Last year, the local softball community was just one win away from a Greenfield-Turners showdown in the MIAA Div. 5 state championship game.
Could this be the first time the two rivals meet with a state title on the line?
Hopkins Academy and Tahanto will certainly have something to say about that, as those two teams are the only ones left standing in the way of the two powerhouse rivals meeting in the title game. The Thunder take on the Golden Hawks at 3 p.m. on Tuesday while the Green Wave will take on the Stags at 5 p.m. in the semifinals. Both games will take place at Westfield State University.
It’ll be the third showdown of the season between Turners and Hopkins, though the first two games showed the growth the Thunder have made this season.
A young Turners team got handed one of its worst losses in recent memory in its second game of the season, when it went down to Hadley and was run-ruled 17-3 by the Golden Hawks.
The Thunder grew and continued to improve throughout the season and there was no better proof of that growth than what happened when they faced Hopkins in the Western Mass. Class D title game just two weeks ago. While the runs came often for the Golden Hawks in the first meeting, Turners’ Madi Liimatainen — who has been lights out in the circle all postseason — held them to just two hits in the title game rematch, with the Thunder cruising to a 9-1 victory.
What’s happened since then? No. 3 Turners (16-7) barreled its way through its first two state tournament games, blowing past Bristol County (15-0) and Lenox (5-2) to reach the quarterfinals.
That’s where the Thunder got their toughest test of the postseason to date. No. 11 Franklin Tech made the quick trip over to Gary Mullins Field, and behind stellar pitching from Hannah Gilbert, who limited Turners to just three hits, held a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth.
Turners got two back in the bottom of the sixth off of hits from Liimatainen and Morgan Dobias and Liimatainen held it down in the seventh to allow the Thunder to stay alive and advance to the semis.
“That was a big win for the kids,” Turners coach Gary Mullins said. “It was a big crowd and we performed well. We found a way to win a tough game which is always nice to do this time of year.”
With the way No. 7 Hopkins has been hitting the ball in the state tournament, three hits likely won’t get the job done on Tuesday.
The Golden Hawks (19-3) have hit double-digit runs in each of their three state postseason games. They opened things up with a 13-1 win over the Academy of Notre Dame in the Round of 32, defeated No. 10 Maynard 10-6 in the Round of 16 before erupting offensively in a quarterfinal game against No. 2 Mount Greylock, putting 27 runs on the board to advance to the semis with a 27-14 victory.
Kaelyn Zakaitis and Cassie Dion have pitched throughout the season for Hopkins, with Zakaitis getting the start against Greylock before Dion came on. Turners could very well see innings from both pitchers.
“We’ve split with them,” Mullins said. “They’re a very aggressive offensive team. We’ll have to make some plays. Hopefully our bats do some talking for us.”
The Green Wave have barely broken a sweat this postseason, looking every bit like a team on a mission to defend their Div. 5 state championship.
Don’t expect things to be so easy on Tuesday, when it takes on Tahanto in the semis at 5 p.m. following the conclusion of Turners-Hopkins.
Top-seeded Greenfield (19-5) has made things look effortless since the Western Mass. tournament started. In three Western Mass. tourney games and three state tournament tilts the Green Wave have outscored their opponents by a whopping 71-5 margin.
Tahanto, on the other hand, shut out Minuteman (5-0) in the Round of 32 and knocked out No. 13 Hopedale (5-4) in the Round of 16 before coming away with a 5-4 win over West Boylston — which knocked out Turners in the 2022 semis and was beaten by Greenfield in the finals last year — in the quarters on Sunday.
“Tahanto is a scrappy team,” Greenfield coach John Hickey said. “They put the ball in play and with two strikes they choke and poke. It’s a formidable opponent. We have to come ready to play. We’ll have to be focused on every pitch defensively and offensively we’ll have to stay back and try to drive the ball.”
One thing the Green Wave will have to prepare for is if the No. 4 Stags decide to change things up in the circle. While most softball teams ride their top arm in big games, Tahanto (14-5) has two pitchers, one a right-hander and one a lefty, and aren’t afraid to put either into the game.
Still, as it has all year, it’ll come down to how the defending state champs perform on the field. MacKenzie Paulin has been nearly unhittable in the circle this postseason while Greenfield has gotten production out of its entire lineup all year long. On Saturday in the quarters, Paulin allowed one hit on a bunt while Carly Blanchard blasted a three-run homer as the Green Wave earned an 8-1 win over Drury.
It’s not easy dealing with the pressure of being the defending state champions and the top seed in the tournament, but so far, Greenfield has handled it well.
Hickey said he knows the job isn’t done, but is very pleased with how his squad has handled itself throughout the season on its quest to raise a second straight state championship trophy.
“I’m just super proud of this team,” Hickey said. “We’ve been the top seed most of the year which isn’t an easy thing to keep. I told them at the beginning of the year that repeating is hard at every level, from high school to college to the pros. I’m happy and proud that we’re back here in the final four. We’re not satisfied but we’re very pleased with what this team has done this year.”
The state title game will be played at Sortino Field on the campus of UMass, either Friday or Saturday.