WESTHAMPTON — For the second season in a row, the No. 2 Hampshire Regional softball team is headed to the MIAA Division 4 semifinals. The Raiders’ ticket was punched in a 7-1 victory over No. 7 Wahconah on Saturday morning in a Round of 8 matchup.
Ryanne Dubay got the start again for Hampshire in the win, bouncing back after a shaky outing in the Round of 16. The junior had less than two days of rest, but came through with an impressive performance in her team’s biggest game to this point.
Through her first six innings of work, Ryanne Dubay didn’t allow a run to cross, with just one hit allowed. Her seventh inning of the day showed a little bit of the inevitable fatigue as the Warriors tallied a walk and a pair of hits to plate one run before the junior shut the door with a game-winning strikeout.
“That’s a gutty kid,” McGan said of Ryanne Dubay. “That’s how you get over the top, and that’s how you perform when it gets tough. You don’t give up. She didn’t give up. She still threw her strikes, maybe not as much velocity as she had before, but, as long as you get the [win], it doesn’t matter how things work.”
Even with a less-than-ideal final inning, Ryanne Dubay finished the day with six strikeouts and just the one run allowed, paving the way for her team to come away victorious.
The seventh-inning woes didn’t get to the Raiders, who all stayed collected and confident that they would hold on to the seven-run lead they had built throughout the rest of the contest.
Playing in big games this whole season and in years prior has helped the team in key moments, having the experience of winning in similar situations ingrained in them at this point.
“You can tell by the demeanor, the kids are calm; when [Wahconah] started scoring a little bit in the seventh inning, everything was okay,” McGan said. ”That helps by putting pressure on them all year. The pressure was there [on Saturday] a little bit, and they were okay. It was like, ‘I’ll still get this out.'”
Team defense has been one of Hampshire’s biggest strengths during this run in the state tournament, putting together three games in a row now with nearly flawless defense behind their pitcher.
Routine plays are effortless for the Raiders, while fast-moving fly balls and bad hops in the infield are continuously made to look easy for the entire team. The same was true on Saturday, with both the infield and outfield stealing outs from the Warriors on tough plays to help maintain the lead.
“When these plays happen to them, it’s not that panic mode. It’s just, ‘Stay with it, make the play,'” McGan said. ”They get a ton of ground balls all day long in practice, and they ask for them after they get the ones that they’re supposed to, and it’s paying off.”
The lead that Hampshire did so well to protect came from another solid game at the plate throughout the entire lineup. With no weak points from one to nine in the order, the team made it difficult on Wahconah’s arms and tallied 10 hits overall.
Mariah Pacinella led the way offensively in the win for the Raiders, coming through time and time again with runners on from her cleanup spot. The eighth grader went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and two runs scored, while driving in three of the squad’s seven runs on the day.
“I don’t want to jinx [Pacinella],” McGan said. “She’s been hitting the ball well in the last seven, eight games. She’s been consistent, one of my most consistent hitters. She is the kid you want up when the time comes. Hopefully it continues.”
After a great showing in the Round of 16, Lucy Trombley continued her success as well on Saturday. The eighth grader played a solid shortstop defensively, also going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI of her own.
Reygan Horstmann tallied a pair of hits as well in the win for Hampshire, with a double and a run scored. Kalin Dubay doubled down the left field line in the fourth inning, coming around for a run scored.
With the win, the Raiders head back to the semifinals, looking for redemption after coming up short in 2025. They’ll take on No. 3 Tyngsborough, who came within one run of a state championship last season.
“We’ve [got to] climb that next step, we’ve been here before,” McGan said. “I’m super proud of these guys. We worked hard all year, to get to this point. [With a] tough schedule, playing a lot of the top teams. We knew Wahconah was [going to] be a good team. Now, we’re where we were last year, we’ve just got to push it over top now.”
