Westfield High School softball players celebrate a 3-2 win over Agawam Friday. (Photo by Chris Putz)
AGAWAM – Three down, two to go.
The Westfield High School softball team won the first game of a three-game road trip to end the regular season, escaping Agawam with a 3-2 win over the Brownies Friday. The tournament-bound Bombers have two games remaining – at Minnechaug (May 21) and at Amherst (May 23).
Westfield took an early 3-0 lead and leaned on junior pitcher Sarah McNerney, who held off Agawam with an effective outing on the mound. McNerney scattered six hits, struck out six batters, and walked one.
Westfield’s Kate Menard had the team’s big hit, scoring Jess Pratt and Maddy Atkocaitis (both reached on an error) with a first-inning double. The Bombers tacked on another run in the third when McNerney doubled. A run scored on Jules Sharon’s sacrifice.
Agawam manufactured a run in the bottom of the second inning, and pulled within one on Alexa Smith’s solo home run in the sixth.
Both teams had opportunities to tack on another run, but both pitchers – McNerney and Agawam freshman Allison Wheeler – escaped unscathed. Bombers’ second baseman Syd Ezold recorded all three putouts to end the game.
“It was a really close game with a lot of intensity,” McNerney said. “It’s hard playing on this field with no fence.”
When Smith’s line drive blast to left field hit the grass, the ball kept rolling, and rolling, and rolling. But the Bombers did not cave.
“We kept the intensity going and made plays,” McNerney said. “We have really good chemistry. The rest just falls into place. We have a lot of strong players. We just really work well together. We just want to win. We knew we could pull through.”
Said Westfield coach Joe Stella. “We hung on. When we come here, you can always bet on us having a one-run game. We knew it was going to be tough. …The kids came through. They did what they had to.”
