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JERREY ROBERTS

Members of the Hopkins Academy baseball team wait to find out if their Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament semifinal game against Easthampton will be postponed due to a thunderstorm Wednesday at Bullens Field in Westfield. A few minutes later, the game was postponed and has been rescheduled for 4 p.m. today at Bullens.

CHICOPEE - The Hampshire Regional softball team's quest for its third straight trip to the Western Massachusetts Division 2 Tournament title game will have to wait until Thursday afternoon.

After a health scare that saw Red Raiders sophomore pitcher Ashlee McGan taken from the field by ambulance led to a long delay during the sixth inning, a lightning strike in the bottom of the seventh caused the game to be stopped until today at Elms College.

The game will restart with No. 2 Hampshire (17-2) batting in the bottom of the seventh inning with the game tied 8-8. There are runners at first and second with leadoff hitter Allison Bednarsky at the plate.

The contest will begin after the conclusion of today's 3 p.m. Division 3 semifinal between No. 3 Ware (16-3) and No. 7 Mount Everett (15-6). The other Division 3 semifinal between No. 1 Turners Falls (21-0) and No. 4 Granby (16-3) is slotted to begin at 5:30 p.m., after the end of the Hampshire-Palmer game.

During the bottom of the sixth inning Wednesday, Bednarsky was batting when the Hampshire dugout asked for the medic to attend to McGan, coach Brian McGan's daughter, who was suffering from dizziness and couldn't keep water down due to the sweltering heat.

Tournament officials called 911 for an ambulance and McGan was eventually taken out of the dugout on a stretcher.

The Red Raiders were visibly shaken by the events, but managed to put together a four-run sixth inning to take an 8-6 lead going into the top of the seventh.

Junior Kayla Croteau, who was warming up during the hour-long delay, entered the game for the seventh and the Panthers scored two runs to even the score.

Hampshire appeared set for a game-winning rally in the seventh when Lauren Walker and Croteau each legged out one-out infield singles, but lightning flashed in the distance, forcing the mandatory 30-minute delay and impending darkness forced the tournament committee to immediately delay the remainder of the game until today.

For the Red Raiders, Meghan Hurley (two doubles, one RBI, one run), Walker (one run) and Croteau (one run, one RBI) each had two hits.

McGan had five strikeouts in her six innings of work.

Hopkins-Easthampton baseball postponed

The Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament semifinal game between No. 1 Hopkins Academy (17-3) and No. 4 Easthampton (17-5) was rained out entirely Thursday.

The game, which will feature Hopkins left-hander Garrison Banas and Easthampton righty Kyle Dussault squaring off for the third time this season, will be played today at 4 p.m. at Bullens Field in Westfield.

The two teams split the Hampshire League title this season, as well as their two-game regular season series.

Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.