TURNERS FALLS — It might not have been pretty, but the Turners Falls softball team finds itself one win away from reaching the MIAA Division 5 Final Four. 

Hosting 18th-seeded Norfolk County Agriculture on Wednesday in the Round of 16, the second-seeded Thunder raced out to a 14-2 lead after two innings and looked like they would cruise into the state quarterfinals. 

The Rams didn’t make it easy. Norfolk Aggie scored four runs in the third, one in the fourth and five in the fifth, cutting the lead to 16-12 going into the bottom of the fifth. 

Turners tacked on some late runs to pull away and advance with a 21-14 triumph at Gary Mullins Field. 

“It was the best and the worst softball game we’ve played,” Thunder coach Gary Mullins said. “That’s the truth. We hit the ball well but made a lot of mistakes.” 

Turners (18-5) advanced to host No. 7 Narragansett on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the quarterfinals. Narragansett is coming off a 10-5 win over Drury in the Round of 16. 

“I know their pitcher is pretty good,” Mullins said. “Don’t know much else there.” 

Turners junior ace Madi Liimatainen crossed off another milestone Wednesday, recording her 900th career strikeout in the third inning.

She finished with 14 strikeouts and scattered seven hits, though walked 12 batters. Turners and Liimatainen had shut out their last four opponents going into Wednesday. 

In the field, the Thunder committed numerous errors which led to runs. 

“I’m disappointed with our defense obviously,” Mullins said. “Madi struggled today. We were on a run where we’ve shut out our last four opponents. The first few innings they got runs on nice hits but from there, we gave them all kinds of stuff.” 

The Rams (17-5) opened the scoring in the first, loading the bases before Bree Clark hit a two-run single to give Norfolk Aggie a quick 2-0 lead. 

Turners put six runs on in the bottom of the frame. The Thunder loaded the bases after Mia Marigliano and Janelle Massey walked, Liimatainen singled, and a catcher’s interference call scored Marigliano. 

McKenzie Stafford, running for Liimatainen, scored on a wild pitch, Madisyn Dietz and Ella Kolodziej walked with the bases loaded to score a pair of runs, Dietz and Anne Kolodziej both managed to score on a sacrifice fly from Marilyn Abarua and an error after Addison Talbot put the ball in play allowed Ella Kolodziej to score, giving Turners a 6-2 lead after one. 

Liimatainen opened the bottom of the second by smashing a home run over the left field fence. The Thunder proceeded to load the bases and Anne Kolodziej was hit by a pitch to score Massey. 

Talbot singled to drive in a pair, and a ball was dropped after Liimatainen put the ball in play to score a pair before Massey and Dietz each hit RBI singles, giving Turners its 14-2 lead after two. 

After Liimatainen recorded her 900th career strikeout in the third, Bella Musiak singled to drive in a run for Norfolk Aggie. A pair of bases loaded walks put two more runs across, cutting the lead to 14-6. 

Autumn Thornton started the bottom of the third with a single and Abarua drove her in with a base hit. Abarua later scored on a wild pitch, giving the Thunder a 16-6 lead after three. 

Norfolk got one back in the fourth, with Maddie McCloud walking and ultimately scoring on an error. 

Marlaina Paillucci drilled an RBI single for the Rams in the fifth before Lauren Barry scored on a wild pitch. Later in the frame, with two runners on, Bella Musiak cracked a triple. The throw to get her at third went out of play, allowing all three runners to score to cut the deficit to 16-12. 

Talbot singled in the bottom of the fifth and Massey drove her in with a base hit to add a run for Turners. 

After Liimatainen got a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to keep the Rams off the board in the top of the sixth, the Thunder put together four runs in the bottom of the frame to help put the game away. 

Thornton cracked an RBI single, Talbot came through with a base hit that drove in two runs before Liimatainen doubled in a run, giving Turners a 21-12 lead. 

Norfolk Aggie scored a pair in the seventh but was unable to mount the massive comeback.  

“Those kids hung in and they hit the ball well,” Mullins said of the visitors. “We just made mistake after mistake after mistake.”