Class B softball: Easthampton pulls away late to take down Chicopee Comp, move into semifinal round

By GEORGE MILLER

For the Gazette

Published: 05-23-2023 7:48 PM

EASTHAMPTON – A pair of regular-season meetings produced a 29-2 combined score in Easthampton's favor, but in Tuesday's third time around at Nonotuck Park's Wilby Field, the Eagles suddenly found themselves in the fight of their Western Mass. softball tournament lives.

Chicopee Comp rallied from a 4-0 deficit with two runs in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth to knot their Class B quarterfinal at 4-4. The third-seeded Eagles edged back in front with two of their own in the home fifth to go up 6-4, then avalanched on the Colts with a 10-run sixth inning to push the game into mercy-rule territory.

Easthampton won it going away 16-4, following up its earlier 15-1 and 14-1 wins over Comp, the second of which came just seven days prior.

The Eagles (15-4) will next travel to Pittsfield, the No. 2 seed, for a Class B semifinal. Easthampton posted a 5-4 walkoff win over the Generals in their regular-season matchup on April 10. Pittsfield (12-6) thumped Monument Mountain in its quarterfinal Tuesday, 17-4.

“It's always tough to play a team a third time, and to play them in the playoffs, there's a lot of pressure,” said Easthampton coach Corey Robinson. “(Comp) had nothing to lose, and I give them credit. They hung around and they battled. We gave them some extra chances, and they capitalized. We've gotta clean that up or we're not going any further.”

Eleven batters came to the plate in the Easthampton sixth and all reached base, on 10 hits and a walk, with no outs recorded. Abby McClaflin provided the loudest hit when she swatted a three-run home run just to the left of straightaway center field. That gave the hosts a 15-4 advantage, just one run away from the 12-run mercy-rule margin. Ana Growhowski and Lauren Morse quickly took care of that with back-to-back doubles – Morse's was her second run-scoring double of the inning – and Growhowski came on with the 16th run to put an end to the proceedings.

Earlier in the monster sixth, Megan Fickett (RBI triple), Sophia Faginski (two-run single) and Haley Routhier (RBI single) also supplied the big knocks for the Eagles, which hit for the cycle as a team during the frame.

Faginski worked the first five innings in the circle to earn the victory, with sixth-inning relief help from Rosie Follet.

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Chicopee Comp (7-12), the No. 6 seed in Class B, hurt its own cause dearly with nine errors, including several drops on infield popups. Easthampton struck in its first at-bat against Colts pitcher Kayla Williams to score twice, helped by three miscues. McClaflin drove in the third run with an infield hit in the second, scoring Kayley Downie.

Jess Cloutier led off the Eagles' fourth reaching on an error, then stole second, took third on a groundout and was wild-pitched home.

The Colts, which had gotten to Faginski for three hits over the first three innings, broke through in the fourth for a pair. Hannah Poulin drove in the first run with a base hit and Skylar Corcoran stole home on the back end of a delayed double steal.

A two-out rally in the fifth boosted the visitors into a tie. Marissa Vasquez singled and Alex Woodman doubled to put runners at second and third, then Olivia Vega delivered a two-run double to right-center to make it 4-4.

In their fifth, the Eagles got back in front 6-4 without the benefit of a hit. Fickett and Faginski scored the runs after a pair of walks, three more Comp errors and two stolen bases.

McClaflin (four RBI), Growhowski and Morse each finished with three hits to pace Easthampton's 16-hit barrage.

“I think we were a little overanxious. We were trying to do too much with the ball instead of trying to get the job done and move runners over,” said Robinson. “Fortunately, we were able to come through at the end. The bats finally came alive.”

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