AMHERST, Mass. – Taunton may not have been the top seed for Sunday afternoon’s state championship game at UMass Amherst’s Sortino Field, but the Tigers entered the game as the favorite. Having won three of the previous four Div. 1 titles, including two in a row, Taunton had already achieved an unprecedented level of success.
The Tigers weren’t ready to slow down because winning never gets old.
Behind a one-hitter from junior pitcher Sam Lincoln and a three-run homer from senior Ava Venturelli, Taunton (24-1) rolled to a 6-1 victory over top seed Central Catholic. As freshman Mia Torres hauled in the final out in right field, Taunton raced onto the field to celebrate its three-peat, savoring the moment as though it was the first time.
“It never gets old, this feeling, the camaraderie between teammates, them fighting for each other to win a state championship,” said Taunton coach Michelle Raposo, who has experienced state titles as a player at Taunton and now as a coach. “It’s not easy to do and to be here three years in a row is kind of unheard of. To be able to win it all, it just goes to show how much resilience the kids had and how much fight they had to win it.”
Senior catcher Kaysie DeMoura, a member of all three title teams, added, “It’s absolutely unreal. It’s been a dream of ours to keep breaking records, keep making history, and we went out there today ready to do it. Senior year, finishing it off like this, nothing more you could ask for.”
Like the state semifinal against King Philip, Lincoln struggled to find the strike zone in the first inning. She walked one and, with two outs, hit a batter to put two on base. A comebacker ended the Raiders’ threat.
Taunton grabbed the lead in its second at-bat. With one out, Brooke Aldrich lined a pitch from Julia Malowitz into the gap in right center. Aldrich aggressively rounded second and headed to third, sliding in just ahead of the throw, which bounced away from the third baseman and allowed Aldrich to scamper home.
It wasn’t the typical Lincoln performance. Central Catholic was making contact, so the strikeout number didn’t reach its usual level but the Tigers were solid in the field behind her. First baseman Hayley Krockta opened the second by staying with a tough bloop and flipping the ball to Mia Fernandes, who read the play from second and covered the bag.
The game broke open in the third. With one out, Kyleah Plumb took a pitch off the top of her helmet and Bella Bourque worked a walk. Venturelli was up next. The Louisville-commit pushed the count full before getting a good pitch to hit and drilling it over the fence in straightaway center for a 4-0 lead.
“I knew it was coming,” Raposo said. “I knew if they gave Ava a pitch that she was going to take it. I knew as soon as it left the bat that it was going over and that’s the momentum that we needed. The one run gave us a little insurance but Ava’s home run solidified that we could relax at the plate, find our pitch, and make stuff happen.”
A four-run lead felt decisive, as Taunton had yet to allow more than two runs in a game all season. Lincoln came out for the third and struck out the first two batters. After a walk, Torres made a grab in right to end the inning.
Aldrich reached on an error to start the fourth, getting all the way to third before the inning ended. In the bottom half, Lincoln hit a batter with one out. Aldrich and Fernandes got the lead runner on a grounder but Lincoln hit her third batter of the night to put two on with two outs. The Texas Tech-commit refocused and painted the corner for a inning-ending strikeout.
Malowitz quickly got the first two outs in the fifth and the Raiders elected to intentionally walk Venturelli. Taunton took advantage. DeMoura singled into right center, taking second on a throw to third. Krockta, as she did in the semifinal, came through a big hit, singling to center and bringing in a pair of runs to extend the lead to six.
Raposo said, “They talk about it wasn’t a line drive hit, well it was a laser in the book. It doesn’t matter how it works, you put the ball in play then you make things happen.”
Following a single by Aldrich, the Raiders brought Elisabeth Kearny out of the pen and she got the final out to make sure it didn’t get any worse.
Things felt pretty comfortable for the Tigers at that point and Lincoln posted a quick 1-2-3 inning. Bourque made a nice throw from third for the first out and Krockta flicked a backhand toss to Fernandes, who managed to keep a toe on the bag, for the second out. A lazy fly to Plumb in left sent Taunton to the final two innings up by six runs.
“We trust in her,” DeMoura said of Lincoln. “The past two games I’ve let her have full control on calling [pitches]. She knows what she wants to throw, she knows what’s good for her to throw, and I’ll catch whatever she wants to throw. The connection that we have, we trust each other. Everybody on the team, we had full trust in her all year.”
Central Catholic tried to make it interesting. Moekel was hit by a pitch for the second time (fourth hit batter of the game for Lincoln) to lead off the sixth. After a strikeout, Ava Perotta drew a walk. DeMoura did a great job of hanging onto a tip for another K, but Amelia Ovalles grounded one off the end of the glove of Fernandes and into center.
It was Central Catholic’s only hit of the day and cut the lead to five. Bourque, an eighth grader, came up with another nice play at third, cutting off a bouncing ball and firing a strike to first to get out of the inning.
Taunton nearly answered right back. Bourque walked to start the seventh and Venturelli reached on an error (her fourth time on base in the game). Both moved up on a wild pitch, putting two in scoring position with no outs. The Raiders got a generous call at the plate to cut down the first runner and Krockta dropped a perfect bunt for a hit to load the bases.
Aldrich hit a fly ball to center that looked deep enough to bring in a run, but Venturelli delayed tagging up and got caught in a rundown.
It was only a momentary lapse for the Tigers. Lincoln went back out to the circle and struck out the first two batters of the seventh. Torres settled under a fly ball in right, pulling in the final out and setting off raucous celebrations on the bench and with the large contingent of fans wearing black and orange.
“It’s so awesome,” Venturelli explained. “It never gets old really, knowing that you’re the best and you did it with some of your best friends. I think was extra special this year because I’m a senior now so this is kind of a last hurrah and I was with some of my best friends who I’ve played with since I was eight years old.”
Raposo has won titles as a player, assistant coach, and now in her first year as a head coach. They are all special, but this one felt a little different, particularly since she was coaching her daughter (Torres).
“It means so much more to me,” she said. “To be able to be here and to coach alongside of [Mia], it means a lot. D-Lew (former Taunton coach Dave Lewry) has been an idol for me my entire life. He was my coach, so to come back and coach under him and take over the program from him means a lot to me. His philosophies have stuck with me and I’ve tried to preach that to the girls.”
It is a philosophy that has paid off yet again, as the Taunton dynasty added another trophy to the case.
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