NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The ACS Swat 12-and-under softball team has certainly come a long way since the beginning of this season. After storming to a 14-3 win over Great Barrington in Wednesday’s Berkshire County 12U softball semifinal, head coach Aimee McCarthy could only marvel at the turnaround she has seen from her players.

 

“We had kind of a slow start this season, with a lot of new girls. But we came together and had some really hard practices and some really tough games, and collectively we’ve become a really great team,” McCarthy said. “Everyone supports each other and we are just ready to go. Most of all we had to work on our communication, and we have come way further. We’ve got girls in the outfield calling plays and outs, and we’re supporting each other throughout the entire game. That is all I can ask for.”

 

Adams-Cheshire-Savoy took an 8-0 lead after the first two innings and was in control the entire way. Nearly every starter reached base to contribute, and the team had 11 hits total.

 

Three runs in the bottom of the first gave the Swat a lead they never gave up. Nora Moser walked and stole second to lead off the inning, and Maryn Cappiello sent a slow roller to third base for an RBI single. Ashlyn Lesure got her big night started by delivering an RBI single up the middle, and Emily Raischdorf then reached on an error and scored thanks to an RBI single from Paige Meyette.

 

Lesure was just a double short of hitting for the cycle, going 3-for-3 with a triple, a home run, two walks, three runs and six RBIs. She reached base all five plate appearances and was a force all game long.

 

The bases were loaded when Lesure came up for her second at bat, after Moser walked, Lily Speed had a hunt single and Cappiello reached on a fielder’s choice. One big swing quickly cleared the bases, as Lesure blasted a shot deep to center for a three-RBI triple. 

 

Raischdorf then dropped an RBI single into shallow right field to drive in Lesure, and Julia Sawyer later pushed her across the plate with an RBI groundout.

 

Great Barrington responded with a run in the third inning to get on the scoreboard and break up the shutout. Avery Raifstanger singled to short and then swiped both second and third base to get into prime scoring position, and Sammy Ullrich drove her home with an RBI groundout. 

 

The Swat answered right back with two more runs in the third. Speed reached on an error and then scored off an RBI from Cappiello, and Lesure walked and later scored when Meyette also reached via error.

 

“We just came out like it was any other game,” McCarthy said. “With such a small league, we get to play each other a few times before we get to this point, and we learn where we can put girls and everything like that. It doesn’t matter who we are playing; we are ready.”

 

Great Barrington continued to battle back, scoring in each of the last two innings. In the fifth, Lexi Carpenter and Raifstanger both walked to get a rally started, and Delaney Reed had an RBI groundout that drove in Carpenter, while a wild pitch later allowed Raifstanger to cross the plate.

 

In the sixth, Mya Dupont, Harmony Estrada and Olivia Simms all walked to load the bases for the top of the order. Raifstanger came through again, this time on a flare to third base that went for an RBI single.

 

With Great Barrington inching back and threatening to make a game of things again, ACS came up with another big inning in the bottom of the fifth to tack on three more runs. Cappiello singled to left and then came all the way around to score when Lesure destroyed a shot deep to center for an inside-the-park home run. Raischdorf followed with a base hit and later came home on a fielder’s choice.

 

Cappiello walked and scored off a wild pitch to cross the plate for the fourth time, the last of which ended the contest via the mercy rule in the bottom of the sixth.

 

Now ACS is set to compete in Thursday night’s 12U championship against Northern Berkshire at Reid Field at 6 p.m. The team hopes to carry some of the momentum from Wednesday’s big victory into that final action.

 

“When you get to the end of the season you’ve progressed so much throughout the summer, and it really is anybody’s game at this point,” McCarthy said. “We’re just going to come out like we have every other game. We’ve got to play defense to win and we’ve got to score to win.”

 

Photos from this game here.

 

16U Championship

ADAMS, Mass. -- The Berkshire Blaze earned a win over the ACS Swat in the 16-and-under County Championship game on Wednesday night.