WESTHAMPTON – Around this time of year, the motto for the Hampshire Regional softball team is the same every game – survive and advance. 

The Raiders did just that on Wednesday afternoon in the MIAA Division 4 Round of 16, knocking off No. 18 Bay Path Regional Vocational Tech in a 7-1 win.

“It's an unreal feeling right now,” Hampshire’s Hailey Wodecki said on making it to the quarterfinals. “We're all just enjoying the moment right now and the team is having the best time.” 

The second-seeded Raiders will host No. 7 Amesbury in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 4 p.m. with a ticket to the semifinals on the line.

“I told these guys every game you play now it just gets tougher and tougher. So we have to come to play, and we did,” Hampshire head coach Brian McGan said. “We came out strong in the beginning and the defense again was phenomenal. I can't say much more about it.”

The Raiders got their offense going early, scoring all seven of their runs in the first two innings, and held Bay Path completely off the board save for a solo home run from Savannah Steiner in the top of the fourth.

Pitcher Joss Mettey held down the circle for the Raiders again, throwing all seven innings and striking out four batters while allowing five hits. 

The defense was stellar all game long with the exception of one error in the second. In particular, Ryanne Dubay made a spectacular diving catch at second base to end the fifth inning, and Wodecki was lights out on the third base line, making routine plays all game long and single-handedly orchestrating a double play in the bottom of the sixth with two runners on and one out. Wodecki scooped up a grounder, stepped on third for the force out and hurled it over to Teagan Charles at first base for the second out.

“That double play kind of took the momentum away a little bit for them. Even though it was a 7-1 game, you could feel it starting to creep their way and that kind of shut it down again,” McGan said. “I don't want to point to one kid, but I think that was a big play. The whole crew played great.” 

Wodecki led off the first with a double and Charles, CC Thayer, Emma Czarniecki and Reagan Dubay all singled to make it 3-0 after one inning. Ashley Cortis got the second inning going with a single before Wodecki blasted a triple to bring her home. Mettey got to first in her at-bat, Czarniecki singled and Charles doubled to build up their lead.

Bay Path’s defense simply could not stop the Raiders in the beginning of the contest, and that ultimately propelled the Raiders to the win. 

“Joss pitched amazing, she did so well in the circle. Also, Teagan and CC up to bat, they did really well this game, too, putting the ball in play and getting those clutch hits,” Wodecki said. 

When Hampshire’s bats get going, the hitting can be contagious, as McGan likes to say. That was the case on Wednesday – of the team’s 11 hits, nine of them came in the first two innings. An aggressive approach at the plate has paid dividends for the Raiders, as has the team’s energy as they cheer each other on from the bench.

“This year, it's been unreal. The energy in the dugout, it's just been outstanding,” Wodecki said. “Everyone's always up, no one's ever down, and the cheering is great.”

They’ll look to keep that energy up against Amesbury, the defending state champions that knocked off Easthampton in the quarterfinals last year. 

Hannah Bevis can be reached at hbevis@gazettenet.com. Follow her on Twitter @Hannah_Bevis1.]]>