Published: 7/13/2023 5:47:25 PM
DEVENS — Sequels rarely measure up.
The West softball team faced Southeast twice on the final day of Bay State Games competition Thursday. Their first matchup concluded pool play, and both teams had already secured a rematch in the afternoon gold medal game.
Southeast led the West in the standings at the beginning of the day on tiebreakers after both teams went 4-0 over the first two days.
A 5-1 win earned the West the top seed and last at-bats as the home team in the gold medal rematch.
Hampshire Regional’s CC Thayer doubled and scored a run, while Franklin Tech’s Hannah Gilbert singled twice and touched home twice. She also earned the win on the mound with three strikeouts in six innings.
The gold medal game followed a different script however, a 6-2 Southeast victory.
Southeast took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Sylvia Cull launched a two-run homer over the left field fence.
The West responded with a Allyssa Slack RBI triple that scored Allison Rehor in the bottom of the first, then Rehor brought her Westfield teammate Kelsey Bouchard home with an RBI single that tied the game at 2 in the bottom of the third.
Southeast pitcher Shannon McLeod shut the West down after that, allowing one baserunner from the fourth inning on.
Gilbert drew a walk to lead off the fourth, and West Springfield’s Bryn Tourville pinch ran for her. She stole second then was thrown out going for third.
McLeod sat down the last 11 West batters and finished with three strikeouts. The West went down 1-2-3 in four of the seven innings.
She helped herself with a go-ahead RBI single that made it 3-2 Southeast in the fifth inning. Candice Summer followed her with a back breaking two-run double.
Piper Levin extended the lead to 6-2 with an RBI double in the top of the sixth.
After the game West coach Fred Roach, who guides West Springfield during the spring season, presented each West player with their silver medal and either a hug or hi-five, sharing a short moment with each player. He told the team even though they were the No. 2 team in the tournament, they were No. 1 in his heart.
Locally, Hampshire Regional’s Ryanne Dubay, Raegan Dubay and CC Thayer, Easthampton’s Sophia Faginski, Frontier Regional’s Skyler Steele and Turners Falls’ Madison Liimatainen participated in the tournament in addition to Gilbert.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.