
“I think the team chemistry we have here really helped us in this game,” offered Ross, who struck out four and didn’t walk a batter while scattering just two hits. “We were playing duck, duck, goose before the game… that’s just kind of what we do.”
After Leah Dery singled with one out in the top of the first inning, Ross didn’t allow another batter to reach base until Carly Smith doubled in the top of the seventh. She was helped by her defense, which didn’t commit an error until the seventh. That lone miscue led to the visiting Lancers’ only run that broke the shutout.
“We played really clean,” Ross lauded. “I’m really proud of the girls. My job isn’t to struck everyone out, sit everyone down. And that’s not going to happen every time. Our defense really did a nice job supporting me and making all the plays.”
Indeed, Franklin Tech’s hopes of marching through the state tournament will require stellar defense, according to head coach Joe Gamache.
“At this stage of the season, teams are going to be able to put the ball in play so we have to lock down defensively,” Gamache explained. “I thought Lauren did a great job hitting her spots and we made about every play we could behind her until the last inning.”
With Ross and the Eagles defense doing the job in the field, the hosts offered plenty of support offensively. Tech pushed a pair across in the bottom of the first inning, as Lilly Ross and Hannah Gilbert roped back-to-back singles with one out, and both came around on a Kylee Gamache triple for a 2-0 cushion.
Gamache was in the middle of the action again in the third inning. Gilbert led off with a triple and scored on an overthrow to make it 3-0, then Lauren Ross walked and scored when Gamache smacked a hard-hit double for a 4-0 advantage. Courtesy runner Gianna DiScuillo scored to make it 5-0 when Kyra Goodell reached on a fielder’s choice.
That was plenty for Ross & Co., though the Eagles added some insurance in the sixth inning. Lauren Ross doubled in a run in the frame, and Gamache added her fourth RBI of the outing as the hosts put up a three-spot in the frame to take a commanding 8-0 lead.
Academy of Notre Dame (13-7) finally got on the board in the seventh, when Smith doubled and scored on an error with two outs to account for the 8-1 final.
“We really didn’t have much, if any intel on them,” Gamache said of the Lancers, which rallied to get past No. 20 Drury, 7-6, in the Round of 32 on Monday. “We knew they came back from being down five runs to walk-off against Drury, but that’s about it. We wanted to get out early and take a lead and we were able to do that.”
Now comes a quarterfinal matchup against a familiar foe. The Eagles won both meetings with Frontier already this season, and also beat Mount Greylock when they met in the Western Mass. Class C semifinals. Whichever team Franklin Tech welcomes to Turners Falls on Friday, Ross said they’ll be ready.
“It’s like being on cloud nine,” she said of reaching the state quarterfinals. “We’ve never been here before, so it’s a first for everybody on this team. We just want to be able to keep it going and keep playing softball together.”