AMHERST — Savannah Cavanaugh’s rise ball victimized scores of hitters during the softball season for Palmer.
Hampshire Regional sought to avoid the same fate.
The Raiders walked eight times in Saturday’s Western Massachusetts Division 2 final at Sortino Field and didn’t strike out once.
Those free passes set the table for dangerous hitters who delivered in a 12-0 victory for the Raiders, their third straight sectional championship.
“She strikes a lot of kids out on her rise ball, so we practiced a lot on staying back and waiting for it, seeing where it was to know how to hit it,” Hampshire senior catcher Lilly West said. “There’s a lot of patience at the plate.”
Hampshire (20-2) didn’t take long to score.
Madison Philbrook led off the bottom of the second inning with a walk.
Alexis Ferris, Hampshire’s pitcher, then reached on an error.
Brielle Bergeron singled to bring Philbrook around and give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.
Paige Sullivan then singled, and Ferris’ courtesy runner Kiley Bissell scored on an error.
Chelsea Moussette popped out, bringing up Danielle McGan.
She singled, scoring two to put Hampshire up 4-0.
Taylor Boutwell also singled to make it 5-0.
Walks by Katy O’Connor, who also sang the national anthem, and West loaded the bases.
A wild pitch made it 6-0, and O’Connor scored on a Philbrook ground out in her second at-bat of the inning.
By the time the inning ended on a Ferris pop-out, Hampshire had tallied seven runs on four hits and three errors.
“They had a big third inning and pretty much knocked the wind out of our sails,” Palmer coach Joe Kubala said. “They were just picking away, and we couldn’t get anything. We couldn’t hit today to come back at all.”
Ferris had a lot to do with that.
She allowed a single to Cavanaugh to start the game then struck out Palmer’s next three batters.
The Panthers wouldn’t reach base again until Cavanaugh doubled in the sixth inning with two outs, a stretch of 17 batters.
Ferris finished the game with 10 strikeouts, two hits allowed and no walks.
“Big games, she performs,” Hampshire coach Brian McGan said. “The thing for her today was the inside fastball. We established that early and found out maybe that was a good place to stay.”
Danielle McGan made sure Hampshire stayed in the lead with a double to start the fourth inning.
She moved to third on a wild pitch, then Boutwell tripled to make it 8-0.
Boutwell finished a home run shy of the cycle with two doubles and four RBIs.
“I was trying not to swing at the rise ball, and she (Cavanaugh) didn’t actually give me too many,” Boutwell said. “She was pitching them down the middle.”
Boutwell finished her day at the plate with a double in the fifth inning that scored Bergeron and Danielle McGan, who both walked previously.
O’Connor poked a ball through the legs of Palmer’s second baseman to score Boutwell and give Hampshire its final margin.
Ferris wrapped up the pitching side of the game with two strike outs and a pop out in the seventh.
Hampshire didn’t celebrate uproariously, gathering at the mound briefly before lining up for the postgame handshake.
“We’re definitely excited that this happened, but I think a lot of us are excited about what’s happening next,” West said.
Hampshire will continue its state title defense in the state semifinals against first-time Central champion Auburn (20-3) at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Worcester State.
“It definitely helps us with nerves. We’re able to control them now,” West said. “We’ve played there, we’ve played at that level.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.