A tough goodbye: Hampshire shut out by Case in emotional state semifinal loss

WORCESTER – In between innings during the middle portion of Thursday’s MIAA Division 4 state softball semifinal between No. 1 Hampshire Regional and No. 4 Joseph Case, Chappell Roan’s hit song ‘Pink Pony Club’ blared over the speakers.

One team sang joyously along as the chorus kicked in, echoing throughout the field complex, while another team was dead silent. Now, the Cardinals had a multi-run lead at the time, but the point remained – this Case squad relishes in the big moments.

The Cardinals went on to hand the Raiders their worst loss of the season on Thursday, winning 13-0, to secure a spot in the Div. 4 title game for a fourth straight season. Case is the two-time defending champions and looked every bit the part as it completely shut down a normally high-flying Hampshire squad in the state playoffs... yet again.

Thursday’s victory marked the third consecutive season that the Cardinals knocked Hampshire out of the playoffs and the latest win was the most convincing of the three. Case won 11-3 in the Round of 8 in 2024 and 7-2 in the state tile game in 2023.

“I think offensively, we obviously outplayed them today,” Cardinals head coach Shannon Silva said. “Nine times out of 10 that’s the name of the game, right? Who’s going to out-hit the other team or who’s going to make a mistake first? I thought we made one small out here in the outfield today with a miscommunication, but other than that we were very clean, which is generally our game.”

Case thumped 15 hits against Raiders pitcher Ryanne Dubay and only struck out once as seemingly the entire batting order managed to put the barrel of the bat on the ball at whatever was thrown their way.

Breanna Fontes and Skye Dupre each compiled three hits for the Cardinals as their top offensive performers.

“The unfortunate part is somebody has to lose,” Hampshire head coach Brian McGan said. “I always tell them that if you give it your best effort and your best shot, and you walk off the field knowing the other team beat you, you tip your cap. But today didn’t feel like our best effort. Even though they beat us, we definitely beat ourselves.”

Allowing two runs, right away, during the top of the first inning appeared to have rattled the Raiders as they didn’t look confident in the batter’s box, plus made a handful of uncharacteristic flubs in the field, from then on. The combination of the Cardinals pushing out a pair of hits, plus Dubay walking two batters, gave Case a 2-0 lead following a seven-batter first frame from the eventual victors.

“I do feel like my girls capitalized on their experience here,” Silva said. “I did feel like we fed off that a lot and my whole dugout was fantastic today. My younger kids have been so engaged.”

Hampshire’s CC Thayer belted its only two hits of the contest, with one being a hard-hit double to left-center field during the sixth that rolled to the base of the fence. Thayer will have those positives to remember from her final high school softball game as one of the two seniors on this year’s roster, along with Teagan Charles.

“It’s always sad when your seniors play in their last game,” McGan said. “I told them I was proud of them – that I loved them. They had tremendous careers. I hope they enjoy their college careers and lives going forward and come back and visit us. Hopefully they come back to see us. I’m sure they will. They were great leaders and they kept the team together. It sucks to see them go.”

Case pitcher Lila Alvarez had commanding stuff on Thursday, fanning 11 Raiders batters. The sophomore made up for in precision what she lacked in velocity and Hampshire never adjusted, despite staying aggressive with the sticks and swinging at many first-pitch strikes all afternoon.

“Gritty, always gritty, I mean she’s just a gamer,” Silva said about Alvarez. “When she’s on the big stage, she does rise up. Right down to the very last strike she threw in the state championship last year, I was like ‘OK can she handle it, OK can she handle it,’ and she did. This year, I think she’s had some moments where she’s struggled and it’s made her a better pitcher.”

Case (18-6) will square off with No. 6 Tyngsborough in the state final this weekend, a 2024 rematch in which the Cardinals won, 1-0.

Hampshire (22-2) will bring back another strong roster in 2026 as seven of its nine starters will return and perhaps they’ll get another crack at Case in the state playoffs. It seems to be an annual matchup at this point.

“It was obviously tough, and there were a lot of tears,” McGan said. “I took the heat on it. I’m the one that’s supposed to prepare them for this, I’m the one that’s supposed to make sure they’re ready to play this game. We weren’t ready to play today, for some reason. I don’t know what it was. But we got down early quick and never got going. I should have prepared them better during practice. We got hit by a tsunami today. And sometimes when a tsunami comes and you’re not ready for it, you’re going to be in trouble. That’s what happened.”