AMHERST — Hampshire Regional senior Paige Sullivan dropped a bunt to the left side of the infield and just kept running.
Southwick overthrew its first baseman into right field then missed the relay throw back to the infield.
Sullivan made it all the way home before the Rams settled into the infield at Sortino Field. She initially stopped at second because she thought the ball was closer.
“Then I looked up and everyone was yelling,” Sullivan said.
The top-seeded Raiders took a one-run lead in the Western Massachusetts Division 2 softball championship game Saturday. It showed the difference in the level of composure between the teams. Hampshire was playing in its fourth straight championship game, while Southwick reached the final for the first time.
Hampshire’s experience won out, and the Raiders won 9-3 to claim their fourth straight title. They’ll play Central Mass. champ Grafton at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Hudson High School.
“It’s such a good feeling, it never gets old, ever,” Sullivan said.
Hampshire (17-5) made Southwick, the No. 2 seed, experience déjà vu in the bottom of the third inning. Maggie Rubeck dropped down a bunt to lead off the inning, and the Rams (16-5) erred on the throw to first. She eventually made it all the way home for a 2-0 lead.
“We tried to put a little pressure on them, play a little small ball. We had to try to get on the board fast, first,” Hampshire coach Brian McGan said. “We had to do what we had to do in the beginning and we opened it up toward the middle.”
Katy O’Connor started to pry it open more in the third when she drove in Sullivan on an RBI single to make it 3-0.
The game broke open in the fifth inning.
Hampshire opened with walks by Sullivan and Danielle McGan. O’Connor struck out with them on first and second, but the Raiders followed with four consecutive hits then an RBI groundout to take an 8-0 lead. Brielle Bergeron hit an RBI double, while Madison Philbrook, Justine Legowski and Hannah Marney hit singles, and Brooke Kavanaugh had an RBI groundout.
“It’s kind of like a chain reaction,” Sullivan said. “Once we get one hit it’s contagious.”
Southwick struck back in the top of the sixth. The Rams started with three straight singles to load the bases.
“We started executing late, letting her (Hampshire pitcher Danielle McGan) get herself into trouble,” Southwick coach Joe Hough said.
They scored two runs in the inning on bases-loaded walks and a third on a sacrifice fly.
“Danielle ran out of gas,” Brian McGan said. “You could see it.”
Danielle McGan had sat down 15-of-16 batters leading into the sixth inning. She allowed a single to open the game then an error put runners on the corners before a single out could be recorded. Other than one walk, no one saw the basepaths until the sixth inning. She finished with nine strikeouts.
O’Connor gave her a little more breathing room in the bottom of the sixth. Danielle McGan hit a one-out single, then O’Connor crushed an RBI triple to right-field to settle the final score at 9-3.
“My coach just told me that I was late, so I backed off the plate a little bit and swung earlier,” O’Connor said.
Danielle McGan worked around a single in the seventh to clinch the title for Hampshire.
“She sucked it up in the seventh and came back and threw strikes again,” Brian McGan said. “I give her a lot of credit for that.”
Now the state semifinals await as Hampshire attempts to defend its two-year state title streak. Grafton (18-5) is the last team to beat the Raiders in the postseason, a 2-0 victory in the state semifinals in 2014.
“I think we get used to the pressure of it, but every time you win a big game like this it’s the same really great feeling,” O’Connor said.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.
Hampshire Regional 9,
Southwick 3
Southwick 000 003 0 — 3 5 4
Hampshire 102 051 x — 9 8 1
WP—McGan LP—Lachtara
Records: Hampshire Regional (17-5) Southwick (16-5)