HS Softball: Belchertown hitting its stride, eyeing postseason

The Orioles have taken flight.

At 7-2 overall entering Wednesday, with a winning streak at five games, everything seems to be clicking for the Belchertown softball team right now. The Orioles have scored at least 14 runs in each of their last five games, which second-year head coach Mike Lafayette credits as the reason for his team’s recent success.

“We really hit, I think in the last few games, our stride with our bats and just coming together as a team,” Lafayette said. “Hopefully this weather holds off and we can have a nice stretch over the next two weeks here, but we’re feeling really good.”

The Orioles kicked off their current streak with a huge 21-12 victory over Athol on April 18. Despite winning in such convincing fashion, Lafayette mentioned the journey to Athol was what got his team into their current groove.

“This all started up in Athol, they bonded on an hour-long road trip up there,” Lafayette said. “Our bats started to come alive as our leaders, our seniors and a couple of our older players, they started to hit and then it became contagious. Then everybody was like ‘alright, we can hit.’ Some of the younger ones were nervous coming in, who were going to face faster pitchers they haven’t seen and then all of a sudden it was like ‘oh, they can do it, I can do it.’”

Wins began stacking up for Belchertown in quick succession following the offensive explosion against the Bears, and Lafayette felt that, “we hit the ball the best I’ve seen us hit the ball all season,” during his team’s 16-2 victory over Pathfinder on April 29. Six of the seven Orioles batters to secure hits (13 total) managed two base knocks in the win.

Belchertown has a healthy mix of contributors who are underclassmen and upperclassmen. Senior Julianne Cozine is its most polished player as the outfielder is committed to University of Maine-Farmington for softball and is one of Lafeyette’s most dependable players.

“She’s leading our team in on-base percentage right now, she has a very good eye,” Lafayette said. “She’s also our backup catcher but she’s a really solid right fielder… great kid, good leader.”

Of the youngsters who have stepped up, sophomore Sophia Mitus and freshman Kina Roy have already combined for 30 hits altogether.

“She hits the ball a ton,” Lafayette said on Mitus. “She’s got a great eye at the plate, left-handed hitter, she just hit a home run last Thursday. She’s got a lot of pop to right field so I’m excited to really see her start to build that confidence.

“Kina is an outstanding player,” Lafayette said on Roy. “Really smart catcher, well-schooled, plays all the time. She’s in love with softball, it is her favorite sport. She plays travel ball... you tell her there’s a softball game, she will show up and play. I always joke with a couple of the other coaches, I say ‘I think she knows more than us combined.’ She controls our team very well behind the plate. She’s had a great year this year, I can’t wait to see what she does in the next two to three years. I think she’s going to be a big name in this area because she’s so well-versed in the sport.”

In the circle, the Orioles have rotated between sophomore Lila Roy and freshman Madeline Williams, and the two arms compliment each other well, per Lafayette. Roy can bring the velocity as a fastball-heavy pitcher — which led to a no-hitter against Putnam on April 15 — while Williams can pick the corners and has taken advantage of her lengthy playing history with Kina Roy as the catcher.

Lafayette said his team has postseason aspirations as the calendar flips to May.

“I think Tri-County [League] championship, that’s one of our goals,” Lafayette said. “Even coming into the season I said ‘we have a shot at that, let’s try and go for that,’ but also Western Mass. playoffs. I don’t think a softball team from Belchertown has been in the Western Mass. playoffs for at least a decade if not a little longer. We’re right in the ninth spot chasing Pope [Francis] and Monument Mountain. If we can catch fire here for the last two weeks, I think we can leap-frog them into at least the eighth spot and get ourselves into Western Mass.”

A motivated team is a dangerous team and this Orioles squad could be one to watch as the state tournament draws near. Belchertown qualified for the Div. 3 state tournament in 2024, but lost in the preliminary round.

Hopkins looking to seize Franklin County East title

The Golden Hawks softball team were winners of 11 straight entering this week’s slate, and had a huge Franklin County League East game Wednesday against Franklin Tech.

Both teams have been atop the league standings the last several years, however Hopkins has routinely been clipped by the Eagles for the regular-season title.

Cassandra Dion continues to be a menace from the circle for the Golden Hawks as the sophomore pitcher has posted shutouts in three of her last four starts. The Hopkins hurler was also knocking on the door of 400 career strikeouts, and should she accomplish that Wednesday, would become the first Golden Hawks softball player to reach 400 Ks in school history.

At the plate, Alayna Bailey has brought the power with a couple of home runs this season, while Margaret Potter has already drove in double-digit runs. In 15 games so far this year, Hopkins has plated 20 or more runs four times.