Longtime West Springfield head softball coach Deke Pillsbury, left, walks off the field as players for Westfield begin to celebrate a thrilling 1-0 postseason victory Thursday at Mitteneague Park Field. (Photo by Chris Putz)
WESTFIELD – The West Springfield High School softball team had a lot of things going in its favor heading into Thursday’s West Division 1 quarterfinal – a better seed (fourth), a veteran head coach (Deke Pillsbury, 41st season), and a home game at Mittineague Park.
What the Terriers (13-8) did not have was a fiery young head coach (Mary Seid, 2nd season), a sophomore flamethrower by the name of Hayley Moniz, and a scrappy bunch of Bombers’ players.
Moniz scattered four hits, Nicole Clemente manufactured the game’s only run in the fourth inning, and the fifth seeded Westfield Bombers escaped West Springfield with a thrilling 1-0 win over No. 4 West Springfield Thursday.
Clemente reached base with a lead-off single in the top of the fourth inning, smacked a single off the foot of West Springfield pitcher Farrah Adam. Clemente advanced to third base on a Brittany Kowalski base knock, and scored on a wild pitch.
Moniz shut down West Side’s bats before and after the Westfield run. She went on to finish with three strikeouts, and walked just two batters.
Southwick’s Victoria DellaGiustina hits one right on the button during the team’s big fifth inning in a playoff game against visiting Frontier. (Photo by Bill Deren)
“It’s so awesome,” Moniz said, following the team’s postgame celebration. “I don’t even know how to describe it at this point … I had to slow down, focus on my mechanics and make sure the pitch I wanted to throw went where I wanted.”
The entire team is headed to where it wanted to go – the semifinals.
“It’s exhilarating,” Moniz explained. “It’s fantastic knowing that everybody is working for this one goal and then we just did it. It’s just the best feeling in the world.”
Westfield (14-7) advances to the semifinals where it will take on the winner of No. 1 Minnechaug (16-4)/No. 9 Northampton (13-8) June 8 at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
WEST DIVISION 4 SOFTBALL QUARTERFINALS
Rams advance to semis
No. 4 Southwick 11, No. 5 Frontier 10
Southwick exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, and held off Frontier late to advance to the semifinals.
St. Mary’s Shaun Gezotis knocks Pathfinder’s second baseman off his feet with a hard slide into second base during Thursday’s postseason at Westfield Middle School North. (Photo by Kellie Adam)
Nikki Willey went 3-for-4 with a run and RBI to lead Southwick, and Rams’ Brittany Penland and Emily Lachtara each finished with two hits, two runs, and one RBI apiece.
Frontier rallied for six runs in the sixth inning.
WEST DIVISION 4 BASEBALL OPENING ROUND
Roman, Pioneers stun Saints
No. 11 Pathfinder 3, No. 6 St. Mary 0
Andrew Roman tossed a three-hit shutout, and 11th seeded Pathfinder stunned No. 6 St. Mary in an opening round matchup at Westfield Middle School North.
Jake Butler, Hunter Authier, and Jake Masciadrelli had the lone hits for St. Mary.
St. Mary’s pitcher John Daley struck out six batters through six innings. Matt Hannoush tossed one shutout inning of relief for the Saints.
BOYS’ VOLLEYBALL
Championship bound
No. 1 Westfield def. No. 4 West Springfield, 25-22, 25-27, 25-21, 25-21
Westfield advanced to the finals with a gritty effort at home.
The Westfield Bombers erupt into celebration after defeating the West Springfield Terriers in a West Division 1 boys’ volleyball tournament semifinal Thursday night. WHS advances to Monday’s championship against the winner of Central-Agawam. (Photo by Marc St. Onge)
Igor Belokopytov (19 kills, 2 aces, 7 digs, 1 block), Ryan Murray (10 kills, 1 ace, 2 digs), Ryan Murray (10 kills, 1 ace, 2 digs), Noah Kappel (15 kills, 4 blocks), Eddie Loboda (14 kills, 1 ace, 15 digs, 1 block), Shane Kiendzior (5 kills, 2 digs), Scott Walsh (53 assists, 1 ace, 15 digs, 1 block), Tyler Stanton (25 digs, 2 aces, 3 assists), and Andrew Burrage (8 digs, 1 ace) contributed for the Bombers.
“It was a great effort from the guys tonight,” Westfield coach Tyler Wingate said. “We had to really work hard to earn the win but made some big plays to close out the final points of the third and fourth sets. Our hitters stepped up tonight and we’ll have a big challenge ahead of us Monday night.”
Westfield will take on the winner of Agawam/Central Monday night in the championship at Holyoke Community College at 6:30 p.m.
WEST DIVISION 1 BOYS’ TENNIS QUARTERFINALS
Falcons clip Bombers
No. 6 Minnechaug 3, No. 3 Westfield 2
Westfield’s Lyle Libanan delivers one of his finest efforts of the season Thursday against Minnechaug in a tournament match. (Photo by Marc St. Onge)
Lyle Libanin delivered one of his finest efforts of the season, winning at three singles over Hayden Shank, 6-1, 6-2.
At second doubles, Jake Perpetua and Jalen Bodendorf defeated Jeff Proulx and Brendan Plum, 6-2, 7-6, (7-3). The Bombers’ pair stormed back from a 5-2 deficit in the second set to capture the win.
“Overall, it was really just a well-played match, excellent sportsmanship,” Westfield co-coach Pete Morizio. “Coach John (Morizio) and I are tremendously proud of these guys. It was a really nice season. Excellent group of young men, not only in talent, but also in character.”
