Softball: Hampshire’s Mackenzie Provost earns first varsity win in 14-2 victory over Greenfield

WESTHAMPTON — The Hampshire softball team recorded 12 hits in an impressive 14-2 victory over Greenfield on Tuesday night in five innings.

Raegan Dubay had a huge night for the Raiders at the plate, finishing a flawless 4-for-4 offensively, driving in six runs in the process, with three of her hits going for extra bases.

The junior’s dominance with the bat was complemented by a great showing defensively behind the dish as well, showing off her athleticism throughout the night by blocking pitches consistently and not allowing any stolen bases.

“[Dubay’s] playing really well,” Hampshire head coach Brian McGan said. “I’m proud of her, because she works hard at practice. And when you work hard at practices, things like that are coming for you.”

Most of Dubay’s great plays defensively came while working with starting pitcher Mackenzie Provost, who saw her first action in the circle in her freshman season on Tuesday.

Provost threw 4 1/3 innings for the Raiders, allowing just one earned run and picking up a pair of strikeouts. The freshman’s performance was good enough to earn the win, the first of her young varsity career.

“It feels amazing, and it’s not only just a win for me, in the books, but it’s also a win for the whole team,” Provost said. “That’s what I really wanted in the whole thing.”

The win for Hampshire on Tuesday didn’t come without an early scare at the hands of the Green Wave. With runs scored in both of the first two innings, Greenfield held a pair of early leads, with the team struggling to keep up down the stretch.

With just five baserunners throughout the night, the Green Wave’s timely hitting made for a competitive first couple of frames. Kayden Viencek drove in the team’s first run in the top of the first, while Lenyx White’s RBI single in the second drove in the lone other run.

“We’re a young team; [There are] a lot of girls who are still growing into varsity-level roles,” Greenfield head coach Erich Leaper said. “We have our good days and our bad days… The girls are frustrated, but I’d rather them be frustrated than feel nothing about it.”

Keeping up with the Raiders’ lineup was a tough task, as the group continuously made loud contact throughout the contest. Seven different players reached base safely in the win.

Kalin Dubay had a big night for herself at the nine spot in the lineup, picking up a pair of hits that helped to drive in three runs and score two runs of her own.

Up and down the lineup, Hampshire’s bats proved to be a tough out, jumping on pitches early in the count and smacking hard line drives and ground balls back up the middle.

“The aggressiveness [was great],” McGan said. “In the last game we played, we got beat 2-1 on a walk off, but we were a little laid back too much. We didn’t come out and get the ball as much as we did [on Tuesday]. [Tuesday] they were much more aggressive.”

With high exit velocity numbers coming all night long from the Raiders, defense was made harder for the Green Wave. The group made five errors in the field, leading to eight of the 14 runs scored being unearned.

Olivia Lemay had a solid day in the circle against the Hampshire lineup, pitching four innings, but with some key defensive struggles, multiple innings went on longer than they should have.

“The big step is gonna be getting the defense to really solidify behind our pitching,” Leaper said. “That’s [going to] really help, because it hurts when you’re pitching well and the defense doesn’t go with you.”

With Tuesday’s loss, Greenfield falls to 5-9 on the season, looking to get back on track with two upcoming home games. The first comes on Thursday, May 7, at 6 p.m., playing host to Franklin Tech.

The Raiders improve to 9-3 with the win, bouncing back after a tough loss. They’ll look to stay hot on Wednesday, May 6, at 4:30 p.m. when they hit the road to take on East Longmeadow.