While working her job at Thomas Memorial Golf & Country Club this week, Morgan Dobias has heard the same conversations throughout the club.
“Everybody is talking about the Turners-Greenfield game,” said Dobias, a senior on Turners Falls. “All ages. They’re all asking me where it is, what’s happening and all that.”
It’s easy to see why there’s buzz on this state championship game. Greenfield and Turners Falls will meet for the first time with a state title on the line at 3 p.m. on Friday at UMass’ Sortino Field.
Both teams are full of big game experience, the Green Wave having won the state championship just a year ago while the Thunder won the Div. 3 title the year before in 2021. Greenfield played West Boylston for its state title while Turners went on the road to play Amesbury in their championship game.
There’s always pressure when a state title is on the line, but it gets ramped up to a whole new level when it’s a championship game against your archrival.
“It’s exciting but I’m nervous, too,” Green Wave senior Rachel Dodge admitted. “We’ve been there before but it’s still nerve-racking. I’m trying not to think about how big of a game it is and just stay loose.”
There’s an old adage in sports that it’s hard to beat a team three times. Both teams enter Friday’s game with their own thoughts on that sentiment.
After all, it was the Thunder that won both matchups during the regular season. It was a pitcher’s duel between Turners’ Madi Liimatainen and Greenfield’s MacKenzie Paulin — both sophomore phenoms — in the opening matchup at Gary Mullins Field, with Liimatainen striking out 12, surrendering three hits and not allowing a run as the Thunder walked away with a 4-0 victory. Paulin had 13 strikeouts and scattered seven hits in the loss.
The second time around saw Liimatainen and Paulin each record 11 strikeouts, but the Thunder cracked timely hits to walk away with a 10-2 victory at Vets Field, a win that allowed Turners to capture the Franklin County League West title.
While having two wins under their belt is certainly a confidence boost, the Thunder know that Greenfield will come into the game with extra motivation to make sure it doesn’t finish the season without a win over their neighboring rival.
“They’re not only going to want to win states, they’re going to want revenge,” Dobias said. “Madi was on fire in those two games and we were there to back her up. Her knowing that gives her more confidence. Our bats were there.”
There was a common message among Greenfield players at practice on Thursday. While the Green Wave are the defending state champions, they cannot allow the aura of Turners — the perennial softball power in the area — to get to them.
“It’s pretty exciting to be back here,” Greenfield senior Abigail Ortiz said. “I’ve been hoping we’d get back here all season so it’s great to be here. We can’t put that big label on Turners. We just have to play how we know how to play.”
Greenfield (20-5) dropped just three games to teams not named Turners this year. The Green Wave lost their next two games following the second loss to the Thunder, playing three games in a row against Turners, Westfield and Taconic, but have dominated every team they’ve played since, winning eight in a row.
They enter the title game knowing they have to treat Turners the same way they did an unknown opponent like Tahanto in the state semis earlier this week.
“We always put this big name above Turners,” Dodge said. “We just have to relax, play our game, sing in the dugout and stay loose.”
Fellow Green Wave senior Brielle Widelo agreed.
“What gets to us is when we play a team we know and we get that big label in our heads,” Widelo added. “We just need to go into it like it’s any other game.”
That’s the universal feeling around the Greenfield squad. Paulin said after the semifinal win over Tahanto that her sole focus is on playing her best and not worrying about the opponent in front of her.
“We just can’t be in our heads for them,” Paulin said. “We just have to think of them as another team. I’ll do my best in the circle.”
With Greenfield focused on its own performance, Thunder players are treating the state final as a rare underdog position.
It’s not often Turners, which has won 10 state championships, might not be considered the on-paper favorite to win a game. Despite the two wins against the Green Wave during the season, Greenfield is the No. 1 seed in the tournament while the Thunder are the No. 3 seed. The Wave will don their home uniforms in Amherst.
The Green Wave are also the defending state champions, leaving Liimatainen to say her team is embracing the underdog role while also reflecting on how much hard work it took to get back in this spot.
“I’ve always liked playing [Greenfield],” Liimatainen said. “In a way we’re going into this as an underdog because they won states last year and they have that on us. Everybody around knows it’s going to be a good game. I’m excited to see how it goes. It’s a big accomplishment just to reach the finals.”
After a two-game skid to open the season 0-2, the Thunder rallied behind their leaders to turn their season around. Facing pressure in the finals is nothing new to Turners, which has the pressure of living up to the standard of winning that’s been set before them within the program.
“The older girls like Cady [Wozniak] and Morgan [Dobias] have pushed the younger girls,” Liimatainen said. “They’ve told them that every play has to matter. We go out there in Turners jerseys and everyone expects us to be the best and we try to play to that standard.
“It’s friendly pressure,” she continued. “There’s going to be a lot of people there cheering for us and there’ll be a lot of people there cheering against us. My mentality going in is that it’s the last game of the season no matter what. We didn’t come all this way not to win. Everyone will give everything we can and hopefully it lands on our side.”