The field may not be as familiar, but the stakes are.
Hampshire Regional will face Auburn in the State Division 2 softball semifinal at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Worcester State University.
The Raiders are chasing their second consecutive state title, but in a different venue than when they won in 2015.
Hampshire (20-2) won two games at UMass’ Sortino Field to claim its first state championship.
Both the semifinal and final will be played in Worcester this season. The last time Hampshire played at Worcester State was in 2014, when it lost 2-0 to Grafton in the state semifinals.
The venue doesn’t matter much to the Raiders.
“It’s just a different field,” junior Madison Philbrook said. “Maybe it’s nicer, maybe it’s not. Maybe it has lights.”
Hampshire will approach Auburn with a similar indifference and respect.
“We’re focusing on us. It’ll be a good team. We can’t take anyone lightly,” Hampshire senior Chelsea Moussette said. “Once we get to states we know we have good competitive teams we’ll be facing. Even though we won states last year, that was last year. Anyone can beat us.”
Auburn (20-3) gets the first shot.
Following a rain postponement, the Rockets claimed their first Central Mass. title by beating Grafton 2-1 on Sunday .
Julia Handfield provides the jet fuel with her bat and arm.
The sophomore pounded four home runs to go along with a .563 average and 30 RBIs.
She also pitched 105 innings, striking out 187 with just 19 walks and a 1.07 earned-run average.
Hampshire coach Brian McGan compared Handfield to Amherst Regional’s Aliyah Bartmon, Philbrook said.
The Raiders scored 18 runs against Amherst in their season opener.
Alexis Ferris, Hampshire’s steady senior, will oppose Handfield in the circle.
She struck out 10 and allowed two hits and no walks in a 12-0 win over Palmer in the sectional title game.
That strikeout total brought her to 647 for her career. The Hampshire school record is 666, set by Barb LaFogg in 2001.
“We focus on our defense,” Philbrook said. “We know if we’re not hitting in a game the defense is there to help us out.”
Hampshire’s offense showed a tendency to erupt in big innings the last two games.
The Raiders scored five runs in one inning in the WMass semifinals and seven in one inning of the final.
“We react well to positive things our other teammates do. So if one kid gets a hit it’s like a chain reaction,” Hampshire senior catcher Lilly West said after the final.
In order to keep that momentum, Hampshire has kept the Raiders’ practices light and consistent.
They play catch, work on situational hitting and defense, then take batting practice.
“At this point we’re just doing the same thing we always do,” Philbrook said. “It’s kind of routine at this point. We know what to expect.”
The same could be said of the state semifinals.
Hampshire advanced to the state’s final four for the third consecutive year.
The Raiders feature seven returning starters from last year’s state title team.
“We know what it takes to get to the next step,” McGan said. “The girls are obviously ready to play.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.