TURNERS FALLS — With the way the Frontier softball lineup has hit the ball this season, Lauren Ross knew she’d have to bring her ‘A’ game on Tuesday.
The Franklin Tech senior pitcher did just that.
Ross struck out six, scattered four hits and didn’t walk a batter. At one point, she retired 13 straight batters, ultimately sending the third-seeded Eagles to a 4-0 victory in a Western Mass. Class C quarterfinal at Nancy Gifford Field.
Franklin Tech (17-2) will travel to No. 2 Mount Greylock for a semifinal tilt on Thursday at 4 p.m.
“They just beat Athol and Turners Falls so they’ve definitely been a force to be reckoned with the last couple weeks,” Ross lauded of Frontier. “But I believe in my defense so I just had to hit my spots and let them make plays. I just wanted to go out and throw the game I knew how to throw.”
Franklin Tech head coach Joe Gamache said he knew his side would have to put together a complete game in order to get past the sixth-seeded Redhawks (4-15).
“They’re a really talented offensive team,” he said of Frontier. “Lauren did a nice job hitting her spots and moving the ball. The whole team stepped up. Obviously we got a great pitching performance, made some outstanding defensive plays and then we had a couple of timely hits. It was a complete game, a complete team effort.”
Ross and the Eagles took an early lead, as Kaitlin Trudeau was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first inning and eventually scored when Ross helped herself with an RBI double to make it 1-0.
Two more runs came around in the second, as Cordelia Guerin singled and scored on an RBI triple from Kendra Campbell. Keira Stevens made it 3-0 when her ground out to second base allowed Campbell to scamper home.
Kylee Gamache drove in the game’s final run in the bottom of the third when her ground out plated Hannah Gilbert (single) to make it 4-0.
It was a pitcher’s duel from there, as Ross and Frontier righty Ashley Taylor matched zeroes over the final four frames. Taylor didn’t walk a batter and the Eagles didn’t record a strikeout at the plate, but the Redhawks defense was sound behind her and limited the damage to keep the visitors within striking distance until the end.
Frontier left two runners on base in the sixth inning after Taylor (hit by a pitch) and Makayla Santos (single) reached with one out. Ross got a pair of fly outs to escape the jam however, and also worked around a Skyler Steele lead-off single in the top of the seventh to preserve the shutout.
“It was a really good softball game… both teams deserve to be here and played like it,” Gamache said.
Gilbert, Campbell and Lauren Ross all had two hits for Franklin Tech. In addition to Steele and Santos, Delaney Fifield and Gabby Adams also had base hits for the Redhawks.
Ross said Thursday’s semifinal with Mount Greylock has been a year in the making. The Mounties knocked Franklin Tech out of last year’s sectional semifinal round.
“We’re ready for some redemption,” she said. “We know we have to work hard for it and play a really good game against them. But we definitely want it.”