SOUTH HADLEY ― After falling into a rough patch midway through the season, the Tigers have picked themselves back up and found their rhythm.
No. 9 South Hadley softball earned its third straight victory on Thursday, shutting out No. 8 Longmeadow, 5-0.
The Tigers pounced on an early scoring opportunity to take a slim lead in the first inning. After Karli Carmody earned a four-pitch walk to open the bottom of the first, she stole second early in the next at-bat.
Isabella Blue struck out the batter to earn the first out for Longmeadow, but a wild pitch to start the next at-bat allowed Carmody to advance to third.
Sophia Butler made the most of her opportunity, hitting a ground ball to the shortstop. Carmody reacted sharply and bolted home, leaving the Lancers’ shortstop with no play at the plate. Delaney Schrager made the throw to first, getting the second out but allowing Carmody to score easily.
“I was basically just focused on hitting the ball (and) don’t force anything,” Butler said after the game. “Just try and hit it, even if it’s a ground ball and advance (the runners), that’s all that matters.”
Both offenses were held silent in the second and Isabella Schaeffer kept it rolling through the third, sitting the Lancers down in order.
The Tigers squeaked out another run in the third thanks to Carmody’s base running once again. After Carmody reached first on a one-out single, she advanced to second on a wild pitch before a ground out moved her to third.
Following the third pitch in the next at-bat, Carmody caught the defense off guard on the throw back to the pitcher, timing her attempt at the plate to perfection and successfully stealing home.
“My (third base) coach basically told me ‘if (the catcher) throws it, you’re going, no matter what,” Carmody said. “I just ran up and took a big lead — and she did throw it, so I just went right home.”
On most days, trailing by two entering the fourth inning is usually not considered a ‘late-game situation’. But the dark clouds and heavy gusts of wind that had been brewing since the second inning only confirmed what had been forecasted earlier — a storm was coming soon and seven innings would not be guaranteed.
The Lancers came out urgent and aggressive in the fourth, with Blue drilling a line drive to center for a leadoff single. But Schaeffer beared down in the circle and got the first out, picking up her sixth strikeout.
Schaeffer forced the next batter to ground out to short, where Butler fielded it cleanly, stepping on second before firing a dart to first to complete the inning-ending double play.
The Tigers got a base runner on with a walk, but Blue put the hosts down quickly to close the fourth.
Needing three more outs to mark an official result, Schaeffer wasted no time in the fifth and struck out the side, needing just 13 pitches.
“We didn’t really see the weather as a distraction until the (fifth) inning,” Schaeffer said. “… we came to get the job done, we definitely had that mindset and it helped.”
With no rain or lightning yet in sight, play continued into the bottom of the fifth. The Tigers did not relent, tagging the Lancers for three more runs with RBI singles from Butler and Samantha LaFlesh securing South Hadley’s advantage.
Violet Carillon also came around to score on a wild pitch as the Tigers brought three runs across the plate before rain and lightening broke out and ended the day’s proceedings.
The Tigers’ strong form comes at a crucial time. After starting the season winning three of its first four games, South Hadley suffered back-to-back shutouts, with the first coming at the hands of the Lancers on April 14.
A win over Wahconah seemed to right the ship, but another low-scoring effort in the Tigers’ loss to Minnechaug on April 22 brought the team to its lowest point.
But after an eight-day break to recover and familiarize themselves with their new head coach, the Tigers have found their stride, outscoring their opponents a combined 22-1 in their last three games.
“I’m very excited about these wins,” South Hadley softball coach Ari Williams said. “We feel the momentum going and all the kids really getting out of their heads moving forward.
“Bats are looking good, fielding is looking good – they’ve always been playing really well on the field, but (hitting had been) an issue so coming in (and being) focused on hitting was something that I really wanted to do and I feel like the last three games, they’ve really showed it.”
Schaeffer understands how important this run of momentum can be as the team prepares for a jam-packed end to the regular season, with six games scheduled over the next eight days.
“The last couple of wins have made us more physically stronger and mentally stronger as we go on,” Schaeffer, who finished with nine strikeouts and allowed just three hits in five innings said.
“We’re playing harder, we’re going at the ball harder, we’re giving it our effort more… we’re learning from our mistakes from past games and that’s helping (us) to move on and forget about them, just keep playing at the level that we know we can play at.”
South Hadley (8-4) will face No. 3 Frontier on the road on Friday, May 9 at 5 p.m.
Longmeadow (7-6) will face No. 5 Westfield on the road on Friday, May 11 at 3 p.m.
