HUDSON — The buzzsaw belonged to the Hampshire Regional softball team during its past two state title runs.
Alexis Ferris locked down opposing lineups and gave the Raiders room to breathe.
Hampshire played the opposite part in the state Division 2 semifinals Tuesday.
Grafton pitcher Jessica Evans struck out 11 and threw a no-hitter in a 5-0 win. Evans allowed three walks and two fielder’s choices.
“Every once in a while you run into somebody that’s going to be a buzzsaw,” Hampshire coach Brian McGan said. “Every once in a while you’ve gotta tip your hat.”
McGan estimated Evans’ fastball in the 59 to low-60 mph range, which is something the Raiders hadn’t faced much this season.
“She has a great riseball. Right when you’re getting ready to hit the ball then she’ll throw you a change,” Hampshire senior Katy O’Connor said. “She’s really tricky. She pitched a great game.”
Hampshire (17-6) threatened most menacingly in the top of the first inning. Senior Paige Sullivan led off with a walk, then Danielle McGan hit into a fielder’s choice to reach first. O’Connor grounded out to push McGan to second with two outs.
“Whenever runners are on I just get in my zone and it works out,” Evans said.
Brielle Bergeron popped the ball straight up, and Evans ranged over from the circle to end the inning and squash the threat.
“You come out on top first, it changes the dynamic of the game,” Brian McGan said. “If we get one run it changes the whole thing around.”
Grafton jumped on top with two outs in the bottom of the first against Hampshire pitcher Danielle McGan.
Sarah Remillard dropped a bunt single, then a Hampshire error put runners on second and third. Jessica Hamilton laced a ground-rule double to right field to put Grafton up 2-0.
“We kicked it around a little bit. I’m not going to blame anyone, it happens,” Brian McGan said. “Sometimes those balls will find you, and when you’re having trouble with it they’ll find you again.”
Grafton added two more in the second. Hamilton hit a one-out single followed by a walk. Evans helped herself out with a two-run double to put Grafton up 4-0 heading to the third.
“We knew that they were gonna get some runs on the board, we just needed to hold our own,” Danielle McGan said. “We just couldn’t get the bat on the ball.”
Hampshire sophomore Brooke Kavanaugh walked in the third and fifth innings, and eighth-grader Maggie Rubeck hit into a fielder’s choice in the third for the remaining Raider baserunners.
“I didn’t really have a game plan since we’d never seen them before,” Evans said. “We didn’t know anything at all, so I just had to come in and throw strikes.”
Grafton added its final run in the fifth inning on an Evans RBI single.
Hampshire didn’t concede until the last out, though. Between every inning Brian McGan walked from the third base coach’s box to the dugout clapping and saying, “It’s not over yet.”
Danielle McGan worked out of a jam in the bottom of the third. Grafton put two runners on after a Savannah Small single and Bella Thornton reached on an error. McGan struck out Rebecca Hagerty then induced a fly out and a ground out to get back to the dugout.
The Raiders also snuffed out a leadoff triple by Evans in the fourth. With her on third, McGan’s pitch got by Hampshire catcher Justine Legowski. Legowski tracked it down and flipped the ball to McGan covering home. She laid down the tag then worked around a single and an error to get out of the inning unharmed.
The Raiders just couldn’t solve Evans.
“We had hope for us to win through the very last inning,” O’Connor said.
Evans sat down 13 of the game’s last 14 batters, striking out eight of them.
“She seemed to pick up a little more steam,” Brian McGan said. “Some pitchers slow down, she was starting to speed up.”
Hampshire’s two-year run as state champion ended with a Legowski strikeout. It was the final game for Raiders seniors Danielle McGan, O’Connor, Bergeron, Madison Philbrook, Legowski and Sullivan.
They won four consecutive Western Massachusetts titles and two state titles in their careers.
“There’s not many kids that are playing in western Mass. or any softball organization that have done that,” Brian McGan said. “They’ve had one of the most outstanding careers anyone can ask for.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.
Grafton 5, Hampshire 0
Hampshire 000 000 0 — 0 0 4
Grafton 220 010 x — 5 12 0
WP—Evans LP—McGan
Records: Grafton (19-5) Hampshire (17-6)