WORCESTER – CC Thayer never saw the ball drop. With how Clinton’s Ella Repole pitched against Hampshire Regional, it wouldn’t have surprised if it found a glove instead of grass. But the neon yellow ball fell just beyond the center fielder’s outstretched arm.

It was the Raiders’ only hit of Tuesday’s MIAA Division 4 semifinal, but Thayer’s double cleared the loaded bases in the bottom of the third inning, scoring three runs that made the difference in a 3-1 victory.

“Sometimes you can’t think about the bases loaded. Sometimes you have to just hit, and wherever it goes, it goes,” said Thayer, a sophomore. “Luckily it worked out.”

The double brought home Ryanne Dubay and Hailey Wodecki, who both walked, and seventh grader Kalin Dubay, the courtesy runner for pitcher Jocelyn Mettey, on first because of a fielder’s choice. They slammed into each other and cheered at Thayer standing on second.

“That’s what it takes to win these games. You can’t bang around all the time. You can’t be dominant all the time,” Hampshire coach Brian McGan said. “Sometimes you just need that one timely hit to come up. We were fortunate it was on our side.”

That hit combined with Hampshire’s steady defensive effort and Mettey’s resolution in the circle returned the Raiders to the state final for the first time since 2016. They won back to back state championships in 2015 and 2016 (at Worcester State in extra innings), but every member of the current roster was in elementary school then.

No. 2 Hampshire will face either No. 1 Joseph Case or No. 5 Archbishop Williams for the title at UMass’ Sortino Field at a time to be determined Saturday in Amherst. Those teams face off in the other semifinal at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Worcester State.

“We’ve been working so hard this whole year, and this has been our ultimate goal,” Hampshire senior Emma Czarniecki said. “Here we are.”

Mettey allowed just six hits with one walk, one hit batter and two errors. She struck out two, trusting the defense behind her.

“Joss gutted it out out there,” McGan said.

Clinton put multiple base runners on in the top of the first and fourth innings and only managed one run. Mettey hit Gaels’ second baseman Ava Askren on the backside to open the fourth, and Leo Repole followed with a single. They simultaneously stole second and third before Ava Repole singled in Askren.

That left runners on first and second with no outs. A short fly out kept them there, then Hannah Wodecki fielded a grounder at third, froze the runner at second with a look then threw to first for out No. 2. Another ground out ended the threat.

Mettey also stranded Lauren Lemanski at second after a leadoff double in the fifth.

“Being seniors we didn’t want this to be our last game,” Czarniecki said. “She really dialed in when she needed to.”

The Raiders never solved Ella Repole outside of Thayer’s essential double. They drew five walks but only put a runner on second once outside of the third inning when Reagan Dubay sacrifice bunted Czarniecki over in the fourth. Repole struck out five.

“She had a great rise ball, I do have to give it to her,” Thayer said. “Sometimes it happens, and when we hit them, we hit them in play.” 

Final: Hampshire 3, Clinton 1. The raiders are headed back to UMass to play for a title pic.twitter.com/nhMfA9rhlv

— Kyle Grabowski (@kylegrbwsk) June 13, 2023

It was Hampshire’s closest win of the state tournament after winning every prior game by at least four runs. The Raiders hadn’t faced so narrow a margin since their last loss May 12 against Westfield, a Division 2 semifinalist.

“Sometimes ugly is pretty,” McGan said.

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.]]>