NORTH ADAMS — Franklin Tech and McCann Tech played one another less than a week ago, with Franklin Tech knocking off the top-seeded Hornets in the Western Mass. Class C semifinals, en route to the Eagles’ first Western Mass. championship.
The two met once more on Tuesday in the Massachusetts State Vocational Softball Small School Championship game. It was a far cry from the comfortable Franklin Tech win that occurred in Western Mass.
In fact, the Eagles were up six runs when the Hornets exploded for an eight-run bottom of the fourth inning to take the lead.
But Franklin Tech just kept chipping away. Down to its final out in the top of the seventh with runners on first and second, Emma Peterson hit a line drive single just past third to tie the game.
Feeding off the momentum, Amelia Rider hit a 2-run single that was lost in the sun to put the visitors to Disanti Field up 12-10 before McCann could end the inning.
Avery Lane hit a one-out single for McCann, but disaster struck. Aiden Champney grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, Franklin Tech’s second of the game, to end the game and the Eagles added a state vocational title to their Class C crown.
“They’re a very solid team, we knew that. They can hit, they earned every one of their runs. The girls showed resiliency today,” said Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache. “We went pretty deep into our bench today and everybody that came in contributed in some fashion. Two teams that are both state tournament bound and definitely gonna be tough outs for lots of teams.
“We got a ton of respect for them and their program. This is why the vocational tournament came about.”
McCann was down before the game had even begun with injuries to starters in Nora Kondel and Shaylee Lawson. The Eagles jumped out to an 8-2 lead and history seemed to be repeating after the Class C semifinal had been a 7-1 win for the team from Franklin County.
Indeed, the fourth started poorly when Samantha Duncan blasted a triple and came home on a poor throw to third that went out of play to make it 8-2. But McCann settled in, getting three straight outs.
And its offense recorded three straight singles to load the bases. Danielle King cracked a line drive that plated one run and kept the bases loaded. Maggie Wohrle reached on a fielder’s choice that forced out the runner going home but Lane’s chip that meandered down the third base line and stayed fair long enough for another run to score and her to get to first and make it 8-4.
An error allowed Champney to reach and another run came in and Gamache called a mound meeting. Still, the Hornets kept hitting, Emma LeMire blooped a single and then Ryleigh Rathbun cracked a 2-RBI single and it was tied, 8-8. When Gabby Driscoll’s bomb rolled to the fence for a 2-run double, McCann had itself a 10-8 lead and plenty of steam.
It also had to tough out a couple more bumps and bruises.
In the fifth, LeMire took a hard liner to the leg and after a medical timeout, vacated the circle to go to second while Lane took over pitching duties. In the top of the sixth, catcher Addison Pause was hit in the head by a foul ball. She too toughed it out and stayed in the game.
“Very proud of them for coming back, they could have hung their heads but they decided to come back. It was a good game,” said McCann coach Aubrey Thurston. “We just told our girls, don’t hang your heads. That was a great way to come back and keep fighting. [Franklin Tech’s] a really well put together team.
“They hit the ball well, have a great coaching staff.”
Both teams await their final seeds in the MIAA Division V State Tournament. As of the final power rankings on Friday, Franklin Tech was No. 11 and McCann was No. 14.
