Hornets Hammer Old Colony to Reach State Voc Final
TURNERS FALLS, Mass. – With his team trailing, 18-1, in the bottom of the third inning, an Old Colony Regional Voc/Tech softball assistant coach made one of the more curious coaching moves you will ever see.
He decided to start taunting the McCann Tech hitters.
“She hasn’t swung all day,” the alleged adult yelled from the first-base sideline toward his pitcher. “Put it in there.”
The Hornets’ Ryleigh Rathbun, who had walked on three previous plate appearances – mostly on pitches that bounced to the plate or sailed over her head – took her cue.
Rathbun belted a pitch into right-center field for a two-run double that capped McCann Tech’s 20-1 win Monday in the semi-finals of the State Vocational Small School Division Tournament.
Emma LeMire struck out nine and walked one in a complete-game, five-inning victory in the circle, and Maggie Wohrle went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs to lead McCann Tech’s offense..
The second-seeded Hornets (16-2) advance to host Western Massachusetts Class C Champion Franklin Tech, a 4-3 upset winner over Bristol County Agricultural in their state voc semi-final clash. On Wednesday, the Eagles beat McCann Tech, 7-1, in the Western Mass semi-finals.
“It means a lot,” LeMire said of reaching the vocational tournament final. “Everyone did it for Nora [Kondel], considering what happened in Western Mass.”
Kondel, one of six seniors on the Hornets squad, suffered a season-ending injury in Wednesday’s loss.
“I think we all showed up to play today, and our bets were really good,” LeMire said. “Pitching, I felt amazing. I was happy. We were all pretty hyped up. Even if we made mistakes – that’s my family right there.”
On Tuesday, Franklin Tech will visit McCann Tech for a 4 p.m. state final on a North Adams field to be announced.
First, Franklin Tech and coach and athletic director Joe Gamache did the Hornets a solid by offering to host Monday's semi-final when it was clear no field in the Steeple City would be ready for the game.
McCann Tech’s offense certainly was ready to go.
After Old Colony of Rochester scratched out an unearned run in the top of the first, the Hornets took control with eight runs in the bottom of the frame.
Two walks and an infield single loaded the bases for LeMire with nobody out, and she pounded a double to straightaway center to drive in Wohrle and Avery Lane to give the Hornets the lead for good at 2-1.
Gabby Driscoll later added another two-run double, and Lane (2-for-3, four RBIs) drove in two runs with a single to make it 8-1 after one inning.
“I’ve been instilling in them discipline at the plate and swinging at the pitches that they’re going to produce on, and they’ve taken that to heart and really done a good job with it,” McCann Tech coach Aubrey Thurston said. “We had a hitting practice [Sunday], which was very nice, and so seeing them translate from Sunday into Monday … was good to see.”
The other half of plate discipline paid off in the second as McCann Tech worked four walks against Old Colony’s second pitcher of the game. Lane hit another two-run single, and Aiden Champney hit a sacrifice fly to help make it 14-1.
The Hornets tacked on six more runs in the third, helped by RBI singles from Wohrle and Champney and Rathbun’s biggest swing of the afternoon.
“At the end of the day, it’s a game, and I understand sometimes comments come out,” Thurston said. “But Ryleigh really rallied and was able to have a nice hit off of that comment. So we appreciate it.”