WESTFIELD ― A one-run lead is hardly a comfortable cushion. But with MacKenzie Paulin firing on all cylinders in the circle, the Green Wave’s slim advantage proved to be all they needed.
Led by Paulin’s dominant pitching performance, No. 1 Greenfield softball defeated No. 3 Franklin Tech, 1-0, on Wednesday in the Western Massachusetts Class C final at Westfield State University.
The lone run of the game was scored in the first inning after Olivia Lemay extended the inning with a two-out double to right field. With a runner in scoring position, Gloria McDonald stepped up and struck a liner to left-center for a single.
A fielding error not only allowed Lemay to score with ease, but McDonald advanced all the way to third, setting up the strong possibility for further damage.
“(This is) our fourth time here (at Sullivan Field), so I was a little bit more comfortable here than the last couple of times,” McDonald said after the game. “… but I (also) feel like my mindset at the plate this year has been a lot different than other years. I feel like I (am) more focused, more comfortable, and not as nervous, so that definitely helped.”
But Hannah Gilbert ended those thoughts with a strikeout to close the first. However, the early lead proved to be all Paulin needed as the 2025 Super 7 selection mowed down the Eagles’ lineup, striking out the side in the second and seventh innings on her way to 16 strikeouts.
Paulin allowed just one hit in the first and one walk in the fifth.
“As a team, we definitely do lean on (Paulin) quite a bit,” McDonald said. “Our hitting this year also helps a ton, but definitely, in the last inning, I was a little nervous just because one play could mess up (the game).”
The Green Wave were not lacking in effort in their search for more run support to relieve the pressure. Greenfield put together a couple of prime scoring opportunities in the third and fourth innings, putting a runner on third in both innings.
But each time, Gilbert bore down in the circle and stranded the runners.
Gilbert finished with 12 strikeouts in six innings, allowing four hits and one unearned run. The Eagles’ Super 7 selection nearly leveled the game in the sixth inning, pulling a deep fly ball down the left-field line that hooked foul just before soaring past the fence in the outfield.
Greenfield (15-6) clinched its fourth consecutive WMass Class C title and eighth overall in program history.
“It means so much, especially going out in my senior year,” Paulin said. “We were determined all year to get after that four-peat, to just know that we accomplished it; a great game against (Franklin) Tech held us to (one).
“I’m super proud of our team; we played a great, well-rounded game; we played clean in the field, and it feels great.”
The Green Wave will enter the Division V state tournament with high expectations for a deep run as the No. 2 seed. Greenfield will face the winner of No. 31 Sturgis Charter East and No. 34 Mystic Valley Regional Charter.
“Our confidence is pretty good right now,” Greenfield softball coach Ray Dodge said. “We’ve been playing pretty well in the last couple of weeks. Even if we didn’t win our games, we were still playing solid and hitting balls — I’m happy with where we’re at heading into states.”
Franklin Tech (17-4) fell short in the WMass Class C finals for the second year in a row and third in four years, each time at the hands of its local rival.
“We got a good solid group of seniors, we’ve had some players along the way, and each group has set the bar for the next group,” Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache said. “We got a lot of young talent here, saw some action and saw some time today. So hopefully they enjoy this experience, and they want to get this (level so) the program continues to trend in the right direction.
“Just proud of the work that these kids put in; they’re here every day, they get along, we don’t have to fight them to come to practice. They enjoy coming to practice, it’s a good atmosphere… it’s a nice culture that we have.”
The Eagles enter the Div. V state tournament as the No. 7 seed and will face the winner of No. 26 Whitinsville Christian School and No. 39 Tech Boston Academy.
“If we want to get to a state final, this is a team we’re going to have to beat along the way,” Gamache said. “We played them to start the season… we didn’t play particularly well, gave up a lot of hits and had a lot of errors, lost 12-3.
“We get to see them here, get to see our growth and our improvement. A 1-0 game that is anybody’s game; it comes down to stringing a couple of hits together and trying to avoid the costly mistake. Both pitchers pitched phenomenal — (but Greenfield was) one run better than us today.”
