Brittany Deres shines in softball semifinal win
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AMHERST - The Amherst Regional softball senior class casts a big shadow.
With Division I signees Emma Mendoker and Quianna Diaz-Patterson, future Williams College teammates Zoe Dillon-Davidson and Simone Frank, team spark plug Emma Ayres and the hard-working and determined Catie Childress, there's little room for anyone else to get recognition.
But junior Brittany Deres has been an unsung hero for the Hurricanes (23-1) all season, and she was the offensive hero in Thursday's 3-0 state Division 1 semifinal win over Milford.
"What Brittany needs to know, for herself, is how good she is," Amherst coach Kacey Schmitt said. "It's hard being such a good player and sometimes being overshadowed, but that never bothers her. That doesn't matter to her at all, she doesn't care about getting recognition. She just needs to know for herself that she's that good a hitter."
Deres lined a bases loaded single to right field to score a pair of runs in the third inning for the three-run lead. "I just tried my best," Deres said of the at-bat. "I had positive thoughts in my head. I was telling myself, 'I know I'm going to get a hit off her.' It helped a lot."
Schmitt added, "It was great to see her be the one to come through in the clutch like that. I was just thrilled for her to come through like we all know she can."
Deres, the team's No. 5 hitter, batted. 397 during the regular season. She slugged .460 and reached base at a .523 clip.
"It's amazing. She's a great hitter," Mendoker said. "She has so much power and I think people don't realize how good a hitter she is. That line drive was the biggest part of the game. It was wonderful."
AMHERST HELPING MONSON - Amherst athletic director Karen Keough-Huff is accepting sports equipment donations for the Monson Recreation Department, which lost equipment in the tornado that ravaged the town earlier this month.
Contact the Amherst athletic office at 413-362-1747 for more information.
'Q' AT THE 'U' - Thursday's game marked the third and final time Diaz-Patterson played at the UMass Softball Complex as a high school player.
Diaz-Patterson walked twice, stole three bases and scored what turned out to be the game-winning run.
After posting a 3-0 record there as a Hurricane, she'll don the Minutewoman uniform next season.
UMass coach Elaine Sortino was among those in attendance Thursday.
"I was thinking that Elaine must just be loving this," Schmitt said. "It's that old saying that speed never slumps. She gets on and she's a virtual lock to get on third."
EIGHT AWAY - With 12 strikeouts, Mendoker moved to 992 for her career. She needs eight more to reach the 1,000 mark.
WEST SWEEPS - Thursday was a good day for western Massachusetts teams, as Turners Falls (Division 3), Wahconah (Division 2) and Amherst all won their state semifinals. The last time all three teams reached the state finals was 2005.
Turners (24-0) will play Case (19-6) at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Worcester State College, while Wahconah (23-1) takes on Burlington (23-2) at 4 p.m. Amherst (23-1) plays King Philip (25-0) at 7 p.m.
Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.
