TURNERS FALLS — Turners Falls softball coach Gary Mullins knew his team would be facing tough pitchers throughout the year. Taking on one of them in Franklin Tech’s Hannah Gilbert Friday, the longtime coach was proud of the way his players handled the pressure at the plate. 

Hosting their crosstown rival, the Thunder put five runs on the board in the third inning and tacked three more on in the fourth to hold a 9-3 advantage going into the fifth. 

Madi Liimatainen did the rest, as the senior finished with 17 strikeouts in the circle to lead Turners to a 10-3 independent victory at Gary Mullins Field. 

“I was pleased with the young kids competing,” Mullins said. “Defensively we made some nice plays. It was a good win. We have more things to learn but we’ll be happy tonight.” 

The Thunder (2-0) managed seven hits against Gilbert and were able to do their damage with runners in scoring position. 

“That’s a good pitcher and we’re going to see a lot of them,” Mullins said. “South Hadley, Greenfield, Wachusett, Hampshire… they’ll all throw high 50s, low 60s.” 

While it wasn’t the team result the Eagles were hoping for, Franklin Tech’s Kylee Gamache picked up a career milestone on Friday. 

The senior came into the season with 99 career hits and broke through with her 100th during her second at bat of the game. Gamache blasted a triple to right field that drove in a pair of runs and gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead in the third. The catcher also added a double in the fifth inning, and said she’s feeling the weight come off her shoulders after reaching the century mark. 

“It was a big mental block,” Gamache said. “I went five games with no hits after getting to 99. It was frustrating but it feels good to have done it. Now I don’t have to think about just getting that one hit.” 

Madisyn Dietz reached on an error and scored on a wild pitch in the second to give Turners a 1-0 lead in the second. In the top of the third, Shelby O’Leary singled, Hannah Gilbert walked before Gamache drilled her triple to clear the bases and give Tech the lead. 

It was errors that hurt the Eagles in the bottom of the inning. Mia Marigliano singled, Liimatainen walked before Janelle Massey reached on an error to knock in Marigliano. Marilyn Abarua then singled to drive in a pair of runs, Addison Talbot drove in Abarua with a base hit and after the bases were loaded, McKenzie Stafford walked to score a fifth run in the inning which gave the Thunder a 6-2 lead. 

Tech got one back in the top of the fourth after Emma Petersen walked, Cordelia Guerin singled and Sandra Johnson rocketed a base hit to drive Petersen in with no outs. Liimatainen got out of the jam, striking out the next three batters she faced to keep Turners ahead, 6-3. 

An error in the bottom of the fourth put two more runs on the board for the Thunder before Dietz hit a single to knock in Abarua to give Turners its 9-3 lead going into the fifth. In the bottom of the sixth Liimatainen hit a double to left field that brought in Kaiya Adams to make it a 10-3 lead. 

Tech loaded the bases in the seventh after a trio of walks but Liimatainen got her 17th strikeout — putting her 13 shy of reaching the 1,000 career mark — to end the game. 

“Madi got through it today,” Mullins said. “She worked hard. She wasn’t normal Madi but she’ll get there.” 

Next up for the Thunder is a trip to Hadley to take on Hopkins Academy Monday. 

Franklin Tech (0-2) will head to Wahconah on Monday looking for its first win of the season. After opening the year against Greenfield and Turners — the last two state champions in the MIAA Div. 5 tournament — the Eagles are hoping the tough non-league schedule will make the team prepared and ready for the postseason. 

“We started our schedule off tough with Greenfield and Turners and now we’re heading to Wahconah next week,” Kylee Gamache said. “It’s a rebuild year but we’re improving every practice, every game. We’re slowly getting better.”