The Hampshire Regional softball team graduated six seniors last year after making it to the MIAA Division 4 quarterfinals, leaving more than a few question marks around how they would fill those gaps this season.

But if Hampshire softball has proven anything, it’s that the program is the epitome of sustained success. Behind star pitcher Joss Mettey, a bevy of returners and newcomers who have slotted into the roster quickly, the Raiders are doing just fine with a 5-0 start to the season. 

“I’m pretty optimistic. Especially with the young kids, you have three starting eighth graders, one’s at second [base], one’s behind the plate – which is probably one of the biggest positions we have to fill – and one’s out in left field,” Hampshire head coach Brian McGan said. “With losing the big six that were on the team last year... the kids really have stepped up their game.”

Besides Mettey, expect key contributors to include Teagan Charles, Hailey Wodecki, Ashley Cortis and CC Thayer, but every player on Hampshire is a threat to make a difference on any given afternoon; the Raiders are deep on the bench. Their goals haven’t changed – they want to keep winning as long as they can. 

“I always try to make goals for the kids and it never changes. You try to win your league, try to win Western Mass., you go for a state title. And our biggest goal always is a state title,” McGan said. “I don't like them to go into a season just hoping. I tried to go into the season preparing them to try to get that far.”

Cinderella Redhawks ready for repeat

After a Cinderella run last season, Frontier softball wants to prove that their success last year wasn’t a fluke.

The Redhawks entered the state tournament with a 4-15 record, but closed out the regular season with a win over the Thunder which helped the young group gain some confidence. That confidence turned into an upset win over No. 12 Tahanto, 4-0, in the Round of 32 of the state tournament. The Redhawks then went on the road and dominated the No. 5 Mounties, 17-5, a team that had beaten Frontier by scores of 13-8 and 17-5 during the regular season. The magical run continued in the quarterfinals, where it knocked off Franklin Tech, 7-1, another team that had beaten it twice prior to the tournament. 

After graduating just two from last year’s squad, Frontier head coach Gary Deane is hoping the success at the end of the season can carry over into this spring.

“We won 25 percent of our regular season games and 75 percent of our tournament games,” Deane said. “They just decided to start playing for each other. I spent months trying to figure out what changed. I didn’t know if it was slow improvement and we just cashed in or was there a moment where everything just clicked? One of our veteran players Liv Machon said it was about deciding to play for each other and that’s a great thing for our team if they realized that that’s what it takes. Once they decided that, the wins started coming.” 

The Redhawks have no seniors and just two juniors — Hailey Hutkoski and Gabby Adams — both of which are expected to play big roles for Frontier. 

Skyler Steele and Delaney Fifield return in the middle of the lineup while Machon, Whitney Campbell, Sophia Pinardi and Jazzy Hayes are a few of the other players who will see time for the Redhawks this spring. Ashley Taylor —who was Frontier’s ace last year — will once again be the top arm. 

“Our league is so tough,” Deane said. “We’re not expecting to just flip the switch and be 15-5 instead of 5-15. We have to work for everything. We learned tons of lessons last year. Playing the best competition will only make us better in the long run. We might be one of the youngest teams but we have plenty of tournament experience and we get to play some of the best teams in the state in our league.” 

Experienced Eagles eye postseason run

Last year’s Easthampton softball team had a postseason run for the ages, reaching the quarterfinals of the Division 4 state tournament before eventual champion Amesbury ended their season. 

Easthampton didn’t have a single senior on its roster last year, returning all of those players who were part of a league title and lengthy Western Mass. and state tournament runs. They’ll rely on that experience this year as they attempt to replicate last year’s success.

“It makes my job easier,” Easthampton head coach Corey Robinson said on the team’s experience. “I don't have to work on the basics, you know. So we come here and it’s a lot of maintenance, just given them reps, hitting, fielding… I think for them, it's the comfort level with what they can do, trusting themselves and trusting what we're trying to do out here.”

So far, they’ve picked up right where they left off, starting this season 7-0. They’ll rely on go-to pitcher Rosie Follet, softball stud Abigail McClaflin, and players like Jessica Cloutier, Ana Growhowski and Lauren Morse, who earned her 100th hit earlier this season and became the first Eagle to collect both her 100th hit and 1,000 points in basketball. 

Robinson said after finishing in the top eight last season, this year the team wants to try and make the top five or better. They have the players that can pull it off, and so far the Eagles have been flying high.

Still Holden on

Last year’s Amherst squad looked to be on the rise after a few tumultuous years. New coach Emma Mendoker and star Sofia Holden and Maria Konieczny led the charge to a 14-5 record. 

Things have changed slightly for the ‘Canes this year – the team is now being coached by Bill Rahall, who’s making the hour-plus drive from Connecticut every day to coach the team. Rahall has been coaching softball at both the high school and college levels for 40 years. 

“I spent a lot of years in Connecticut coaching high school, then I coached a few years at Clark University as an assistant coach and last year I didn't want to coach college softball anymore,” Rahall said. “So a friend of mine said ‘hey, Amherst-Pelham has an opening.’ So I sent my resume and they called me and I came out and I was excited. It's a drive. Takes me an hour and 20 minutes...but you know what? I love coaching.” 

Holden is back and better than ever, leading her team in the circle. She threw her first career perfect game against Pathfinder recently, striking out 19 batters. Catcher Konieczny is back, and the team also had enough players come out this year to form a junior varsity team, which has been a major addition as the team looks to the future. The Hurricanes have a strong infield backing up Holden in addition to the JV squad, and Holden said that Rahall has been an excellent coach in the short time he’s been with Amherst.

“I love Bill, I think he's exactly what the team needed. We have a lot of girls who are new and inexperienced, so we kind of needed the basics and he's been perfect for that,” Holden said. “Already within the first few games I've seen a lot of improvement with our team.”

Be my Valentin

Like Amherst, Northampton is also fielding a JV team this year after not having the numbers for it last year. 

The Blue Devils are already on the rise this season – last year’s group didn’t win a single game, and this year they started with a pair of back-to-back wins. 

That’s thanks in part to pitching stud Kaliya Valentin, who’s already thrown a no-hitter and shown that she’s not one to be trifled with in the circle. 

No-hitters on the board

A number of area aces have already notched no-hitters this season. 

Pitchers have have hit the coveted milestone this year include Northampton’s Kaliya Valentin, Frontier’s Olivia Machon, Amherst’s Sofia Holden and South Hadley’s Isabella Schaeffer. 

New coach alerts

Besides Rahall coaching Amherst, the other new coaches in the area include Northampton’s Marjorie Pierce, Smith Academy’s Moira Pitrat, Granby’s Rich Roy and South Hadley’s Junior Perez.

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