Westfield second baseman Elizabeth Irwin stretches to try and get the out on Agawam’s Rachel Lapponese. (Photo by Marc St. Onge)
AMHERST – The Westfield and Agawam high school softball teams outscored their opponents this postseason by the combined score of 15-1. The Brownies nearly reached that mark in the first two innings of the Division 1 West Sectional championship game.
No. 3 Agawam exploded for 14 runs in the first two innings and cruised to an 18-0 win over fifth-seeded Westfield in the Western Massachusetts Division 1 softball championship Monday at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Agawam piled up 19 hits, and Brownies’ senior pitcher Allison Wheeler (4 Ks) tossed a two-hit shutout.
“The fact that we got here was even amazing,” said Westfield coach Mary Seid, whose team stunned top-seeded Minnechaug in the semifinals after winning a low-scoring thriller against West Springfield in the quarterfinals. The Bombers were not so fortunate Monday in the finals.
Agawam hit its stride from the outset.
The Brownies tore the cover off the ball with a monster effort in the bottom of the first inning, stringing together six consecutive hits to start (Kate Grasso, Allison Wheeler, Maria Moccio, Jess Lingenberg, Gianna Perella, Sierra Kruser), and piling up nine runs on 10 hits.
In that inning, Lingenberg smacked an RBI double, Perella belted a line drive up the middle for two runs, and Rachel Lapponese laced an RBI triple down the right field line.
The offensive barrage continued in the second for Agawam.
Jenna Beach manufactured a run, moving all the way around to third base on an infield error, and scoring when the throw to third got away. After Grasso collected a run-scoring single and Lingenberg hit a two-run base knock, the Brownies led 14-0.
Brittany Kowalski gets a comforting hug from teammates after the Bombers’ loss to Agawam in the Western Massachusetts Division 1 softball championship Monday at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. (Photo by Marc St. Onge)
Despite falling into a double-digit hole, Westfield starting pitcher Hayley Moniz and her teammates persevered.
Moniz, who made Agawam starting pitcher Allison Wheeler work hard with an extended at-bat in the top of the first inning, fouling off numerous pitches before drawing a hard-earned walk, doubled with two outs to break up Wheeler’s no-hit big in the third. She advanced to third base on a Nicole Clemente single. Clemente stole second.
Wheeler squashed Westfield’s rally though. With runners at second and third, the Agawam pitcher forced a pop fly to end the threat.
Clemente came on in relief late in the second inning, and fared well early on. After forcing a fly-out for the final out of the second, Clemente retired three of the four batters she faced in the third and three of the five batters she saw in the fourth.
Clemente ran into some trouble in the fifth though. Wheeler and Lingenberg hammered two-run singles to secure the victory.
Despite the somber atmosphere surrounding the Westfield bench after the game, the Bombers took solace in their accomplishments throughout the season.
“It’s amazing that we got here after a 5-15 record last year,” coach Seid said. “Our players really fought for other … I hope they will use this experience to build on. It wasn’t our day today.”
