Perfect Amherst girls again await Pittsfield
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Undefeated Amherst Regional rolled through the regular season, entered the Western Massachusetts Division 1 Tournament at 20-0 and then lost in its first postseason game to underdog Pittsfield.
No, this isn't a prediction for the girls basketball team's semifinal matchup against the Generals at American International College on Wednesday night.
It's a reminder of what happened to Amherst's softball team in 2009, and their coach Kacey Schmitt was surprised to realize the coincidence last week.
"That is really ironic. I knew they were undefeated but forgot that they were playing Pittsfield," she said.
Now with the benefit of perspective about her own team's experience last spring, Schmitt has as good an idea as anyone of the challenges facing the girls basketball team.
"I think the pressure of being the No. 1 seed, the undefeated season, the buzz around the team, sometimes I think can start weighing on them," Schmitt said of her experience. "But the thing that was the biggest problem in retrospect for my team was that we hadn't really been challenged in the end of the season as we were at the beginning of the season."
The softball team knocked off the region's other top teams, all from the Valley League, early in the season, but weren't challenged in Valley Wheel play down the stretch.
"It really makes a difference when you have to fight for your victories," Schmitt said. "You gain confidence from having to fight for those close games against the best competition and we hadn't had to do that for a long time before" the postseason.
The girls basketball team is in a similar situation. It knocked off the other three teams in the Division 1 semifinals - No. 2 Holyoke, No. 3 East Longmeadow and No. 4 Pittsfield - all in its first 10 games of the season.
In its final 10 games, the Hurricanes played just two against a tournament team, Valley Wheel runner-up Chicopee Comp.
Schmitt said the key will be the basketball team's senior leadership in the form of four-year starters Jenna Klaes and Alyssa Leonard.
"The seniors have got to just try to keep a level head, stay calm," she said. "You want to fire people up but you want to make sure people are focusing on the game and your play and not all the things that are going on."
Otherwise, the team will always look at this year's 20-0 regular season with the added disappointment of what could have been.
"I wouldn't say that it took away from our pride in what we accomplished in our season, but I do think that we all felt that we didn't reach our potential," Schmitt said. "We didn't reach our main goal of winning western Mass. and possibly getting to the state finals.
"We all feel that we certainly could have done that. It didn't take away the 20-0 season and we were all very proud of that, but it's still difficult to watch a team win western Mass. that you beat handily during the regular season."
There isn't any recent history regarding undefeated girls basketball teams in Division 1, because it's been 10 years since Minnechaug Regional entered the postseason at 20-0 and went on to win the state title.
Fourth-year Amherst coach Christal Murphy was a senior and averaged a triple-double for that squad.
Knowing what it feels like to have everything end prematurely, Schmitt hopes the girls basketball Hurricanes can avoid a similar fate.
"It's pretty hard not to feel that we don't have some unfinished business (after last season), but you learn from all those experiences," she said. "We're going to be that much more motivated to not let that happen again if we are lucky enough to be in that same position. I know we are all rooting for the basketball team.
"They've had a wonderful season and I honestly feel that they'll keep it going. I hope very much that they learn from us and that the same thing doesn't happen to them."
Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.
