Wright, Hoosac Valley Roll into State Quarter-Finals

ADAMS, Mass. – In Wednesday’s Division 5 State Tournament game between Hoosac Valley and Pioneer, hits were hard to come by until the fifth inning.

 

They were impossible to come by against the Hurricanes’ Gracelyn Wright.

 

Wright struck out seven in a no-hit performance in the circle, and Hoosac Valley exploded for 10 runs in the bottom of the fifth to earn a 14-0, five-inning win to advance to the state quarter-finals.

 

Genevieve Lagess ended that 10-run rally with a three-run bomb over the fence in left-center to send Hoosac Valley back to the Elite 8 for the second straight year.

 

The top-seeded and undefeated Hurricanes will host No. 9 Lenox, which earned a road win on Wednesday, on a day to be announced.

 

Although it goes in the books as yet another in a string of double-digit performance for the potent Hurricane offense, it was just a 4-0 game through four innings of play.

 

The difference was Wright, who allowed just a two-out walk in the second and, at one point, struck out five hitters in a row.

 

“A couple of times, I was struggling a little bit, but I always know that pitching is a mental mindset,” Wright said. “It’s all about the mindset.

 

“So I just told myself to shake it off, refresh, and I adjusted pretty well. I also knew that I could trust in my teammates, that they would have my back if anybody did hit it.”

 

Hoosac Valley coach Mike Ameen was glad to have his ace in the circle on a day when his offense took a while to get untracked.

 

“We’ve won a lot of games this year, but this was a different one, right,” Ameen said. “We didn’t really hit that well in terms of what we normally do, but [Wright] stepped up for us, and our defense played really well.

 

“I think that’s the mark of a good team.”

 

Hoosac Valley’s offense uncharacteristically went down in order in the bottom of the first but did scratch out a couple of runs without a hit in the second.

 

Isabela Tart worked a leadoff walk and stole second. Then, with two out, Hannah Lord and Ashlyn Lamke each reached on errors that allowed two runs to score.

 

In the third, the top of the Hurricanes’ lineup started to produce.

 

Wright hit a leadoff single and moved up on a Gianna Witek sacrifice bunt and Lagess groundout. After the Panthers intentionally walked, Tart, Rachael Wnuk made them pay for that decision with a two-run single to left to make it 4-0.

 

Pioneer starting pitcher Coby Tyminski pitched around a one-out error in the fourth to keep it a four-run deficit.

 

Meanwhile, Wright, as no-hit pitchers usually do, benefited from a big defensive play in the top of the fourth.

 

With one out, Pioneer’s Tyminski hit a fly ball to the infield. Hoosac second baseman Ella Bissaillon, looking into a setting sun, appeared to lose track of the ball but made a diving catch at the last second to keep the no-hitter intact.

 

“That was amazing,” Wright said. “I was shocked, because at first she was like, ‘I can’t see. I can’t see it!’ So when she caught it, I was so proud of her.

 

“I knew she was gonna catch that, because she’s very good at getting those kinds of balls. I’m very proud of her that she was able to do that today.”

 

All the drama in the game disappeared one inning later.

 

Wright (2-for-3) led off with a double and ended up scoring on a wild pitch with nobody out, and after Witek drew a walk, Lagess doubled to left to make it 6-0.

 

Tart then doubled in a run. Hanna Lord hit an RBI single, and Bissaillon brought a run in on an RBI groundout with one out on which she reached because of an error.

 

With two out, another error brought in a run to make it 11-1 and put Wright on second. Witek then walked to bring Lagess to the plate Her second extra-base hit of the inning cleared the fence and ended the game via the mercy rule.

 

Now Hoosac Valley gets ready for Round 3 against Lenox, who the Hurricanes beat by scores of 6-2 and 18-12 in the regular season.

 

“Lenox is a good team,” Ameen said. “They’re well coached. Obviously, the kids are familiar with each other. They’re friends. And they cross paths a lot. I love having an all-Berkshire County game at this level. That just speaks to the talent within the league.

 

“I’m looking forward to that game.”