The Northampton softball team has never won a championship.
Frontier Regional’s baseball drought is four years, while Hopkins Academy’s is three seasons.
All three will look to claim Western Massachusetts Tournament championships at UMass Saturday.
The third-seeded Blue Devils (19-3) are in the Division 1 championship for the first time since losing to Amherst Regional in 1989.
“I think we’re really excited to be in this position and to accomplish something that’s not easy to do,” Hamp coach Andy Pelis said. “They worked hard and deserve to be in this situation. They’re looking forward to playing the game.”
Northampton will face No. 1 Pittsfield (21-0) at 11 a.m. at Sortino Field.
The Generals are in their third title game in four years and are trying to shake their runner-up status. Pittsfield beat Northampton, 13-0, in both teams’ regular-season finale.
“We realized we really need to play a really good game and take away their speed,” Pelis said. “They’re a fast team. We haven’t seen many teams with that speed.”
Pelis said the Generals are slap hitters who are aware on the base paths and take advantage of the defense.
“The kids are trying hard and they understand where the coaching staff is coming from,” Pelis said of his game preparation. “It’s a question of what happens tomorrow. I’m confident the girls will give their best effort.”
The Blue Devils have experience. They’ve gone 4-2 in the postseason the last three seasons, including reaching the semifinals last season.
Pitcher Anna Kerwood is a four-year starter with over 400 strikeouts in her Northampton career.
Anna Connly, sisters Emilia and Abby Pelis, and Emma Tanner each have at least 20 hits on the season.
“I don’t care if you’ve been in this situation before or not,” Pelis said. “You’re going to have playoff nerves. I think my kids are relaxed. They are seasoned. There is leadership on the team and I don’t think the bigness of the game will get to them.”
Ace right-hander Jon Morrison will toe the rubber at Earl Lorden Field for the first time in a championship game when top-seeded Hopkins (16-4) faces No. 3 St. Mary’s (15-7) at 10:30 a.m.
The senior was in eighth grade the last time Hopkins reached and won the WMass title. He beat Gateway Regional in the 2014 WMass semifinals, then struck out 11 and allowed four hits in a state semifinal win over Oxford.
“I’ve been coaching him for the last six years,” Hopkins coach Dan Vreeland said. “It’s pretty much been just throw. He has tremendous stuff and is probably the most composed kid I’ve been around.”
Morrison and the Hawks are somewhat familiar with the Saints. Morrison threw a no-hitter in a 2-0 loss early in the 2017 regular season.
St. Mary’s also beat Hopkins, 7-1, in the sectional semifinals en route to a state title that season.
“I don’t think there is an added incentive” playing St. Mary’s, Vreeland said. “We think of them as the next opponent. I don’t have any ill will against St Mary’s.”
The Saints are coming off a 20-7 semifinal win over McCann Tech. They have won five straight for Troy Collins, who is in his 13th season as head coach.
“They are extremely well coached,” Vreeland said. “They always do all the fundamentals right. They put the bat on the ball no matter what.”
Vreeland expected to see Quinn Powers oppose Morrison.
“He does a really good job of pounding the zone,” Vreeland said. “You can’t go up looking. You have to beat him, he’s not going to beat himself.”
Vreeland hopes the Golden Hawks can give Morrison a lead early, but giving the starter a lead to work with doesn’t always work. In the semifinals against Ware, the Indians led 4-0 after the first and 6-2 after the top of the third. However, Hopkins rallied for a 10-7 win.
“I said to them all season it’s important to get a good start and show the team what we got,” Vreeland said. “We did a bad job against Ware, but managed to get back. This team does a good job of not getting down on itself.”
Frontier Regional will try to win its first sectional title since 2013 when it takes on 2017 state Division 1 champion and No. 1 seed Taconic at 1:15 p.m.
While the Braves (18-4) moved into Division 3 this year, it is a vastly different team from 2017. The state champions graduated all but two players, and all but one starter. The lone starting returnee is designated hitter Cedric Rose. The only other returning player is Austin Rachiele, who was a bench player last year but is now the starting center fielder and leadoff hitter.
Offensively, the Braves may not be quite the juggernaut they were a year ago, but the team still has plenty of firepower. The same is true on the mound, where Frontier is likely to see ace Christian Womble. The junior led Taconic to a 6-1 win over Belchertown in the quarterfinals, striking out 13 and allowing just two hits.
Frontier will counter with its own ace, senior Ben Arnold, who pitched Frontier past Greenfield in the quarterfinals. Arnold allowed two runs in the first inning, but came back to shut down the Wave the rest of the way.
Offensively, Frontier has been getting production throughout its lineup. Connor Waitkus had four hits in Frontier’s semifinal win over Monument Mountain, while Garrett DeForest and Jacob Bryant each had three hits. DeForest and Bryant have each hit ninth in the lineup once in Frontier’s two tournament games.
Recorder staff writer Jason Butynski contributed to this report.